Vanity vs Actionable Metrics
Stop tracking metrics that look good. Start tracking metrics that drive decisions.
Your Progress
Section 3 of 5Vanity Metrics Look Good, Actionable Metrics Drive Action
Vanity metrics make you feel good but don\'t help you make decisions. They go up (yay!) but tell you nothing about what\'s working or what to do next. Actionable metrics reveal cause and effect, guide strategy, and predict outcomes.
Common Vanity Metrics
These metrics look impressive in slides but mislead decisions:
Page Views
Why It\'s Vanity:
Doesn't tell you if users found value or just got lost
Example Problem:
1M page views sounds great. But if users bounced after 5 seconds, you have a problem, not success.
Real Question to Ask:
Are users accomplishing their goals?
Actionable Alternative:
Task Completion Rate
Building Actionable Metric Stacks
North Star + Input/Health/Output metrics create complete picture:
North Star Metric: Emails Delivered Successfully
Captures core value: helping users reach their audience
Input Metrics
Leading indicators of engagementHealth Metrics
Quality of value deliveredOutput Metrics
Business and user satisfaction outcomesThe Actionable Metric Test
Ask These 3 Questions:
- 1.
If this metric changes, do I know what action to take?
If yes → actionable. If no → vanity.
- 2.
Does this metric tie to business outcomes?
Good metrics connect user behavior to revenue/retention.
- 3.
Can this metric be gamed without creating value?
If easy to game → bad metric. Example: Total signups can be gamed with fake accounts.
If You Can\'t Act On It, Don\\'t Track It
Every metric you track costs attention. Teams debate them, executives ask about them, engineers build dashboards for them. If a metric doesn\'t change your decisions, it\\'s waste. Ruthlessly cut vanity metrics. Focus on the few metrics that actually matter.
Key Takeaways
- •Vanity metrics: page views, downloads, followers, features shipped
- •Actionable metrics: retention rates, completion rates, NRR, activation
- •Test: If metric changes, do you know what action to take?
- •Build metric stacks: North Star + Input/Health/Output metrics