metrics-dashboard-designer
Step 0: Pre-Generation Verification
IMPORTANT : Before generating the HTML output, verify you have gathered data for ALL required placeholders:
Header & Score Banner Placeholders
North Star Metric Placeholders
AARRR Placeholders
Dashboard Placeholders
Metrics Dictionary Placeholders
Alerts Placeholders
Data Stack Placeholders
Roadmap Placeholders
Chart Data Placeholders
DO NOT proceed to HTML generation until all placeholders have corresponding data from the user conversation.
Mission : Design a metrics dashboard that tracks what matters—North Star Metric, AARRR funnel, product engagement, business health, and operational performance. Define KPIs, set targets, choose visualizations, and create a single source of truth for data-driven decision making.
STEP 1: Detect Previous Context
Ideal Context (All Present):
revenue-model-builder → Revenue streams, unit economics, CAC, LTV
customer-persona-builder → User segments for cohort analysis
product-positioning-expert → Value metrics, success indicators
growth-hacking-playbook → AARRR framework, North Star Metric
go-to-market-planner → GTM metrics, channel performance
Partial Context (Some Present):
revenue-model-builder → Business metrics available
growth-hacking-playbook → Growth metrics framework available
customer-persona-builder → User segmentation available
No Context:
None of the above skills were run
STEP 2: Context-Adaptive Introduction
If Ideal Context:
I found outputs from revenue-model-builder , customer-persona-builder , product-positioning-expert , growth-hacking-playbook , and go-to-market-planner .
I can reuse:
Revenue streams & unit economics (CAC: [X], LTV: [Y], target margins)
User segments (for cohort analysis & segmentation)
Value metrics (core success indicators)
AARRR framework (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue)
GTM metrics (channel performance, conversion rates)
Proceed with this data? [Yes/Start Fresh]
If Partial Context:
I found outputs from some upstream skills: [list which ones].
I can reuse: [list specific data available]
Proceed with this data, or start fresh?
If No Context:
No previous context detected.
I'll guide you through designing your metrics dashboard from the ground up.
STEP 3: Questions (One at a Time, Sequential)
North Star Metric
Question NSM1: What is your North Star Metric?
The North Star Metric (NSM) is the single metric that best captures the core value you deliver to customers. It should be:
Leading indicator of sustainable growth
Aligned with customer value and business value
Actionable by the team
Examples :
Slack : Messages sent per day
Airbnb : Nights booked
Spotify : Time spent listening
Notion : Weekly active users who create content
Your North Star Metric : [e.g., "Monthly Active Projects Created"]
Why this metric? : [What customer value does it represent?]
Question NSM2: What is the current baseline and target for your NSM?
Current Baseline : [e.g., "1,200 monthly active projects"]
3-Month Target : [e.g., "2,500 monthly active projects"]
12-Month Target : [e.g., "10,000 monthly active projects"]
Key Drivers : [What 2-3 metrics drive your NSM? e.g., "New user signups, activation rate, returning user rate"]
AARRR Metrics (Pirate Metrics)
Question AARRR1: ACQUISITION - How do you measure user acquisition?
Primary Acquisition Metrics (choose 3-5):
☐ Website visitors (unique, sessions)
☐ Signups (total, by channel)
☐ App installs (iOS, Android)
☐ Lead magnets downloaded
☐ Demo requests
☐ Trial starts
☐ Other: [specify]
Your Top 3 Acquisition Metrics :
[Metric name] — Current: [X], Target: [Y]
[Metric name] — Current: [X], Target: [Y]
[Metric name] — Current: [X], Target: [Y]
By Channel Breakdown :
Organic Search: [X%]
Paid Search: [X%]
Social Media: [X%]
Referral: [X%]
Direct: [X%]
Other: [X%]
Question AARRR2: ACTIVATION - How do you measure user activation?
Activation Definition : What must a user do to experience the "aha moment"?
Examples :
Facebook: "Add 7 friends in 10 days"
Dropbox: "Upload first file"
Slack: "Send 2,000 team messages"
Your Activation Event : [e.g., "Create first project with 3+ tasks"]
Activation Metrics :
Activation Rate : [e.g., "42% of signups complete activation within 7 days"]
Time to Activate : [e.g., "Median time: 12 hours from signup"]
Activation by Cohort : [e.g., "Organic: 48%, Paid: 38%, Referral: 62%"]
Current Performance :
Activation Rate: [X%]
Target: [Y%]
Gap: [Z percentage points]
Question AARRR3: RETENTION - How do you measure user retention?
Retention Timeframes :
Day 1 Retention : [X%] (users who return the next day)
Day 7 Retention : [X%] (users who return within a week)
Day 30 Retention : [X%] (users who return within a month)
Cohort Retention :
Track cohorts by signup month
Measure: What % of January signups are still active in February, March, etc.?
Retention Curve :
Current D30 Retention : [e.g., "35%"]
Target D30 Retention : [e.g., "50%"]
Best-in-Class Benchmark : [e.g., "60% for productivity SaaS"]
Churn Metrics :
User Churn Rate : [X% per month]
Revenue Churn Rate : [X% MRR per month]
Negative Churn? : [Yes/No — do expansions offset churn?]
Question AARRR4: REFERRAL - How do you measure referral and virality?
Referral Metrics :
Referral Rate : [e.g., "15% of users invite others"]
Invites Sent per User : [e.g., "2.3 invites/user"]
Invite Acceptance Rate : [e.g., "22% of invites convert to signups"]
Viral Coefficient (K) : [e.g., "0.35" — (2.3 invites × 0.15 referral rate)]
K-Factor Goal :
K < 1 : Sub-viral (growth requires paid acquisition)
K = 1 : Self-sustaining (each user brings one more)
K > 1 : Viral growth (exponential growth)
Your K-Factor : [Current K]
Target K-Factor : [Target K]
Referral Program :
☐ No referral program
☐ Incentivized referral (both parties get reward)
☐ Non-incentivized referral (share features)
Question AARRR5: REVENUE - How do you measure revenue and monetization?
Revenue Metrics (choose 5-7):
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) : [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) : [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) : [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) : [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) : [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
LTV:CAC Ratio : [Current: X:1, Target: 3:1 or higher]
Payback Period : [Current: X months, Target: <12 months]
Net Revenue Retention (NRR) : [Current: X%, Target: >100%]
Gross Margin : [Current: X%, Target: >70%]
By Plan/Tier Breakdown :
Plan
% Users
MRR per User
Total MRR
Target MRR
Free
X%
$0
$0
—
Starter
X%
$X
$X
$Y
Pro
X%
$X
$X
$Y
Enterprise
X%
$X
$X
$Y
Product Engagement Metrics
Question PE1: How do you measure product engagement?
Core Engagement Metrics :
Daily Active Users (DAU) : [Current: X, Target: Y]
Weekly Active Users (WAU) : [Current: X, Target: Y]
Monthly Active Users (MAU) : [Current: X, Target: Y]
DAU/MAU Ratio : [Current: X%, Target: >20% for "sticky" products]
WAU/MAU Ratio : [Current: X%, Target: >50%]
Session Metrics :
Sessions per User per Day : [e.g., "2.4 sessions/user/day"]
Average Session Duration : [e.g., "8 minutes"]
Pages/Screens per Session : [e.g., "5.2 pages"]
Feature Adoption :
Feature
% Users Who Used (30d)
Target
[Core Feature 1]
X%
Y%
[Core Feature 2]
X%
Y%
[Power Feature 1]
X%
Y%
[Recently Launched Feature]
X%
Y%
Question PE2: How do you segment users by engagement level?
Engagement Segmentation (RFM Model: Recency, Frequency, Monetary):
Segment
Definition
% Users
Action
Champions
Recent, frequent, high-value users
X%
Upsell, referrals, beta access
Loyal Users
Frequent users, moderate recency
X%
Engagement campaigns, rewards
At Risk
Previously active, now declining
X%
Win-back campaigns, surveys
Hibernating
Low frequency, low recency
X%
Re-engagement or let churn
New Users
Recent signup, low frequency (still onboarding)
X%
Activation campaigns
Power User Cohort :
Definition: [e.g., "Users who log in 5+ days/week and use 3+ features"]
% of User Base: [X%]
Revenue Contribution: [Y% of MRR]
Business Health Metrics
Question BH1: What are your key business health metrics?
Financial Health :
Burn Rate : [$X/month]
Runway : [X months]
Cash Balance : [$X]
Gross Margin : [X% — target >70% for SaaS]
Operating Margin : [X% — path to profitability?]
Unit Economics :
CAC : [$X per customer]
LTV : [$X per customer]
LTV:CAC Ratio : [X:1 — target 3:1]
Payback Period : [X months — target <12 months]
Growth Efficiency :
Magic Number (Sales Efficiency): [ARR Growth / Sales & Marketing Spend — target >0.75]
Burn Multiple (Capital Efficiency): [Net Burn / Net New ARR — target <1.5]
Rule of 40 : [Growth Rate % + Profit Margin % — target >40]
Operational Metrics
Question OM1: What operational metrics should you track?
Customer Support :
Tickets per Month : [X]
First Response Time : [X hours — target <2 hours]
Resolution Time : [X hours — target <24 hours]
Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) : [X% — target >90%]
Net Promoter Score (NPS) : [X — target >50]
Product Performance :
Uptime : [X% — target 99.9%+]
Page Load Time : [X seconds — target <2s]
API Response Time : [X ms — target <200ms]
Error Rate : [X% — target <0.1%]
Team Velocity (if applicable):
Story Points per Sprint : [X]
Deployment Frequency : [X per week]
Lead Time for Changes : [X days]
STEP 4: Dashboard Design
Question DD1: What dashboards do you need?
Dashboard Hierarchy :
1. Executive Dashboard (CEO, Leadership)
Purpose : High-level business health at a glance
Refresh : Real-time or daily
Metrics :
North Star Metric (big number + trend)
MRR/ARR (current + growth %)
Key AARRR metrics (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue)
Runway (months remaining)
LTV:CAC ratio
Visualizations :
Big number cards for NSM, MRR
Line charts for trends (last 90 days)
Funnel chart for AARRR
Cohort retention heatmap
2. Growth Dashboard (Marketing, Growth Team)
Purpose : Track acquisition channels and conversion funnel
Refresh : Daily
Metrics :
Traffic by channel (organic, paid, social, referral, direct)
Signups by channel
Activation rate by channel
CAC by channel
Conversion rates (visitor → signup → activated → paid)
Visualizations :
Stacked bar chart (traffic by channel over time)
Funnel chart (visitor → signup → activated → paid)
Table (channel performance: spend, signups, CAC, LTV, ROI)
3. Product Dashboard (Product Team, Engineering)
Purpose : Track engagement, feature adoption, product health
Refresh : Daily
Metrics :
DAU, WAU, MAU
DAU/MAU ratio (stickiness)
Feature adoption rates
Session metrics (duration, frequency)
Error rates, performance metrics
Visualizations :
Line charts (DAU/MAU over time)
Heatmap (feature usage by user segment)
Bar chart (top features by usage)
Performance dashboards (uptime, response times)
4. Revenue Dashboard (Finance, Sales)
Purpose : Track revenue, churn, expansion
Refresh : Daily
Metrics :
MRR, ARR
New MRR, Expansion MRR, Churned MRR
Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
ARPU by plan
Churn rate (user and revenue)
Visualizations :
Waterfall chart (MRR movement: starting MRR + new + expansion - churn = ending MRR)
Line chart (MRR over time)
Pie chart (MRR by plan tier)
Table (cohort analysis)
5. Retention Dashboard (CX, Product)
Purpose : Track churn, at-risk users, win-back
Refresh : Weekly
Metrics :
D1, D7, D30 retention
Cohort retention curves
Churn rate by cohort
At-risk user count (declining engagement)
NPS, CSAT
Visualizations :
Retention curves by cohort
Heatmap (cohort retention over months)
List view (at-risk users + engagement score)
Question DD2: What tool(s) will you use for your dashboard?
Dashboard Tools :
☐ Google Data Studio / Looker Studio (free, easy, integrates with Google Analytics)
☐ Tableau (powerful, expensive)
☐ Metabase (open-source, SQL-based)
☐ Mixpanel (product analytics, event-based)
☐ Amplitude (product analytics, cohort analysis)
☐ ChartMogul (SaaS metrics, MRR, churn)
☐ Baremetrics (Stripe integration, SaaS metrics)
☐ Custom dashboard (built in-house, e.g., React + D3.js)
☐ Other: [specify]
Your Tool : [Name]
Why this tool? : [Reasoning — cost, features, integrations, team familiarity]
Question DD3: How will you organize alerts and monitoring?
Alert Strategy :
Metric
Threshold
Alert Channel
Owner
North Star Metric
<X% growth week-over-week
Slack #alerts
CEO
MRR
<$X (below target)
Email
Finance
Churn Rate
>X% (above acceptable threshold)
Slack #cx
CX Lead
Activation Rate
<X% (below target)
Slack #growth
Growth Lead
Website Uptime
<99.5%
PagerDuty
Engineering
Support Response Time
>2 hours
Slack #support
Support Lead
Review Cadence :
Daily : Growth Lead reviews acquisition, activation
Weekly : Leadership reviews NSM, MRR, key AARRR metrics
Monthly : Deep dive into cohort retention, churn analysis, unit economics
STEP 5: Data Infrastructure
Question DI1: What is your data stack?
Data Sources :
☐ Product Database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.)
☐ Analytics Tools (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, Segment)
☐ Payment Processor (Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly)
☐ CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive)
☐ Support Tools (Zendesk, Intercom, Front)
☐ Marketing Tools (Mailchimp, Customer.io, Facebook Ads, Google Ads)
☐ Other: [specify]
Data Warehouse :
☐ None (query production databases directly — not recommended)
☐ Snowflake (scalable, cloud data warehouse)
☐ BigQuery (Google Cloud, integrates with Google Analytics)
☐ Redshift (AWS, legacy but still popular)
☐ Other : [specify]
ETL/ELT Pipeline :
☐ Fivetran (automated data pipelines)
☐ Stitch (simpler, cheaper than Fivetran)
☐ Airbyte (open-source alternative)
☐ Custom scripts (Python, dbt)
☐ None yet
Your Data Stack :
Sources: [List]
Warehouse: [Name or "None yet"]
ETL: [Name or "None yet"]
Question DI2: How will you ensure data quality?
Data Quality Checks :
☐ Automated tests (e.g., dbt tests: not-null, unique, referential integrity)
☐ Anomaly detection (alert if metric drops >X% or spikes >Y%)
☐ Manual spot checks (weekly review of key metrics)
☐ Data lineage tracking (document how each metric is calculated)
☐ Version control for SQL queries (Git repo for dashboard queries)
Documentation :
☐ Data Dictionary (document every metric: definition, source table, calculation, owner)
☐ Metric Definitions Doc (shared with entire team)
☐ Changelog (track changes to metric definitions over time)
STEP 6: Implementation Roadmap
Question IR1: What is your 90-day implementation plan?
Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-3)
Goal : Set up basic tracking and core dashboards
Deliverable : Executive Dashboard live, core events tracked
Phase 2: Expand (Weeks 4-6)
Goal : Build role-specific dashboards
Deliverable : Growth, Product, and Revenue dashboards live
Phase 3: Optimize (Weeks 7-12)
Goal : Refine, automate, and drive adoption
Deliverable : Full dashboard suite live, alerts running, team trained
STEP 7: Generate Comprehensive Metrics Dashboard Strategy
You will now receive a comprehensive document covering :
Section 1: Executive Summary
North Star Metric and why it was chosen
Dashboard strategy overview (5 dashboards)
Key targets and baseline performance
Section 2: AARRR Framework Deep Dive
Acquisition : Top 3 metrics, channel breakdown, targets
Activation : Definition, activation rate, time to activate, cohort performance
Retention : D1/D7/D30 retention, cohort curves, churn rates, benchmarks
Referral : Referral rate, viral coefficient, referral program details
Revenue : MRR/ARR, ARPU, LTV, CAC, LTV:CAC ratio, NRR, margins
Section 3: Dashboard Architecture
Dashboard 1: Executive Dashboard (purpose, metrics, visualizations, refresh frequency)
Dashboard 2: Growth Dashboard (acquisition funnel, channel performance)
Dashboard 3: Product Dashboard (engagement, feature adoption, session metrics)
Dashboard 4: Revenue Dashboard (MRR waterfall, cohort LTV, churn)
Dashboard 5: Retention Dashboard (retention curves, at-risk users, NPS)
Section 4: Alerts & Monitoring
Alert rules (metric, threshold, channel, owner)
Review cadence (daily, weekly, monthly)
Escalation paths for critical issues
Section 5: Data Infrastructure
Data sources (product DB, analytics, payment processor, CRM, support, marketing)
Data warehouse (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, or None)
ETL/ELT pipeline (Fivetran, Stitch, Airbyte, custom)
Data quality strategy (automated tests, anomaly detection, documentation)
Section 6: Metric Definitions (Data Dictionary)
Metric Name
Definition
Calculation
Data Source
Owner
Target
North Star Metric
[full definition]
[formula]
[source]
[person]
[target]
MRR
Monthly Recurring Revenue
Sum of active subscriptions
Stripe
Finance
$X
[etc. for 20-30 key metrics]
Section 7: Implementation Roadmap
Phase 1 (Weeks 1-3) : Event tracking audit, metric definitions, core dashboard
Phase 2 (Weeks 4-6) : Role-specific dashboards (growth, product, revenue)
Phase 3 (Weeks 7-12) : Alerts, data quality, team training
Section 8: Success Criteria
Dashboard adoption (X% of team uses dashboards weekly)
Data-driven decisions (X% of product decisions cite dashboard metrics)
Metric improvement (NSM grows X%, activation rate improves Y%, churn decreases Z%)
Section 9: Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Vanity metrics (page views, signups) vs. actionable metrics (activation rate, retention)
Too many metrics (dashboard overload)
No ownership (every metric needs an owner)
Ignoring data quality (garbage in, garbage out)
Building dashboards in a vacuum (get team input)
Section 10: Next Steps
Share dashboard with team
Schedule weekly metric review meetings
Integrate with retention-optimization-expert (use retention data to reduce churn)
Integrate with onboarding-flow-optimizer (use activation metrics to improve onboarding)
STEP 8: Quality Review & Iteration
After generating the strategy, I will ask:
Quality Check :
Does the North Star Metric align with core customer value?
Are AARRR metrics complete and measurable?
Are dashboard roles clear (who uses which dashboard)?
Are targets realistic and time-bound?
Is the data infrastructure plan feasible?
Is the implementation roadmap broken into actionable sprints?
Iterate? [Yes — refine X / No — finalize]
STEP 9: Save & Next Steps
Once finalized, I will:
Save the metrics dashboard strategy to your project folder
Suggest running retention-optimization-expert next (to act on retention data)
Remind you to schedule a weekly metrics review meeting with your team
8 Critical Guidelines for This Skill
North Star Metric must be leading, not lagging : Choose a metric that predicts growth (e.g., "Projects created") over a vanity metric (e.g., "Signups").
AARRR metrics must be complete : Don't skip Referral or Revenue just because they're hard to track. Every business has all 5 stages.
Dashboards must match roles : Don't build one giant dashboard for everyone. Build 5 focused dashboards for different teams.
Targets must be realistic : Use industry benchmarks (e.g., SaaS D30 retention: 30-50%, DAU/MAU: 20%+, LTV:CAC: 3:1).
Data quality is non-negotiable : No dashboard is better than a dashboard with wrong data. Invest in data quality from Day 1.
Every metric needs an owner : Assign ownership for each metric. If no one owns it, it won't improve.
Alerts prevent fire drills : Set up automated alerts for critical metrics (NSM, MRR, churn, uptime). Don't rely on manual checks.
Adoption > features : A simple dashboard that everyone uses beats a complex dashboard that no one understands. Prioritize clarity and adoption.
Quality Checklist (Before Finalizing)
North Star Metric is clearly defined and aligns with customer + business value
AARRR metrics are complete (all 5 stages covered)
Each metric has: definition, baseline, target, owner, data source
5 dashboards are defined (Executive, Growth, Product, Revenue, Retention)
Alert rules are set for critical metrics
Data stack is documented (sources, warehouse, ETL, quality checks)
Implementation roadmap is realistic and broken into 3 phases (12 weeks)
Benchmarks are cited (SaaS standards for retention, DAU/MAU, LTV:CAC, etc.)
Data Dictionary includes 20-30 key metrics with full definitions
Next steps include team training and integration with downstream skills
Integration with Other Skills
Upstream Skills (reuse data from):
revenue-model-builder → Revenue streams, CAC, LTV, margins
customer-persona-builder → User segments for cohort analysis
product-positioning-expert → Value metrics
growth-hacking-playbook → AARRR framework, North Star Metric, growth loops
go-to-market-planner → GTM metrics, channel performance
content-marketing-strategist → Content performance metrics
email-marketing-architect → Email engagement metrics (open rate, click rate, conversions)
social-media-strategist → Social media metrics (followers, engagement, referral traffic)
community-building-strategist → Community metrics (DAU/MAU, retention, member growth)
Downstream Skills (use this data in):
retention-optimization-expert → Use retention dashboard to identify at-risk users and churn drivers
onboarding-flow-optimizer → Use activation metrics to improve onboarding
customer-feedback-framework → Cross-reference NPS/CSAT with retention and churn data
investor-pitch-deck-builder → Use MRR, growth rate, unit economics for traction slides
financial-model-architect → Use historical metrics to build revenue projections
End of Skill
HTML Editorial Template Reference
CRITICAL : When generating HTML output, you MUST read and follow the skeleton template files AND the verification checklist to maintain StratArts brand consistency.
Template Files to Read (IN ORDER)
Verification Checklist (MUST READ FIRST):
html-templates/VERIFICATION-CHECKLIST.md
Base Template (shared structure):
html-templates/base-template.html
Skill-Specific Template (content sections & charts):
html-templates/metrics-dashboard-designer.html
How to Use Templates
Read VERIFICATION-CHECKLIST.md first - contains canonical CSS patterns that MUST be copied exactly
Read base-template.html - contains all shared CSS, layout structure, and Chart.js configuration
Read metrics-dashboard-designer.html - contains skill-specific content sections, CSS extensions, and chart scripts
Replace all {{PLACEHOLDER}} markers with actual analysis data
Merge the skill-specific CSS into {{SKILL_SPECIFIC_CSS}}
Merge the content sections into {{CONTENT_SECTIONS}}
Merge the chart scripts into {{CHART_SCRIPTS}}
HTML Output Verification
After generating the HTML output, verify the following:
Structure Verification
Header uses canonical pattern with gradient background (#10b981 → #14b8a6)
Score banner shows dashboard count, metric count, alert count, MRR, LTV:CAC
Verdict box displays framework type (AARRR)
All 8 sections present: Executive Summary, North Star, AARRR, Dashboards, Metrics Dictionary, Alerts, Data Stack, Charts, Roadmap
Footer uses canonical pattern with StratArts branding
Content Verification
North Star Metric container with value, name, description, 3 drivers
5 AARRR stage cards with letter, name, metric, target, and details list
5 dashboard cards with name, audience, purpose, and metrics list
Metrics dictionary table with 8-10 rows (name, category, current, target, owner, source)
6 alert cards with metric, threshold, and channel
3 data stack sections (Sources, Warehouse, Visualization)
90-day roadmap with 3 phase cards
CSS Verification
Chart Verification
Data Consistency
1 --- 2 name: metrics-dashboard-designer 3 description: Comprehensive metrics dashboard strategy including North Star Metric definition, AARRR Pirate Metrics framework, product engagement tracking, 5 role-specific dashboards, alert configuration, data infrastructure planning, and 90-day implementation roadmap for data-driven decision making 4 --- 5
6 # metrics-dashboard-designer
7
8 ## Step 0: Pre-Generation Verification
9
10 **IMPORTANT**: Before generating the HTML output, verify you have gathered data for ALL required placeholders:
11
12 ### Header & Score Banner Placeholders
13 - [ ] `{{BUSINESS_NAME}}` - Company/product name
14 - [ ] `{{DATE}}` - Generation date
15 - [ ] `{{DASHBOARD_COUNT}}` - Number of dashboards (typically 5)
16 - [ ] `{{METRIC_COUNT}}` - Total metrics tracked
17 - [ ] `{{ALERT_COUNT}}` - Number of alerts configured
18 - [ ] `{{MRR_VALUE}}` - Current MRR
19 - [ ] `{{LTV_CAC}}` - LTV:CAC ratio
20 - [ ] `{{FRAMEWORK_TYPE}}` - Framework (e.g., "AARRR PIRATE METRICS")
21
22 ### North Star Metric Placeholders
23 - [ ] `{{NSM_VALUE}}` - Current NSM value
24 - [ ] `{{NSM_NAME}}` - NSM name
25 - [ ] `{{NSM_DESCRIPTION}}` - Why this metric matters
26 - [ ] `{{NSM_DRIVERS}}` - 3 driver metric items
27
28 ### AARRR Placeholders
29 - [ ] `{{AARRR_STAGES}}` - 5 stage cards with metrics
30
31 ### Dashboard Placeholders
32 - [ ] `{{DASHBOARD_CARDS}}` - 5 dashboard cards with metrics lists
33
34 ### Metrics Dictionary Placeholders
35 - [ ] `{{METRICS_TABLE_ROWS}}` - 8-10 key metrics with details
36
37 ### Alerts Placeholders
38 - [ ] `{{ALERT_CARDS}}` - 6 alert cards with thresholds
39
40 ### Data Stack Placeholders
41 - [ ] `{{DATA_STACK_SECTIONS}}` - 3 sections (Sources, Warehouse, Visualization)
42
43 ### Roadmap Placeholders
44 - [ ] `{{ROADMAP_PHASES}}` - 3 phase cards
45
46 ### Chart Data Placeholders
47 - [ ] `{{FUNNEL_LABELS}}` - JSON array (AARRR stages)
48 - [ ] `{{FUNNEL_DATA}}` - JSON array (user counts)
49 - [ ] `{{MRR_LABELS}}` - JSON array (months)
50 - [ ] `{{MRR_DATA}}` - JSON array (MRR values)
51 - [ ] `{{RETENTION_LABELS}}` - JSON array (days)
52 - [ ] `{{RETENTION_DATA}}` - JSON array (percentages)
53 - [ ] `{{ENGAGEMENT_LABELS}}` - JSON array (days)
54 - [ ] `{{DAU_DATA}}` - JSON array (DAU values)
55 - [ ] `{{WAU_DATA}}` - JSON array (WAU values)
56
57 **DO NOT proceed to HTML generation until all placeholders have corresponding data from the user conversation.**
58
59 ---
60
61 **Mission**: Design a metrics dashboard that tracks what matters—North Star Metric, AARRR funnel, product engagement, business health, and operational performance. Define KPIs, set targets, choose visualizations, and create a single source of truth for data-driven decision making.
62
63 ---
64
65 ## STEP 1: Detect Previous Context
66
67 ### Ideal Context (All Present):
68 - **revenue-model-builder** → Revenue streams, unit economics, CAC, LTV
69 - **customer-persona-builder** → User segments for cohort analysis
70 - **product-positioning-expert** → Value metrics, success indicators
71 - **growth-hacking-playbook** → AARRR framework, North Star Metric
72 - **go-to-market-planner** → GTM metrics, channel performance
73
74 ### Partial Context (Some Present):
75 - **revenue-model-builder** → Business metrics available
76 - **growth-hacking-playbook** → Growth metrics framework available
77 - **customer-persona-builder** → User segmentation available
78
79 ### No Context:
80 - None of the above skills were run
81
82 ---
83
84 ## STEP 2: Context-Adaptive Introduction
85
86 ### If Ideal Context:
87 > I found outputs from **revenue-model-builder**, **customer-persona-builder**, **product-positioning-expert**, **growth-hacking-playbook**, and **go-to-market-planner**.
88 >
89 > I can reuse:
90 > - **Revenue streams & unit economics** (CAC: [X], LTV: [Y], target margins)
91 > - **User segments** (for cohort analysis & segmentation)
92 > - **Value metrics** (core success indicators)
93 > - **AARRR framework** (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue)
94 > - **GTM metrics** (channel performance, conversion rates)
95 >
96 > **Proceed with this data?** [Yes/Start Fresh]
97
98 ### If Partial Context:
99 > I found outputs from some upstream skills: [list which ones].
100 >
101 > I can reuse: [list specific data available]
102 >
103 > **Proceed with this data, or start fresh?**
104
105 ### If No Context:
106 > No previous context detected.
107 >
108 > I'll guide you through designing your metrics dashboard from the ground up.
109
110 ---
111
112 ## STEP 3: Questions (One at a Time, Sequential)
113
114 ### North Star Metric
115
116 **Question NSM1: What is your North Star Metric?**
117
118 The North Star Metric (NSM) is the single metric that best captures the core value you deliver to customers. It should be:
119 - **Leading indicator** of sustainable growth
120 - **Aligned** with customer value and business value
121 - **Actionable** by the team
122
123 **Examples**:
124 - **Slack**: Messages sent per day
125 - **Airbnb**: Nights booked
126 - **Spotify**: Time spent listening
127 - **Notion**: Weekly active users who create content
128
129 **Your North Star Metric**: [e.g., "Monthly Active Projects Created"]
130
131 **Why this metric?**: [What customer value does it represent?]
132
133 ---
134
135 **Question NSM2: What is the current baseline and target for your NSM?**
136
137 **Current Baseline**: [e.g., "1,200 monthly active projects"]
138 **3-Month Target**: [e.g., "2,500 monthly active projects"]
139 **12-Month Target**: [e.g., "10,000 monthly active projects"]
140
141 **Key Drivers**: [What 2-3 metrics drive your NSM? e.g., "New user signups, activation rate, returning user rate"]
142
143 ---
144
145 ### AARRR Metrics (Pirate Metrics)
146
147 **Question AARRR1: ACQUISITION - How do you measure user acquisition?**
148
149 **Primary Acquisition Metrics** (choose 3-5):
150 - ☐ Website visitors (unique, sessions)
151 - ☐ Signups (total, by channel)
152 - ☐ App installs (iOS, Android)
153 - ☐ Lead magnets downloaded
154 - ☐ Demo requests
155 - ☐ Trial starts
156 - ☐ Other: [specify]
157
158 **Your Top 3 Acquisition Metrics**:
159 1. [Metric name] — Current: [X], Target: [Y]
160 2. [Metric name] — Current: [X], Target: [Y]
161 3. [Metric name] — Current: [X], Target: [Y]
162
163 **By Channel Breakdown**:
164 - Organic Search: [X%]
165 - Paid Search: [X%]
166 - Social Media: [X%]
167 - Referral: [X%]
168 - Direct: [X%]
169 - Other: [X%]
170
171 ---
172
173 **Question AARRR2: ACTIVATION - How do you measure user activation?**
174
175 **Activation Definition**: What must a user do to experience the "aha moment"?
176
177 **Examples**:
178 - Facebook: "Add 7 friends in 10 days"
179 - Dropbox: "Upload first file"
180 - Slack: "Send 2,000 team messages"
181
182 **Your Activation Event**: [e.g., "Create first project with 3+ tasks"]
183
184 **Activation Metrics**:
185 - **Activation Rate**: [e.g., "42% of signups complete activation within 7 days"]
186 - **Time to Activate**: [e.g., "Median time: 12 hours from signup"]
187 - **Activation by Cohort**: [e.g., "Organic: 48%, Paid: 38%, Referral: 62%"]
188
189 **Current Performance**:
190 - Activation Rate: [X%]
191 - Target: [Y%]
192 - Gap: [Z percentage points]
193
194 ---
195
196 **Question AARRR3: RETENTION - How do you measure user retention?**
197
198 **Retention Timeframes**:
199 - **Day 1 Retention**: [X%] (users who return the next day)
200 - **Day 7 Retention**: [X%] (users who return within a week)
201 - **Day 30 Retention**: [X%] (users who return within a month)
202
203 **Cohort Retention**:
204 - Track cohorts by signup month
205 - Measure: What % of January signups are still active in February, March, etc.?
206
207 **Retention Curve**:
208 - **Current D30 Retention**: [e.g., "35%"]
209 - **Target D30 Retention**: [e.g., "50%"]
210 - **Best-in-Class Benchmark**: [e.g., "60% for productivity SaaS"]
211
212 **Churn Metrics**:
213 - **User Churn Rate**: [X% per month]
214 - **Revenue Churn Rate**: [X% MRR per month]
215 - **Negative Churn?**: [Yes/No — do expansions offset churn?]
216
217 ---
218
219 **Question AARRR4: REFERRAL - How do you measure referral and virality?**
220
221 **Referral Metrics**:
222 - **Referral Rate**: [e.g., "15% of users invite others"]
223 - **Invites Sent per User**: [e.g., "2.3 invites/user"]
224 - **Invite Acceptance Rate**: [e.g., "22% of invites convert to signups"]
225 - **Viral Coefficient (K)**: [e.g., "0.35" — (2.3 invites × 0.15 referral rate)]
226
227 **K-Factor Goal**:
228 - **K < 1**: Sub-viral (growth requires paid acquisition)
229 - **K = 1**: Self-sustaining (each user brings one more)
230 - **K > 1**: Viral growth (exponential growth)
231
232 **Your K-Factor**: [Current K]
233 **Target K-Factor**: [Target K]
234
235 **Referral Program**:
236 - ☐ No referral program
237 - ☐ Incentivized referral (both parties get reward)
238 - ☐ Non-incentivized referral (share features)
239
240 ---
241
242 **Question AARRR5: REVENUE - How do you measure revenue and monetization?**
243
244 **Revenue Metrics** (choose 5-7):
245 - **Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)**: [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
246 - **Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)**: [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
247 - **Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)**: [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
248 - **Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)**: [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
249 - **Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)**: [Current: $X, Target: $Y]
250 - **LTV:CAC Ratio**: [Current: X:1, Target: 3:1 or higher]
251 - **Payback Period**: [Current: X months, Target: <12 months]
252 - **Net Revenue Retention (NRR)**: [Current: X%, Target: >100%]
253 - **Gross Margin**: [Current: X%, Target: >70%]
254
255 **By Plan/Tier Breakdown**:
256 | Plan | % Users | MRR per User | Total MRR | Target MRR |
257 |------------|---------|--------------|-----------|------------|
258 | Free | X% | $0 | $0 | — |
259 | Starter | X% | $X | $X | $Y |
260 | Pro | X% | $X | $X | $Y |
261 | Enterprise | X% | $X | $X | $Y |
262
263 ---
264
265 ### Product Engagement Metrics
266
267 **Question PE1: How do you measure product engagement?**
268
269 **Core Engagement Metrics**:
270 - **Daily Active Users (DAU)**: [Current: X, Target: Y]
271 - **Weekly Active Users (WAU)**: [Current: X, Target: Y]
272 - **Monthly Active Users (MAU)**: [Current: X, Target: Y]
273 - **DAU/MAU Ratio**: [Current: X%, Target: >20% for "sticky" products]
274 - **WAU/MAU Ratio**: [Current: X%, Target: >50%]
275
276 **Session Metrics**:
277 - **Sessions per User per Day**: [e.g., "2.4 sessions/user/day"]
278 - **Average Session Duration**: [e.g., "8 minutes"]
279 - **Pages/Screens per Session**: [e.g., "5.2 pages"]
280
281 **Feature Adoption**:
282 | Feature | % Users Who Used (30d) | Target |
283 |-----------------------------|------------------------|--------|
284 | [Core Feature 1] | X% | Y% |
285 | [Core Feature 2] | X% | Y% |
286 | [Power Feature 1] | X% | Y% |
287 | [Recently Launched Feature] | X% | Y% |
288
289 ---
290
291 **Question PE2: How do you segment users by engagement level?**
292
293 **Engagement Segmentation** (RFM Model: Recency, Frequency, Monetary):
294
295 | Segment | Definition | % Users | Action |
296 |------------------|------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------------------------------|
297 | **Champions** | Recent, frequent, high-value users | X% | Upsell, referrals, beta access |
298 | **Loyal Users** | Frequent users, moderate recency | X% | Engagement campaigns, rewards |
299 | **At Risk** | Previously active, now declining | X% | Win-back campaigns, surveys |
300 | **Hibernating** | Low frequency, low recency | X% | Re-engagement or let churn |
301 | **New Users** | Recent signup, low frequency (still onboarding) | X% | Activation campaigns |
302
303 **Power User Cohort**:
304 - Definition: [e.g., "Users who log in 5+ days/week and use 3+ features"]
305 - % of User Base: [X%]
306 - Revenue Contribution: [Y% of MRR]
307
308 ---
309
310 ### Business Health Metrics
311
312 **Question BH1: What are your key business health metrics?**
313
314 **Financial Health**:
315 - **Burn Rate**: [$X/month]
316 - **Runway**: [X months]
317 - **Cash Balance**: [$X]
318 - **Gross Margin**: [X% — target >70% for SaaS]
319 - **Operating Margin**: [X% — path to profitability?]
320
321 **Unit Economics**:
322 - **CAC**: [$X per customer]
323 - **LTV**: [$X per customer]
324 - **LTV:CAC Ratio**: [X:1 — target 3:1]
325 - **Payback Period**: [X months — target <12 months]
326
327 **Growth Efficiency**:
328 - **Magic Number** (Sales Efficiency): [ARR Growth / Sales & Marketing Spend — target >0.75]
329 - **Burn Multiple** (Capital Efficiency): [Net Burn / Net New ARR — target <1.5]
330 - **Rule of 40**: [Growth Rate % + Profit Margin % — target >40]
331
332 ---
333
334 ### Operational Metrics
335
336 **Question OM1: What operational metrics should you track?**
337
338 **Customer Support**:
339 - **Tickets per Month**: [X]
340 - **First Response Time**: [X hours — target <2 hours]
341 - **Resolution Time**: [X hours — target <24 hours]
342 - **Customer Satisfaction (CSAT)**: [X% — target >90%]
343 - **Net Promoter Score (NPS)**: [X — target >50]
344
345 **Product Performance**:
346 - **Uptime**: [X% — target 99.9%+]
347 - **Page Load Time**: [X seconds — target <2s]
348 - **API Response Time**: [X ms — target <200ms]
349 - **Error Rate**: [X% — target <0.1%]
350
351 **Team Velocity** (if applicable):
352 - **Story Points per Sprint**: [X]
353 - **Deployment Frequency**: [X per week]
354 - **Lead Time for Changes**: [X days]
355
356 ---
357
358 ## STEP 4: Dashboard Design
359
360 **Question DD1: What dashboards do you need?**
361
362 **Dashboard Hierarchy**:
363
364 ### 1. Executive Dashboard (CEO, Leadership)
365 **Purpose**: High-level business health at a glance
366 **Refresh**: Real-time or daily
367 **Metrics**:
368 - North Star Metric (big number + trend)
369 - MRR/ARR (current + growth %)
370 - Key AARRR metrics (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue)
371 - Runway (months remaining)
372 - LTV:CAC ratio
373
374 **Visualizations**:
375 - Big number cards for NSM, MRR
376 - Line charts for trends (last 90 days)
377 - Funnel chart for AARRR
378 - Cohort retention heatmap
379
380 ---
381
382 ### 2. Growth Dashboard (Marketing, Growth Team)
383 **Purpose**: Track acquisition channels and conversion funnel
384 **Refresh**: Daily
385 **Metrics**:
386 - Traffic by channel (organic, paid, social, referral, direct)
387 - Signups by channel
388 - Activation rate by channel
389 - CAC by channel
390 - Conversion rates (visitor → signup → activated → paid)
391
392 **Visualizations**:
393 - Stacked bar chart (traffic by channel over time)
394 - Funnel chart (visitor → signup → activated → paid)
395 - Table (channel performance: spend, signups, CAC, LTV, ROI)
396
397 ---
398
399 ### 3. Product Dashboard (Product Team, Engineering)
400 **Purpose**: Track engagement, feature adoption, product health
401 **Refresh**: Daily
402 **Metrics**:
403 - DAU, WAU, MAU
404 - DAU/MAU ratio (stickiness)
405 - Feature adoption rates
406 - Session metrics (duration, frequency)
407 - Error rates, performance metrics
408
409 **Visualizations**:
410 - Line charts (DAU/MAU over time)
411 - Heatmap (feature usage by user segment)
412 - Bar chart (top features by usage)
413 - Performance dashboards (uptime, response times)
414
415 ---
416
417 ### 4. Revenue Dashboard (Finance, Sales)
418 **Purpose**: Track revenue, churn, expansion
419 **Refresh**: Daily
420 **Metrics**:
421 - MRR, ARR
422 - New MRR, Expansion MRR, Churned MRR
423 - Net Revenue Retention (NRR)
424 - ARPU by plan
425 - Churn rate (user and revenue)
426
427 **Visualizations**:
428 - Waterfall chart (MRR movement: starting MRR + new + expansion - churn = ending MRR)
429 - Line chart (MRR over time)
430 - Pie chart (MRR by plan tier)
431 - Table (cohort analysis)
432
433 ---
434
435 ### 5. Retention Dashboard (CX, Product)
436 **Purpose**: Track churn, at-risk users, win-back
437 **Refresh**: Weekly
438 **Metrics**:
439 - D1, D7, D30 retention
440 - Cohort retention curves
441 - Churn rate by cohort
442 - At-risk user count (declining engagement)
443 - NPS, CSAT
444
445 **Visualizations**:
446 - Retention curves by cohort
447 - Heatmap (cohort retention over months)
448 - List view (at-risk users + engagement score)
449
450 ---
451
452 **Question DD2: What tool(s) will you use for your dashboard?**
453
454 **Dashboard Tools**:
455 - ☐ **Google Data Studio / Looker Studio** (free, easy, integrates with Google Analytics)
456 - ☐ **Tableau** (powerful, expensive)
457 - ☐ **Metabase** (open-source, SQL-based)
458 - ☐ **Mixpanel** (product analytics, event-based)
459 - ☐ **Amplitude** (product analytics, cohort analysis)
460 - ☐ **ChartMogul** (SaaS metrics, MRR, churn)
461 - ☐ **Baremetrics** (Stripe integration, SaaS metrics)
462 - ☐ **Custom dashboard** (built in-house, e.g., React + D3.js)
463 - ☐ Other: [specify]
464
465 **Your Tool**: [Name]
466 **Why this tool?**: [Reasoning — cost, features, integrations, team familiarity]
467
468 ---
469
470 **Question DD3: How will you organize alerts and monitoring?**
471
472 **Alert Strategy**:
473
474 | Metric | Threshold | Alert Channel | Owner |
475 |-------------------------|-----------------------------------|---------------|---------------|
476 | North Star Metric | <X% growth week-over-week | Slack #alerts | CEO |
477 | MRR | <$X (below target) | Email | Finance |
478 | Churn Rate | >X% (above acceptable threshold) | Slack #cx | CX Lead |
479 | Activation Rate | <X% (below target) | Slack #growth | Growth Lead |
480 | Website Uptime | <99.5% | PagerDuty | Engineering |
481 | Support Response Time | >2 hours | Slack #support| Support Lead |
482
483 **Review Cadence**:
484 - **Daily**: Growth Lead reviews acquisition, activation
485 - **Weekly**: Leadership reviews NSM, MRR, key AARRR metrics
486 - **Monthly**: Deep dive into cohort retention, churn analysis, unit economics
487
488 ---
489
490 ## STEP 5: Data Infrastructure
491
492 **Question DI1: What is your data stack?**
493
494 **Data Sources**:
495 - ☐ **Product Database** (PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, etc.)
496 - ☐ **Analytics Tools** (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, Segment)
497 - ☐ **Payment Processor** (Stripe, Chargebee, Recurly)
498 - ☐ **CRM** (Salesforce, HubSpot, Pipedrive)
499 - ☐ **Support Tools** (Zendesk, Intercom, Front)
500 - ☐ **Marketing Tools** (Mailchimp, Customer.io, Facebook Ads, Google Ads)
501 - ☐ Other: [specify]
502
503 **Data Warehouse**:
504 - ☐ **None** (query production databases directly — not recommended)
505 - ☐ **Snowflake** (scalable, cloud data warehouse)
506 - ☐ **BigQuery** (Google Cloud, integrates with Google Analytics)
507 - ☐ **Redshift** (AWS, legacy but still popular)
508 - ☐ **Other**: [specify]
509
510 **ETL/ELT Pipeline**:
511 - ☐ **Fivetran** (automated data pipelines)
512 - ☐ **Stitch** (simpler, cheaper than Fivetran)
513 - ☐ **Airbyte** (open-source alternative)
514 - ☐ **Custom scripts** (Python, dbt)
515 - ☐ None yet
516
517 **Your Data Stack**:
518 - Sources: [List]
519 - Warehouse: [Name or "None yet"]
520 - ETL: [Name or "None yet"]
521
522 ---
523
524 **Question DI2: How will you ensure data quality?**
525
526 **Data Quality Checks**:
527 - ☐ **Automated tests** (e.g., dbt tests: not-null, unique, referential integrity)
528 - ☐ **Anomaly detection** (alert if metric drops >X% or spikes >Y%)
529 - ☐ **Manual spot checks** (weekly review of key metrics)
530 - ☐ **Data lineage tracking** (document how each metric is calculated)
531 - ☐ **Version control for SQL queries** (Git repo for dashboard queries)
532
533 **Documentation**:
534 - ☐ **Data Dictionary** (document every metric: definition, source table, calculation, owner)
535 - ☐ **Metric Definitions Doc** (shared with entire team)
536 - ☐ **Changelog** (track changes to metric definitions over time)
537
538 ---
539
540 ## STEP 6: Implementation Roadmap
541
542 **Question IR1: What is your 90-day implementation plan?**
543
544 ### Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-3)
545 **Goal**: Set up basic tracking and core dashboards
546
547 - **Week 1: Event Tracking Audit**
548 - Audit existing event tracking (Google Analytics, Mixpanel, etc.)
549 - Identify gaps (e.g., missing activation events, no cohort tracking)
550 - Implement missing events (using Segment, Amplitude, or custom tracking)
551
552 - **Week 2: Define Metrics**
553 - Finalize North Star Metric
554 - Define AARRR metrics with thresholds and targets
555 - Document metric definitions (Data Dictionary)
556
557 - **Week 3: Build Core Dashboard**
558 - Create Executive Dashboard (NSM, MRR, AARRR)
559 - Set up automated refresh (daily or real-time)
560 - Share with leadership team
561
562 **Deliverable**: Executive Dashboard live, core events tracked
563
564 ---
565
566 ### Phase 2: Expand (Weeks 4-6)
567 **Goal**: Build role-specific dashboards
568
569 - **Week 4: Growth Dashboard**
570 - Build acquisition funnel (visitor → signup → activated)
571 - Add channel breakdown (organic, paid, social, referral)
572 - Set up CAC tracking by channel
573
574 - **Week 5: Product Dashboard**
575 - Build engagement dashboard (DAU, MAU, stickiness)
576 - Add feature adoption tracking
577 - Set up cohort retention analysis
578
579 - **Week 6: Revenue Dashboard**
580 - Build MRR tracking (new, expansion, churn)
581 - Add cohort-based LTV analysis
582 - Set up churn monitoring
583
584 **Deliverable**: Growth, Product, and Revenue dashboards live
585
586 ---
587
588 ### Phase 3: Optimize (Weeks 7-12)
589 **Goal**: Refine, automate, and drive adoption
590
591 - **Week 7-8: Alerts & Monitoring**
592 - Set up automated alerts (Slack, email)
593 - Define escalation paths for critical metrics
594 - Test alert thresholds
595
596 - **Week 9-10: Data Quality**
597 - Implement automated data quality tests (dbt tests)
598 - Set up anomaly detection
599 - Create data changelog
600
601 - **Week 11-12: Team Training & Adoption**
602 - Host dashboard training sessions for each team
603 - Create self-service guides (how to use dashboards)
604 - Establish review cadence (daily, weekly, monthly)
605
606 **Deliverable**: Full dashboard suite live, alerts running, team trained
607
608 ---
609
610 ## STEP 7: Generate Comprehensive Metrics Dashboard Strategy
611
612 **You will now receive a comprehensive document covering**:
613
614 ### Section 1: Executive Summary
615 - North Star Metric and why it was chosen
616 - Dashboard strategy overview (5 dashboards)
617 - Key targets and baseline performance
618
619 ### Section 2: AARRR Framework Deep Dive
620 - **Acquisition**: Top 3 metrics, channel breakdown, targets
621 - **Activation**: Definition, activation rate, time to activate, cohort performance
622 - **Retention**: D1/D7/D30 retention, cohort curves, churn rates, benchmarks
623 - **Referral**: Referral rate, viral coefficient, referral program details
624 - **Revenue**: MRR/ARR, ARPU, LTV, CAC, LTV:CAC ratio, NRR, margins
625
626 ### Section 3: Dashboard Architecture
627 - **Dashboard 1: Executive Dashboard** (purpose, metrics, visualizations, refresh frequency)
628 - **Dashboard 2: Growth Dashboard** (acquisition funnel, channel performance)
629 - **Dashboard 3: Product Dashboard** (engagement, feature adoption, session metrics)
630 - **Dashboard 4: Revenue Dashboard** (MRR waterfall, cohort LTV, churn)
631 - **Dashboard 5: Retention Dashboard** (retention curves, at-risk users, NPS)
632
633 ### Section 4: Alerts & Monitoring
634 - Alert rules (metric, threshold, channel, owner)
635 - Review cadence (daily, weekly, monthly)
636 - Escalation paths for critical issues
637
638 ### Section 5: Data Infrastructure
639 - Data sources (product DB, analytics, payment processor, CRM, support, marketing)
640 - Data warehouse (Snowflake, BigQuery, Redshift, or None)
641 - ETL/ELT pipeline (Fivetran, Stitch, Airbyte, custom)
642 - Data quality strategy (automated tests, anomaly detection, documentation)
643
644 ### Section 6: Metric Definitions (Data Dictionary)
645 | Metric Name | Definition | Calculation | Data Source | Owner | Target |
646 |-------------|------------|-------------|-------------|-------|--------|
647 | North Star Metric | [full definition] | [formula] | [source] | [person] | [target] |
648 | MRR | Monthly Recurring Revenue | Sum of active subscriptions | Stripe | Finance | $X |
649 | [etc. for 20-30 key metrics] | | | | | |
650
651 ### Section 7: Implementation Roadmap
652 - **Phase 1 (Weeks 1-3)**: Event tracking audit, metric definitions, core dashboard
653 - **Phase 2 (Weeks 4-6)**: Role-specific dashboards (growth, product, revenue)
654 - **Phase 3 (Weeks 7-12)**: Alerts, data quality, team training
655
656 ### Section 8: Success Criteria
657 - Dashboard adoption (X% of team uses dashboards weekly)
658 - Data-driven decisions (X% of product decisions cite dashboard metrics)
659 - Metric improvement (NSM grows X%, activation rate improves Y%, churn decreases Z%)
660
661 ### Section 9: Common Pitfalls to Avoid
662 - Vanity metrics (page views, signups) vs. actionable metrics (activation rate, retention)
663 - Too many metrics (dashboard overload)
664 - No ownership (every metric needs an owner)
665 - Ignoring data quality (garbage in, garbage out)
666 - Building dashboards in a vacuum (get team input)
667
668 ### Section 10: Next Steps
669 - Share dashboard with team
670 - Schedule weekly metric review meetings
671 - Integrate with **retention-optimization-expert** (use retention data to reduce churn)
672 - Integrate with **onboarding-flow-optimizer** (use activation metrics to improve onboarding)
673
674 ---
675
676 ## STEP 8: Quality Review & Iteration
677
678 After generating the strategy, I will ask:
679
680 **Quality Check**:
681 1. Does the North Star Metric align with core customer value?
682 2. Are AARRR metrics complete and measurable?
683 3. Are dashboard roles clear (who uses which dashboard)?
684 4. Are targets realistic and time-bound?
685 5. Is the data infrastructure plan feasible?
686 6. Is the implementation roadmap broken into actionable sprints?
687
688 **Iterate?** [Yes — refine X / No — finalize]
689
690 ---
691
692 ## STEP 9: Save & Next Steps
693
694 Once finalized, I will:
695 1. **Save** the metrics dashboard strategy to your project folder
696 2. **Suggest** running **retention-optimization-expert** next (to act on retention data)
697 3. **Remind** you to schedule a weekly metrics review meeting with your team
698
699 ---
700
701 ## 8 Critical Guidelines for This Skill
702
703 1. **North Star Metric must be leading, not lagging**: Choose a metric that predicts growth (e.g., "Projects created") over a vanity metric (e.g., "Signups").
704
705 2. **AARRR metrics must be complete**: Don't skip Referral or Revenue just because they're hard to track. Every business has all 5 stages.
706
707 3. **Dashboards must match roles**: Don't build one giant dashboard for everyone. Build 5 focused dashboards for different teams.
708
709 4. **Targets must be realistic**: Use industry benchmarks (e.g., SaaS D30 retention: 30-50%, DAU/MAU: 20%+, LTV:CAC: 3:1).
710
711 5. **Data quality is non-negotiable**: No dashboard is better than a dashboard with wrong data. Invest in data quality from Day 1.
712
713 6. **Every metric needs an owner**: Assign ownership for each metric. If no one owns it, it won't improve.
714
715 7. **Alerts prevent fire drills**: Set up automated alerts for critical metrics (NSM, MRR, churn, uptime). Don't rely on manual checks.
716
717 8. **Adoption > features**: A simple dashboard that everyone uses beats a complex dashboard that no one understands. Prioritize clarity and adoption.
718
719 ---
720
721 ## Quality Checklist (Before Finalizing)
722
723 - [ ] North Star Metric is clearly defined and aligns with customer + business value
724 - [ ] AARRR metrics are complete (all 5 stages covered)
725 - [ ] Each metric has: definition, baseline, target, owner, data source
726 - [ ] 5 dashboards are defined (Executive, Growth, Product, Revenue, Retention)
727 - [ ] Alert rules are set for critical metrics
728 - [ ] Data stack is documented (sources, warehouse, ETL, quality checks)
729 - [ ] Implementation roadmap is realistic and broken into 3 phases (12 weeks)
730 - [ ] Benchmarks are cited (SaaS standards for retention, DAU/MAU, LTV:CAC, etc.)
731 - [ ] Data Dictionary includes 20-30 key metrics with full definitions
732 - [ ] Next steps include team training and integration with downstream skills
733
734 ---
735
736 ## Integration with Other Skills
737
738 **Upstream Skills** (reuse data from):
739 - **revenue-model-builder** → Revenue streams, CAC, LTV, margins
740 - **customer-persona-builder** → User segments for cohort analysis
741 - **product-positioning-expert** → Value metrics
742 - **growth-hacking-playbook** → AARRR framework, North Star Metric, growth loops
743 - **go-to-market-planner** → GTM metrics, channel performance
744 - **content-marketing-strategist** → Content performance metrics
745 - **email-marketing-architect** → Email engagement metrics (open rate, click rate, conversions)
746 - **social-media-strategist** → Social media metrics (followers, engagement, referral traffic)
747 - **community-building-strategist** → Community metrics (DAU/MAU, retention, member growth)
748
749 **Downstream Skills** (use this data in):
750 - **retention-optimization-expert** → Use retention dashboard to identify at-risk users and churn drivers
751 - **onboarding-flow-optimizer** → Use activation metrics to improve onboarding
752 - **customer-feedback-framework** → Cross-reference NPS/CSAT with retention and churn data
753 - **investor-pitch-deck-builder** → Use MRR, growth rate, unit economics for traction slides
754 - **financial-model-architect** → Use historical metrics to build revenue projections
755
756 ---
757
758 **End of Skill**
759
760 ---
761
762 ## HTML Editorial Template Reference
763
764 **CRITICAL**: When generating HTML output, you MUST read and follow the skeleton template files AND the verification checklist to maintain StratArts brand consistency.
765
766 ### Template Files to Read (IN ORDER)
767
768 1. **Verification Checklist** (MUST READ FIRST):
769 ```
770 html-templates/VERIFICATION-CHECKLIST.md
771 ```
772
773 2. **Base Template** (shared structure):
774 ```
775 html-templates/base-template.html
776 ```
777
778 3. **Skill-Specific Template** (content sections & charts):
779 ```
780 html-templates/metrics-dashboard-designer.html
781 ```
782
783 ### How to Use Templates
784
785 1. Read `VERIFICATION-CHECKLIST.md` first - contains canonical CSS patterns that MUST be copied exactly
786 2. Read `base-template.html` - contains all shared CSS, layout structure, and Chart.js configuration
787 3. Read `metrics-dashboard-designer.html` - contains skill-specific content sections, CSS extensions, and chart scripts
788 4. Replace all `{{PLACEHOLDER}}` markers with actual analysis data
789 5. Merge the skill-specific CSS into `{{SKILL_SPECIFIC_CSS}}`
790 6. Merge the content sections into `{{CONTENT_SECTIONS}}`
791 7. Merge the chart scripts into `{{CHART_SCRIPTS}}`
792
793 ---
794
795 ## HTML Output Verification
796
797 After generating the HTML output, verify the following:
798
799 ### Structure Verification
800 - [ ] Header uses canonical pattern with gradient background (#10b981 → #14b8a6)
801 - [ ] Score banner shows dashboard count, metric count, alert count, MRR, LTV:CAC
802 - [ ] Verdict box displays framework type (AARRR)
803 - [ ] All 8 sections present: Executive Summary, North Star, AARRR, Dashboards, Metrics Dictionary, Alerts, Data Stack, Charts, Roadmap
804 - [ ] Footer uses canonical pattern with StratArts branding
805
806 ### Content Verification
807 - [ ] North Star Metric container with value, name, description, 3 drivers
808 - [ ] 5 AARRR stage cards with letter, name, metric, target, and details list
809 - [ ] 5 dashboard cards with name, audience, purpose, and metrics list
810 - [ ] Metrics dictionary table with 8-10 rows (name, category, current, target, owner, source)
811 - [ ] 6 alert cards with metric, threshold, and channel
812 - [ ] 3 data stack sections (Sources, Warehouse, Visualization)
813 - [ ] 90-day roadmap with 3 phase cards
814
815 ### CSS Verification
816 - [ ] Dark theme applied (#0a0a0a background, #1a1a1a containers)
817 - [ ] Emerald accent color (#10b981) used consistently
818 - [ ] AARRR stages have top border accent
819 - [ ] Category badges use distinct colors (acquisition=green, activation=blue, retention=amber, referral=purple, revenue=red)
820 - [ ] Dashboard cards have left border accent
821 - [ ] Responsive breakpoints at 1200px and 768px
822
823 ### Chart Verification
824 - [ ] funnelChart: Horizontal bar showing AARRR funnel
825 - [ ] mrrChart: Line chart with filled area for MRR growth
826 - [ ] retentionChart: Retention curve (D1 to D90)
827 - [ ] engagementChart: Dual-line (DAU + WAU)
828 - [ ] All charts use Chart.js v4.4.0
829 - [ ] Dark theme defaults applied (color: #888, borderColor: #333)
830
831 ### Data Consistency
832 - [ ] AARRR funnel data flows logically (Acquisition > Activation > Retention > Referral > Revenue)
833 - [ ] MRR in score banner matches chart endpoint
834 - [ ] LTV:CAC ratio is calculated correctly
835 - [ ] Metrics table current values match corresponding section values