KPIs for Product Managers
These are the KPIs a product manager tracks for adoption, engagement and retention. They show whether people reach value in the product and keep coming back.
The KPIs to track
Activation rate is the percentage of new signups who reach the first meaningful value moment within a set time.
Formula and SQL query on the Activation Rate page.
Time to value is how long it takes a new user to reach their first meaningful outcome in the product.
Formula and SQL query on the Time to Value page.
Onboarding completion rate is the share of new users who finish the guided setup steps.
Formula and SQL query on the Onboarding Completion Rate page.
Feature adoption rate is the percentage of active users who used a particular feature in a period.
Formula and SQL query on the Feature Adoption Rate page.
Daily active users is the number of distinct users who perform a qualifying action in your product on a given day.
Formula and SQL query on the Daily Active Users (DAU) page.
Day-30 retention is the percentage of new users who are still active about 30 days after they signed up.
Formula and SQL query on the Day-30 Retention page.
DAU/MAU stickiness is the ratio of daily to monthly active users, showing how often monthly users come back each day.
Formula and SQL query on the DAU/MAU Stickiness page.
Crash rate is the share of app or website sessions that end in a crash, whatever the device.
Formula and SQL query on the Crash Rate page.
Where the data usually lives
A product analytics tool or event database, the application database, support tickets and customer feedback.
Measurement mistakes to avoid
- Activation should be a behaviour that predicts retention, not just sign-up.
- Retention should be measured by sign-up cohort, not across all users.
- Event tracking changes silently when the product changes; check that events still fire.
Questions to ask your data
You can type these as plain questions. SchemaChat turns each one into SQL against your connected database or uploaded file, runs it, and shows the SQL and the figures it used so you can check the answer before you share it. Check that the result matches how your business defines each KPI.
- What share of new sign-ups reached the activation event within a week?
- Which features are used by the fewest active users?
- How does day 30 retention compare across sign-up months?
- Where do users drop out of onboarding?