writing-north-star-metrics

Writing North Star Metrics

Scope

Covers

• Defining or refreshing a product/company North Star and North Star Metric
• Translating a qualitative value model into measurable, decision-useful metrics
• Creating a simple driver tree: leading input/proxy metrics + guardrails
• Producing a “North Star Metric Pack” teams can use as a decision tie-breaker

When to use

• “We need one metric that defines success.”
• “Teams are optimizing different KPIs.”
• “We’re setting quarterly OKRs and need leading indicators.”
• “We’re launching a new strategy and need a metric that aligns decisions.”

When NOT to use

• You only need OKRs for an already-agreed North Star -> use setting-okrs-goals
• You need a full analytics taxonomy/event tracking plan from scratch
• Stakeholders haven’t aligned on the customer value model / mission at all -> use defining-product-vision first
• You’re choosing a single experiment metric for a one-off test
• You need to diagnose retention or engagement patterns, not define the top-level metric -> use retention-engagement
• You need to assess whether you have product-market fit -> use measuring-product-market-fit

Inputs

Minimum required

• Product/company + primary customer segment
• The “value moment” (what the customer gets when things go well)
• Business model + strategic goal (growth, activation, retention, margin, trust, etc.)
• Time horizon (next quarter vs next year)
• Measurement constraints (what you can measure today; data latency; known gaps)

Missing-info strategy

• Ask up to 5 questions from references/INTAKE.md.
• If still missing, proceed with clearly labeled assumptions and provide 2–3 options.

Outputs (deliverables)

Produce a North Star Metric Pack in Markdown (in-chat; or as files if the user requests):

1. North Star Narrative (value model, tie-breaker, scope)
2. Candidate metrics (3–5) + selection rationale (evaluation table)
3. Chosen North Star Metric spec (definition, formula, window, segmentation, owner, data source)
4. Driver tree (leading input/proxy metrics + guardrails)
5. Validation & rollout plan (instrumentation checks, dashboard cadence, decision rules)
6. Risks / Open questions / Next steps (always included)