Metric types

DoubleLoop's tool for mapping your strategy was inspired by Amplitude's North Star Playbook by John Cutler and Jason Scherschligt. The framework provides a model for how work and metrics relate to each other:

Adapted from Amplitude's North Star Playbook

There are three types of metrics in DoubleLoop that live on a spectrum from leading to lagging indicators:

• Input metrics. Input metrics are leading indicators that can be influenced by work, like the percent of users that perform a certain action during a session. By themselves, they don’t equate business success.

• North Star metric. Your North Star metric is how you measure the value you're delivering customers. If you grow the metric, you'll make your users and happy and grow your business. It's the bridge between your leading and lagging indicators. A rule of thumb is that you should have one North Star metric per product at your company.

• Business KPIs. Business KPIs are lagging indicators that matter for your business; things like revenue and customer retention. Because they are lagging and subject to external forces, they often can't be impacted directly by work.

For background on how the top companies think about their metrics, see our post, Metrics-driven product development is hard.