writing-north-star-metrics

SKILL.md

Framework for defining a single, customer-centric metric that aligns teams and drives product decisions.

Measure value delivered to users, not revenue or internal activity; use proxy metrics like messages sent or nights booked that correlate with long-term outcomes

Ensure simplicity and universal understanding across the company; avoid composite scores and technical jargon that obscure meaning

Verify actionability by confirming teams can influence the metric through their work, and add countervailing metrics to prevent gaming

Ask clarifying questions about the moment users experience value, whether non-technical staff can discuss it, and whether it's a leading or lagging indicator

Revisit every 6–12 months to ensure alignment with evolving business strategy

Writing North Star Metrics

Help the user define their North Star metric using frameworks and insights from 27 product leaders.

How to Help

When the user asks for help with North Star metrics:

Understand the value - Ask what specific value the product delivers to users (not revenue or internal activity)

Test for simplicity - Ensure the metric can be understood and discussed by anyone in the company

Check for actionability - Confirm teams can actually influence this metric through their work

Add guardrails - Help them identify countervailing metrics that prevent gaming

Core Principles

Measure value delivered, not captured

Itamar Gilad: "The North Star metric measures how much value we create for the market. WhatsApp measured messages sent because every message is incremental value. Airbnb used nights booked." Select a metric that tracks core utility provided to the customer, not business extraction.