Launching a startup is challenging, to say the least. There are so many things to do and precious little time. Looking back to my experience launching Groovebug, one of the things I would have done differently is taking the time to build a better KPI dashboard.
As we all know, the probability of nailing product/experience/market fit with the very first iteration is nearly zero. Evidence backed iteration is the name of the game. Exceptional digital products and companies result from knowing the user, knowing the landscape, iterative releases, careful listening, sound analysis, and focusing development efforts on the most potent feature set addressing user needs. Easier said than done, right?
I’ve been involved with quite a few product launches between my work at Groovebug, the startup I founded while attending Northwestern, consulting independently on product and go-to-market strategy for a number of innovative companies, and working as a Product Manager and Director at Vokal. One thing that sets the successful products apart from those that fizzle is how they are managed after their first contact with the market. Even amazing concepts falter when they aren’t managed properly post-deployment.
Something as simple as a properly planned, implemented, and calibrated KPI dashboard can transform the way products are managed. Often the most powerful KPIs can only be derived by integrating data from various silos (e.g. Salesforce and front end web events). At Vokal, I lead the initiative to develop the process and analytics platform that provides clients with a dashboard designed for product management. We rolled out the dashboard with several clients and witnessed an incredible transformation in the management of planning, development, and growth.
Here is why it works:
- The process of planning KPIs for the dashboard includes important strategic discussions that keep goals and smart business strategy top-of-mind during the critical early stages of product planning and development. With so many possibilities, it is easy to drift away from core strategy towards “shiny objects” like features that address edge cases. KPI and measurement planning helps you stay focused.
- Backing into the analytics tracking plan maintains alignment between goals, objectives, KPIs, and the plan itself which determines events and data sources. This ensures that there is a real strategy behind analytics tracking rather than an attempt to “track everything.” Without a strategy, the “track everything” approach almost always misses something because key behaviors sometimes take collaborative problem solving to track properly.
- Before launching a new product one can use the KPIs to walk through possible scenarios of what might happen when the product hits the market. Setting targets for KPIs and discussing what to do next if goals are achieved or if you fall short is an effective planning technique. It is easy to move “goal posts” if you don’t set targets before deployment. Having these discussions before launch helps remove emotion or bias and ultimately enables better decision making downstream.
- Once a product has been deployed, KPI dashboard can be used to prioritize features. Even the most intuitive product savants have a hard time prioritizing new development work without key metrics. All new feature work must be attached to a strong hypothesis for moving one of the KPIs we are tracking. If that case can’t be made, then it shouldn’t be a priority. This process helps keep products moving in the right direction - towards business goals and product objectives.
If you’re part of an 1871 company and want to talk more about evidence based product management or setting up analytics, look up my 1871 mentoring hours on June 22nd and every fourth Wednesday thereafter.
If you’re not an 1871 member, but still want to talk, find me through my Linkedin account.
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