North star metric
A strong north star metric reflects customer value, responds to product improvements, and is connected to long-term business performance. It should not be a vanity total or a metric one team can inflate without creating real value. Supporting input metrics explain how the organization can influence it, while guardrails protect quality, trust, and economics.
What is North star metric?
A north star metric is the single measure that best represents the recurring value a product delivers to customers and the sustainable growth that value can create.
Why it matters
A strong north star metric reflects customer value, responds to product improvements, and is connected to long-term business performance. It should not be a vanity total or a metric one team can inflate without creating real value. Supporting input metrics explain how the organization can influence it, while guardrails protect quality, trust, and economics.
Example
A collaboration product uses weekly active teams completing shared work, rather than total registered users, as its north star metric.