North Star Metric
Design Processes
The one number that best captures the value a product delivers to its users.
In practice
A north star metric is the single measure a product team aligns around because it reflects customers genuinely getting value — nights booked, messages sent, documents shared — rather than vanity counts like sign-ups. It focuses effort, exposes trade-offs, and ties design work to something that matters. Picking the wrong one optimises the product for the wrong thing.
Questions
What is North Star Metric?
A north star metric is a leading indicator of customer value chosen as a product's primary measure of success, with supporting input metrics feeding it.
Why do you use North Star Metric?
Teams need one thing to point at. A good north star means every feature can be asked: does this move it?
How do you use/apply North Star Metric?
Identify the moment users realise value, find a measurable proxy for it, validate that it correlates with retention and revenue, and build input metrics the team can directly affect.
When do you use North Star Metric?
Once a product has real users and the team needs shared direction.
Who uses North Star Metric?
Product leaders, designers and analysts.
