Measuring Success (Part 1)

A couple of days ago I came across an image, concerning a post, in a group chat. The image is shown below.

As most product managers know, measuring success is very important for several reasons including goal alignment, performance evaluation, iterative improvement, data driven decision making etc.

All of the above options are different ways to measure success but it is also essential to know which success metric or KPI to use and when.

I think the keyword in the image above is “experience”. We want to measure product experience.

In my opinion, the primary way to do that is through user engagement. It tracks metrics like active users, session duration, time spent per feature, or click-through rates. These metrics indicate the level of user engagement and adoption of the product. This helps assess how well the product is resonating with users and if they find value in it.

Undoubtedly, other options can also be used to measure product experience.

1. Conversion Rate: By tracking conversion rates at different stages of the user journey, such as sign-ups, free trials, subscriptions, or purchases. This would help indicate how effectively the product converts users into customers and if the product experience contributes to desired actions.
2. Retention and Churn: Measuring customer retention rates and churn rates help understand if users are continuously using the product over time or if they are abandoning it. High retention and low churn rates suggest a positive product experience.

Some other ways to measure product experience include:

1. Usability and User Experience: Conducting usability tests, user research, and analyzing user behavior to evaluate the intuitiveness, ease of use, and overall user experience of the product. This can be done through user testing sessions, heatmaps, click-through analysis, or user behavior analytics.
2. Customer Satisfaction: Collect feedback through surveys, user interviews, and customer support interactions to gauge customer satisfaction and sentiment. Net Promoter Score (NPS) and Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) scores can provide insights into user perception, loyalty and product experience.

Some days later, the poll was closed ansd results were out. Check it out in the image below.

Now over to you.

What option would you have selected and why?