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第二章 北极星清单

目录

In this chapter, you will learn:

  • The characteristics of a strong North Star
  • What a North Star is not

在这一章中，你将学到:

  • 强健的北极星的特征
  • 北极星不是什么

North Star Checklist

北极星清单

  1. It expresses value. We can see why it matters to customers.
  2. It represents vision and strategy. Our company’s product and business strategy are reflected in it.
  3. It’s a leading indicator of success. It predicts future results, rather than reflecting past results.
  4. It’s actionable. We can take action to influence it.
  5. It’s understandable. It’s framed in plain language that non-technical partners can understand.
  6. It’s measurable. We can instrument our products to track it.
  7. It’s not a vanity metric. When it changes we can be confident that the change is meaningful and valuable, rather than being something that doesn’t actually predict long-term success—even if it makes the team feel good about itself.
  • 它表达了价值主张，我们可以看出为什么它对顾客很重要
  • 它代表着愿景和战略。 我们公司的产品和经营战略都体现在它上面
  • 它是成功的引领性指标。 它预测未来的结果，而不是反映过去的结果
  • 它是可执行的，我们可以采取行动来影响它
  • 它是可理解的。 非技术合作伙伴也能够理解的通俗语言可以表达它
  • 它是可测量的，我们可以用仪表盘来追踪它
  • 它不是一个虚荣的指标。当它发生变化时，我们可以确信这种变化是有意义和有价值的，而不是一种实际上无法预测长期成功的东西ーー即使这种变化让团队自我感觉良好

Expresses Value

价值主张

A good North Star Metric represents what customers value about your product.

一个好的北极星度量代表了客户最认可你的产品哪部分价值。

When teams fail to connect their North Star Metric to customer value, they risk leading their business down the wrong path. This means that simple counts of users, like 「Daily Active Users」 or 「Registered Users,」 are not optimal North Star Metrics, as they say nothing about what your customers value.

当团队无法将他们的北极星度量与客户价值联系起来时，他们就有可能将他们的业务引向错误的道路。 这意味着简单的用户计数，比如「每日活跃用户」或「注册用户」 ，并不是最佳的北极星指标，因为它们没有说明客户的价值。

Represents Product Vision & Strategy

代表产品愿景和战略

The North Star Metric represents the strategy of your business and your product. Once you have determined your North Star Metric, see if you can find your product strategy and vision within it. If you’ve built a strong North Star, you should be able to—at a high level—understand your company’s product strategy and your product’s vision by looking closely at the North Star.

「Each strategy we had at Netflix—from our personalization strategy to our theory that a simpler experience would improve retention—had a very specific metric that helped us to evaluate if the strategy was valid or not. If the strategy moved the metric, we knew we were on the right path. If we failed to move the metric, we moved on to the next idea. Identifying these metrics took a lot of the politics and ambiguity out of which strategies were succeeding or not.」

—Gibson Biddle, Former VP of Product at Netflix

北极星度量代表你的业务和产品的战略。 一旦你确定了你的北极星度量，看看你是否能找到你的产品战略和愿景。 如果你已经建立了一个强大的北极星，你应该能够通过仔细观察北极星来高层次地了解你的公司的产品战略和你的产品愿景。

「从我们的个性化策略，到我们的理论——简洁的体验可以提高留存率——我们在 netflix 的每个战略都有一个非常具体的指标，帮助我们评估这个战略是否有效。 如果这种战略改变了指标，我们就知道自己走在了正确的道路上。 如果我们不能改变这个指标，我们就转向下一个想法。 要确定这些指标，需要在哪些战略是成功的这个问题上进行大量的政治投入和模糊处理。」

ーー Netflix 前产品副总裁 gibson Biddle

We generally advise that your North Star should be unique to your business, expressing your company’s and your product’s strategy and mission. However, some businesses may have a mission that’s not particularly differentiated. That’s okay. If your business succeeds by executing well on a commoditized product, for example, don’t worry if your North Star might not feel particularly unique. Maybe your execution is what differentiates you.

我们通常建议对于单一业务，你的北极星应该是独一无二的，表达你的公司和你的产品的战略和使命。 然而，一些企业可能有一个没有特别有区分度的使命。 没关系。例如，如果你的生意构建在已经非常标准化和商品化的产品上，正在成功地进行，不要担心你的北极星可能感觉不是特别独特。 也许你的执行力才是你与众不同的地方。

Leading Indicator of Success

表征成功与否的引领性指标

Some metrics tell us what has already happened to our business; these are lagging indicators. Other metrics predict what will happen to our business; these are leading indicators.

一些指标告诉我们我们的业务已经发生了什么; 这些是滞后指标。 其他指标预测我们的业务将会发生什么; 这些是引领性指标。

A good North Star Metric is a leading indicator of business success. This is why metrics like 「Monthly Revenue」 or 「Average Revenue per User (ARPU)」 aren’t optimal North Star Metrics: They tell you what happened in the past rather than predicting future results. Ideally, your North Star Metric is predictive of medium- to long-term sustainable growth.

一个好的北极星度量是商业成功的引领性s指标。 这就是为什么「每月收入」或「每用户平均收入(ARPU)」这样的指标不是最佳的北极星指标: 它们告诉你过去发生了什么，而不是预测未来的结果。 理想情况下，你的北极星指标是中长期可持续增长的表征值。

For example, if you’re running a subscription-based product, you might consider annual revenue from subscribers to be a key metric, but it’s a lagging indicator. Instead, a subscription-based business could identify characteristics that correlate with a user who is likely to renew her subscription, and then build a North Star around that. If a user frequently runs a certain report showing the status of her customers, does that correlate to renewing a subscription? Perhaps that’s a hint that your North Star may be related to the information in that report.

例如，如果你正在运行一个基于订阅的产品，你可能会将订阅收入视为一个关键指标，但它是一个滞后指标。 相反，基于订阅的业务可以识别与续订用户相关的特征，然后围绕这些特征建立一个「北极星」。

Actionable

可执行的

Your North Star should be something you believe you can influence or do something about. This means it shouldn’t be a measure of a broader market trend or reflect real-world realities that would be true whether your product existed or not.

你的北极星应该是你认为你可以影响或者做的事情。 这意味着它不应该是一个非常宽泛的市场趋势或不管你的产品是否存在都不受影响的现实世界的真实状况。

For example, a team building an HR app to improve companies’ employee experience and retention might consider 「Customers’ Lifelong Employees」 an aspirational North Star Metric, but broader trends in the economy and labor market will make it difficult for the team to influence this metric.

例如，一个团队建立一个人力资源应用程序来改善公司的员工体验和留住员工，可能会认为「客户的终身雇员数量」是一个雄心勃勃的北极星指标，但经济和劳动力市场的更广泛趋势将使团队难以影响这一指标。

可执行

你的北极星应该是你认为你可以影响或者做的事情。

Understandable

可以理解

The North Star shouldn’t be so arcane or abstract that you can’t easily explain it to non-technical people or express it in plain language. A simple test: As you develop your North Star, describe it to someone who knows your business but lacks deep technical knowledge. If it’s a good metric, they’ll be able to quickly understand it without much trouble.

北极星不应该如此神秘或抽象，以至于你不能很容易地向非技术人员解释或用简单的语言表达它。一个简单的测试: 当你开发你的北极星时，向那些了解你的业务但缺乏深入技术知识的人描述它。如果这是一个很好的指标，他们将能够很快地理解它而不会有太多的麻烦。

Measurable

可测量的

If you’ll never be able to configure your products and processes to collect the data needed to track and communicate the North Star Metric, it’s not a good metric, even if you can imagine it is a strong indicator of value to the customer.

如果你永远不能配置你的产品和流程来收集追踪和交流北极星指标所需的数据——这不是一个好的指标，即使你可以想象它是客户价值的一个强有力的表征。

警告

但不要因为我们强调可测量就认为北极星指标是现在的数据和工具就可以测量的。

For example, the team responsible for a digital platform dedicated to producing thought-provoking short films might love the idea of increasing the number of people who silently reflect on the films as they lie in bed at night. However, it would be difficult to design processes and products that discern the thoughts of customers lying in bed. So a better North Star Metric might be customers sharing insights in a community discussion—something that can be implemented and tracked. In this example, the number of customers sharing their insights, a measurable metric, is a proxy metric for the number of customers pondering the films, which is tougher to collect.

例如，一个专门制作发人深省的短片的数字平台的团队可能会喜欢这个想法，即北极星指标是那些晚上躺在床上默默回想电影的人数。 然而，要设计出能够辨别躺在床上的顾客的想法的流程和产品是很困难的。 因此，一个更好的北极星度量方法可能是让客户在社区讨论中分享见解ーー这类可以实施和跟踪的东西。在这个例子中，分享他们的见解的客户数量，一个可衡量的指标，是一个代理指标，它关联到还在回味电影客户数量这个指标，后者是难以衡量的。

However, don’t fall into the trap of thinking that your North Star must be something you can measure with your current data and tools. In many cases, with just some light instrumentation and investment in new tools, or even just improvements in communication and relationships, you’ll be able to measure what you want.

然而，不要陷入这样的思维陷阱: 你的北极星必须是你可以用你现有的数据和工具来测量的东西。 在很多情况下，只需要一些简单的工具和对新工具的投资，或者只是改善沟通和人际关系，你就能够衡量你想要什么。

Not a Vanity Metric

不是虚荣指标

Some metrics might make you feel good about your team’s performance or your market in the short term, but don’t actually tell you about your product’s long-term success. Be wary of choosing these vanity metrics for your North Star Metric.

一些指标可能会让你在短期内对团队的表现或市场感觉良好，但实际上不会告诉你你的产品的长期成功。要小心你的北极星指标没有选择这些虚荣的指标。

Example Vanity Metrics:

  • Daily Active Users
  • Ad Impressions
  • Number of Downloads
  • Page Views
  • Registered Users
  • Story Points Delivered
  • Time on Page

虚荣指标:

  • 每日活跃用户
  • 广告印象
  • 下载次数
  • 网页浏览量
  • 注册用户
  • 上线多少功能（完成多少 Story Point）
  • 用户停留时间

「A question I ask my workshop attendees,」 explains Amplitude’s Senior Engagement Manager Parth Mistry, is 「if this metric were to go up, would you be able to state unequivocally that this was a good or bad thing? And perhaps more importantly, what action can I take as a product manager or marketer based on this information?」

「我问我的工作坊参与者一个问题」，Amplitude 的高级参与经理 Parth Mistry 解释说，「如果这个指标上升，你能够明确地声明这是一件好事还是一件坏事？ 或许更重要的是，基于这些信息，作为一名产品经理或营销人员，我可以采取什么行动? 」

While it might make your team feel good to know that you had the most activity you’ve ever had on your inquiry page, or that this month your team had better development velocity than ever before, those metrics won’t actually tell you about the success of your product, and shouldn’t be used as your North Star Metric.

虽然这可能会让你的团队感觉良好，知道你在查询页面上有过最多的活动，或者这个月你的团队比以前有更好的开发速度，但这些指标实际上不会告诉你你的产品是否成功，也不应该用作你的北极星指标。

Example: Going Beyond Vanity Metrics with the 「Happy Deliveries」 North Star

例如: 超越虚荣指标与「快乐递送」北极星

A delivery app had considered potential North Star Metrics like 「People Opening the App,」 「Scheduled Deliveries,」 or 「Early Deliveries.」 But there was a problem. These metrics masked the real drivers of retention and customer lifetime value (LTV).

一个物流应用程序曾考虑过「北极星指标」为「人们打开应用程序频次」、「发快递数」或「提前送达数」。 但是有一个问题。 这些指标掩盖了用户留存和用户生命周期价值(LTV)的真正驱动因素。

However, the team behind the delivery app conducted research with customers which concluded that valued deliveries were neither early nor late. Instead, these transactions simply had no issues—what the team ultimately called 「Happy Deliveries.」 The company found that Happy Deliveries are highly correlated with retention, which drives customer lifetime value. Thus, Happy Deliveries became the North Star Metric.

然后，这个应用背后的团队对客户进行了研究，得出的结论是，送货最关键的价值不在于早和晚（它们可以是输入因素之一）。而是这些交易没出问题——该团队最终称之为「愉快送达」(Happy Deliveries)。 该公司发现，愉快送达率与留存高度相关，并提升了用户生命周期价值。 因此，愉快送达率成为了北极星指标。

What the North Star is Not

北极星不是什么

As you consider what makes a good North Star, also recognize what the North Star Framework is not — though it can work alongside and inform many of these related models and concepts. See Tips on Using the North Star Framework with Related Topics for more information.

当你考虑如何成为一个好的北极星时，也要认识到北极星框架不是什么ーー尽管它可以与这些相关的模型和概念一起工作，并为它们提供参考。 详情请参阅使用北极星框架及相关主题的提示。

The North Star Framework is not:

  • Your roadmap
  • Your software development process
  • A prioritization framework
  • A goal-setting framework, like OKRs or Focus Cards, though the North Star can be a strong foundation upon which to base goals
  • Management by Objectives (MBOs)
  • Perfection (no framework is!). Many successful product teams have used other methods with much success. We think that’s great, and we encourage those teams to keep doing what they’re doing.

北极星框架不是:

  • 路线图
  • 软件开发过程
  • 优先级框架
  • 一个设定目标的框架，像 OKRs 里的 O，虽然北极星可以是一个强有力的基础让你来构建出这些目标
  • 一个目标管理的框架，像 OKR 的其余部分
  • 完美(没有框架是!) ：许多成功的产品团队已经成功地使用了其他方法。 我们认为这很好，我们鼓励这些团队继续做他们正在做的事情。

Chapter in Review

本章回顾

  • A good North Star satisfies a number of criteria. Use the checklist to evaluate your own candidates for a North Star Metric and Inputs.
  • A North Star is not the same as your roadmap, prioritization framework, or performance management system.

  • No framework is perfect. If you are successfully using other methods and techniques, by all means keep doing what you’re doing.

  • 一颗好的北极星满足许多条件。 使用清单来评估你自己的候选人的北极星度量和投入。
  • 北极星不同于你的路线图、优先级框架或者绩效管理系统。
  • 没有一个框架是完美的。 如果你使用了其他的方法和技巧并且是成功运行的，请务必继续做你正在做的事情。