Thread by @susanavlopes

As a hiring manager I've noticed that the single thing most #ProductMgmt people struggle with in interviews is metrics.

Most pms struggle to beyond generic metrics like retention.

Here are a few questions I use to coach PMs on choosing the right metrics to measure success.

In order to measure success you need to ground the metric in the user's goals.

1. What problem does this problem / feature solve for this user?

2. What is success for this user? Specifically what do they do, how do they feel, what don't they have to do anymore or as much.

3. What evidence does the user leave behind in your software that enables you to tell that they were successful?

4. How would you measure that? Be specific: what exact number are you looking at and for what time period are you measuring it for.

5. How could this metric be lying to you? Is it measuring what you think it is? Could something else that is not user success make this metric look good? Do you need to change it to account for this?

6. What else do you need to measure to make sure releasing this feature hasn't accidentally made other stuff break?

I've used these questions with my coaching clients multiple times. I never know what metrics will come out of it before we start. But I'm always impressed by how deeply the PMs know the customer and use case and the strong metrics that come out the other end as a result.

I'd love to hear any other experiences with metrics and any feedback you might have on this. What other questions have you used to find solid metrics to track?