Measuring a product’s performance seems like an obvious part of the job. But in practice, how many companies actually do it?
In many organizations, the habit is to release a feature and immediately sprint toward the next one. We rarely pause to ask: Did this actually make the user’s life better? With a backlog overflowing with “high priority” requests, it’s easy to feel like success is measured by how much we ship.
But the true goal of product management is not to produce features—it is to continuously add value. You cannot do that if you haven’t defined what “value” looks like, or if you lack the tools to measure it. Your product needs a feedback loop just as much as your internal processes do.
Add Value, Not Just Features
It is easy to point to a long list of shipped features as proof of productivity. It is much harder—but far more vital—to vet ideas through rigorous prototyping, research, and testing before they ever hit development.
The second approach requires time, and time is a luxury many companies feel they can’t afford. However, if you want to differentiate your product, you must have the discipline to back your decisions with data. Building the right thing is always more efficient than building the wrong thing quickly.
Where to Start: Find Your North Star
Before you look at a dashboard, define the core value your product brings to your users. Is it Speed? Accuracy? Efficiency? Ease of Use?
Pick the one-word description that defines success for your user. That is your North Star. Once you have that, you can choose a framework to track your progress. The two I recommend most are:
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HEART: (Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, Task Success) – Great for user-centric UX goals.
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CASTLE: (Cognitive load, Alignment, Satisfaction, Trust, Learning, Efficiency) – Excellent for complex workflows or internal tools.
Your choice of framework will depend on your industry and audience, but the goal is the same: move from guessing to knowing.
Closing the Loop
Once your framework is in place, start tracking everything you can. This isn’t just about numbers; it’s about the “Why” behind the data:
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Quantitative: Use analytics and micro-surveys to track the performance of released features in real-time.
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Qualitative: Use session recordings and user interviews to see where people are struggling.
As you gather these insights, you’ll notice a shift. You’ll stop looking for “the next big thing” to build and start seeing the specific changes needed to align your product with your North Star.
The Bottom Line
Agile is often misinterpreted as “moving fast,” but speed is useless if you’re headed in the wrong direction. Stop measuring success by the size of your release notes. Start measuring it by the impact you have on your users.
If you found this helpful, please share it with your colleagues, friends, or your boss! You can also explore more of my thoughts in my Agile Laws series here.
Thanks for reading! Agile ↑
