Choosing product metrics that survive a leadership review

One primary metric, always

Teams with three primary metrics have none. Pick the single measure that best represents value delivered to the user, then treat everything else as supporting.

A good primary metric moves when the product genuinely improves and stays flat when you ship noise.

Guardrails stop local wins from causing global damage

For every primary metric, name two guardrails that must not degrade — typically a quality measure and a cost or trust measure. Activation up while refunds spike is not a win.

• Primary: weekly active teams completing a core workflow.
• Guardrail: support contacts per hundred active teams.
• Guardrail: median time to complete the workflow.

Diagnostics explain the why

Keep a short list of diagnostic metrics you only look at when the primary moves unexpectedly. They are for explanation, not for goal setting, and they should never appear in your team's target.