The North Star Metric: Your Guide to Success

The North Star Metric: Your Guide to Success

How Products Find Their True Direction

Have you ever wondered how companies know if their products are actually helping customers? That’s where the North Star Metric comes in. It’s like a special compass that points to success.

Think about your favorite app or website. Maybe it’s TikTok, YouTube, or a game you love. The people who make these products need to know if you’re enjoying them. But with so many buttons, features, and options, how do they figure out what really matters?

The North Star Metric is the one measurement that matters most. For YouTube, it might be “minutes watched.” For Instagram, it could be “photos shared.” For Uber, it’s probably “rides completed.”

Why is finding this special metric so important? Because it helps everyone in the company make better decisions. Imagine you work at Spotify and your team is arguing about adding new features. Someone wants more playlists. Someone else thinks you need better recommendations. How do you decide? If your North Star Metric is “time spent listening,” then you ask: “Which change will make people listen to more music?” Now the decision becomes clearer.

Good North Star Metrics have a few things in common:

• They show if customers are happy
• They help the business grow
• Everyone in the company understands them
• They focus on what users do, not just what the company wants

But choosing the wrong metric can cause big problems. What if Facebook only cared about “time spent” on their app? They might make features that are addictive but not helpful. That’s why the best metrics focus on real value for users.

Have you noticed how some products get better over time while others seem to lose their way? The difference might be whether they’re following the right North Star.

Finding Your Personal North Star

But wait—what about people? Can we use a North Star Metric for our own growth? Absolutely!

Just like products need direction, so do we. Your personal North Star Metric helps you answer the question: “Am I growing in the way that matters most to me?”

What could your metric be? It depends on what you care about:

• If you want to become a writer, it might be “words written each day”
• If you’re learning guitar, perhaps it’s “minutes practiced”
• If you’re working on friendships, maybe it’s “meaningful conversations per week”

Having your own growth metric helps in surprising ways. Ever felt stuck not knowing what to do next? Or overwhelmed by too many choices? Your North Star can cut through the confusion.

Let’s say your metric is “pages read” because you want to become more knowledgeable. When Friday night comes and you’re deciding between scrolling social media or reading your book, your metric reminds you which choice aligns with your goals.

The best personal metrics share these qualities:

• You can actually measure them
• They connect to your deeper goals
• You have control over them
• They work both short-term and long-term

Here’s a question worth asking: “What one measurement would tell me I’m moving in the right direction?” The answer might change your life.

Of course, people are complicated—more complicated than products! Your North Star Metric won’t capture everything important. That’s okay. It’s not meant to be the only thing you care about, just the most important signal of progress on your journey.

Whether for apps or for ourselves, North Star Metrics help cut through noise and confusion. They remind us what truly matters. What’s your North Star?