claude-skills-reference/product-team/product-analytics/references/metrics-frameworks.md

Metrics Frameworks

AARRR (Pirate Metrics)

AARRR breaks the product journey into five stages.

1. Acquisition

• How users discover the product
• Example metrics: signups, CAC, channel conversion

2. Activation

• First meaningful value moment
• Example metrics: activation rate, time-to-first-value

3. Retention

• Ongoing user return behavior
• Example metrics: D7/W4 retention, rolling retained users

4. Revenue

• Monetization and value capture
• Example metrics: conversion to paid, ARPU, expansion revenue

5. Referral

• Organic growth from existing users
• Example metrics: referral rate, invite conversion, K-factor

North Star Metric Framework

North Star = metric capturing long-term customer value delivered.

North Star Criteria

• Reflects real user value
• Sensitive to product improvements
• Predictive of sustainable growth
• Understandable across functions

Example North Star Metrics

• Collaboration SaaS: weekly active teams
• Marketplace: successful transactions per active buyer
• Content product: hours of qualified consumption

Input Metrics

Track levers that influence the North Star:

• Acquisition quality
• Activation quality
• Engagement depth
• Retention durability

HEART Framework

HEART is a UX-oriented framework from Google.

• Happiness: satisfaction, NPS, perceived quality
• Engagement: interaction depth/frequency
• Adoption: first-time use of features/products
• Retention: return behavior over time
• Task Success: completion rate, error rate, time on task

HEART + Goals-Signals-Metrics

1. Goals: what UX outcome you want
2. Signals: observed behavior indicating movement
3. Metrics: measurable indicator for each signal

Framework Selection Guide

Situation	Recommended Framework
Early growth and funnel bottlenecks	AARRR
Company-wide strategic alignment	North Star
UX and product quality optimization	HEART
Mixed maturity org	North Star + AARRR operational layers

Example: B2B SaaS Product

• North Star: weekly active accounts completing core workflow
• AARRR operational metrics:
  • Acquisition: qualified signups
  • Activation: % accounts completing setup in 7 days
  • Retention: W8 retained accounts
  • Revenue: paid conversion and expansion rate
  • Referral: invited teammate activation rate
• HEART for onboarding redesign:
  • Task Success: onboarding completion rate
  • Happiness: onboarding CSAT