The Product Scorecard

Cagan argues that many companies lack a clear way to tell whether product managers' work actually aligns with business strategy, and that teams drift into chasing feature ideas. He proposes a 'Product Scorecard': a small, prioritized set of KPIs for each product manager and the product organization that map directly to key business priorities. The scorecard focuses decisions, helps trim the roadmap and backlog, and gives leaders a basis for managing performance. He stresses that KPIs should be tied to investment levels, revisited as strategy matures, kept to only a handful per manager, and socialized across marketing, sales, engineering and executives.

01Key takeaways

• Define a small set of KPIs for each product manager that trace directly to named business priorities.
• Use the scorecard to filter the backlog: features that don't move a top KPI should generally be dropped.
• Match performance expectations to the level of investment a product receives.
• Limit each scorecard to roughly five or six priority KPIs to preserve focus.
• Revisit and adjust KPIs as the business strategy matures.
• Share the scorecard across marketing, sales, engineering and executives so everyone understands the priorities.

02Key sections

The alignment problem

Companies often talk about strategy without clear measures showing whether product work serves it. Teams default to chasing feature ideas whose link to business goals is unclear.

What a product scorecard is

A scorecard is a set of KPIs that product managers and the product organization use to make decisions and drive products. An e-commerce seller example illustrates KPIs such as revenue per seller, promotional revenue, seller count and seller NPS.

Accountability and investment

Targets should scale with the level of engineering investment, and product managers are expected to influence factors outside their direct control rather than use them as excuses.

Focus and maintenance

Keep only five or six priority KPIs, ensure each product manager has clear responsibility, and update KPIs as the business strategy changes over time.

Socializing the scorecard

Executives must agree on the KPIs and every stakeholder should understand why they are the focus, adjusting them where needed to align sales, marketing and product.

03From the post

“A partnership dedicated to teaching best practices to product teams and product leaders”

04Frameworks mentioned

Summary and takeaways written by PM Atlas; quotes are short excerpts. © the original author.