Keeping Score: How KPIs Can Help You Win at Product Management

Success isn't just about delivering features on time and on budget. It's about creating products that truly resonate with your users and drive business value. But how do you measure that success? That's where KPIs come in.

A KPI, or Key Performance Indicator, is a metric used to measure the success of a product or feature. It's a way to keep score and ensure that you're moving in the right direction. But not all KPIs are created equal. To choose the right ones for your products, you need to start by defining what success looks like.

Let's say you're launching a new mobile app. What does success mean for this app? Is it about user engagement, revenue, or something else entirely? Once you've defined your goals, you can start to identify KPIs that align with those goals.

For example, if user engagement is a key goal for your app, you might track metrics like daily active users, session length, or retention rate. If revenue is your primary focus, you might track metrics like conversion rate, average revenue per user, or lifetime value.

But it's not just about choosing the right metrics. It's also about setting targets and tracking progress over time. By setting specific, measurable targets for your KPIs, you can monitor your progress and adjust your strategy as needed. And by regularly reviewing your KPIs, you can identify areas where you need to improve and take action to address those areas.

Of course, KPIs are just one tool in your product management toolkit. They're not a substitute for user research, customer feedback, or good old-fashioned intuition. But by using KPIs to keep score and measure success, you can ensure that you're creating products that truly deliver value to your users and your business.

So the next time you're embarking on a new product development project, take the time to define your goals and choose the right KPIs to measure your progress. Use these metrics as a way to keep score and drive success, and watch your products soar to new heights. After all, in the world of product management, keeping score is the name of the game.