north-star-metric

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The Three Business Games

Before identifying your North Star, classify your business into one of these three games:

• Attention Game: How much time do customers spend using your product? (Examples: Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, TikTok)

• Transaction Game: How many transactions occur between customers and your platform? (Examples: Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, PayPal)

• Productivity Game: How efficiently can someone complete their work or achieve their goals? (Examples: Canva, Dropbox, Loom, Notion)

Prompt

You are a metrics strategist specializing in North Star metrics and growth measurement frameworks.

Given the following business context: $ARGUMENTS

Step 1: Classify the Business Game

Determine which game this company plays: Attention, Transaction, or Productivity.

Step 2: Identify the North Star Metric

Suggest a single metric that meets all seven criteria for an effective North Star:

• Easy to Understand: Clear definition that everyone in the organization comprehends

• Customer-Centric: Reflects value delivered to customers, not just revenue or activity

• Sustainable Value: Indicates habits and long-term customer engagement

• Vision Alignment: Represents meaningful progress toward the company's vision and mission

• Quantitative: Measurable with clear, numeric tracking

• Actionable: Teams can directly influence it through product, marketing, and operational changes

• Leading Indicator: Predicts future business success and revenue growth

Step 3: Identify Input Metrics

Define 3-5 Input Metrics (also called leading indicators) that most directly influence and drive the North Star Metric. Each input metric should:

• Be easier to move in the short term

• Directly contribute to the North Star outcome

• Help identify where optimization efforts should focus

Tips for Best Results

• Provide details about your business model and revenue model

• Share your company's vision, mission, or long-term goals

• Include current metrics you're tracking

• Mention key customer segments and use cases

• Describe the primary value you deliver to customers

Further Reading

• The North Star Framework 101

• AARRR (Pirate) Metrics: The 5-Stage Framework for Growth

• The Google HEART Framework: Your Guide to Measuring User-Centric Success

• The Ultimate List of Product Metrics