Product Collective - Win by knowing the score

Use product metrics to know the score along the way

Imagine playing basketball where you only knew the score after the game was over. Do you think that might impact in-game adjustments or decrease the number of stunning comebacks? That’s the situation product managers face when they only rely on business metrics like revenue to know how they’re doing. Thankfully there are product metrics to let you know how things are going along the way, while there’s still time to adjust.

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Product metrics that matter. Product metrics allow measuring product progress and creating alignment in an outcome-oriented way. They develop an appetite for experimenting and being data-informed/inspired. Cláudia Delgado explains if you don’t use product metrics, you’re at a disadvantage. You’ll understand less about users, be prone to opinions, take unnecessary risks, work harder instead of smarter, and have less understanding of your work’s impact.

(via @claudiatd)

16 Customer Success Metrics and KPIs to Track in 2021. Suzan Çalcalı has questioned success her entire life. She kept asking herself, “what defines success?” She doesn't need to ask the same philosophical questions while doing her job. That’s because she has metrics she can use to measure success. Susan covers the essential customer success metrics and the KPIs that you need to track for a better CS operation.

(via @UserGuiding)

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Are you ready for the metaverse?

Imagine this: You’re just casually hanging out in your space-den, you know… as one does. And then Mark Zuckerberg just appears out of nowhere. At first, you’re taken back because… well, it’s your space-den. And you didn’t invite Avatar Zuck to your party. Then you realize that it’s just an ad for the latest MetaGroups feature. You politely wait for Mark to finish until you realize that you really don’t have to. Because it’s not the real Zuck, of course. So you walk up and swipe him away… and wait for your real friends to show up. Well… not your real real friends. Their avatars of course. Because this is the metaverse. 

With the recent announcement of Facebook’s re-brand to Meta and proclaimed focus on virtual reality experiences – this is all possible. Maybe a little dystopian… but it’s 2021. What do we expect?

So what does this all mean for us as product people? How might the Metaverse change the way that people interact with our products? A couple of things come to mind.

1. This is probably relevant whether we like it or not. We may laugh at the cheesy Mark Zuckerberg Meta commercial. But with Meta being the 6th biggest company in the world by Market Cap -- and the fact that Facebook is investing billions into the Metaverse – it’s likely going to be a thing. And it’s not just for consumer apps and games.

2. We may need to be developing with the Metaverse stack in mind. Just as we have our own development stacks for Mobile or Web – we may need to start thinking about how our products live in the Metaverse. Not just entertainment applications, too. Microsoft, is already all-in on focusing on business applications for the Metaverse. So if you’re managing a SaaS application, you may want to start thinking about how it may work in the Metaverse. 

So buckle up, everybody. The Metaverse looks to be here, and things are about to get weird for all of us.

15 Product management KPIs and metrics to track in 2021. Product management KPIs and metrics help product managers monitor the performance of their product to ensure that the company is improving and working towards a successful product strategy. But what are product management KPIs and metrics, and how can they help you? And more importantly, which metrics should you be tracking? Greg Swan discusses everything you need to know about product management KPIs and takes a look at the fifteen best product management metrics you need to track today.

(via @clickup)

What metrics are the most important for your product?  The SaaS industry is full of advice on the perfect product metrics to gauge your users’ activation, engagement, and interactions. But how do these concepts translate into real product improvements? If you don’t know exactly what questions you want to be answered, these product metrics leave you blinded by the very data you hoped would open your eyes. Nick Odlum And Kevin Mcnally explain how to answer the key questions about your product and business, and provide data that can inform product team decisions.

(via @intercom)

2021 Product Benchmarks.  If you’d like to get an idea of how your metrics line up with other companies of your same size or in your market check out the 2021 Product Benchmarks report that OpenView Ventures produced in partnership with your friends here at Product Collective.

(via @OpenViewVenture)

Customer feedback is priceless when it comes to building a great product. But it can be a daunting task for product managers to focus and keep out the surrounding noise.

As feedback should be a cornerstone of product management, we gathered 4 common customer feedback mistakes you should avoid to get real value out of it.

In this webinar, you'll learn how to:

• Avoid bias when managing feedback
• Find problems to solve and not become a feature factory
• Gather customer feedback in one place and create real customer conversations
• Create insights to inform discovery and product strategy

This webinar is sponsored by our friends at airfocus

Everyone's been talking about digital transformation. For those of us at organizations that need to go through a digital transformation — or if we're currently undertaking one — how exactly should we be approaching things? What will work — and what won't? How do we fully embrace going through a digital transformation as a product team?

We'll cover all of these questions, and more, with Ed Pederson — VP of Product at Kelly — who will share his experiences and approach to leading digital transformation at Kelly, a 75-year old global enterprise pioneering the future of work. You'll learn where they are on their journey, challenges and opportunities he's met along the way, and how you can take the next step as a leader at your organization. Plus, you'll have an opportunity to ask questions of your own!