Meeting Scheduler Product: Choose a North Star, Supporting and Guardrail Metrics

You are the product manager for a new app that helps people set up meetings. Explain how you would decide which metrics to track for it and how you would rank them by importance. ```hint Define success for both sides Before listing metrics, describe what a good outcome looks like for the person arranging the meeting and for the people invited to it. Then ask how each candidate metric could go up while one of those people ends up worse off. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is the app for individuals arranging their own meetings, for teams inside companies, or for professionals who let outside clients book time with them? - Does the app only find times and send invitations on top of people's existing calendars, or does it also host the meeting itself, such as a video call? - How does the app make money: it is free, it sells paid plans to individuals, or it sells licenses to companies? - Is the app meant to replace the calendar tools people already use, or to work alongside them? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A stated product goal and business model, since they determine which metrics matter most. - The scheduling journey for the organizer and for invitees, and the moment the product delivers value. - One north-star metric chosen and justified against alternatives, with supporting metrics across adoption, activation, efficiency and retention. - Guardrail metrics that catch harm to users' calendars, such as double bookings, no-shows or excessive meeting load. - An explicit priority order, and how it would shift as the product matures or its business model changes. ### Follow-up Questions - Meetings booked per week jumps after a launch. How would you tell whether that is good news for users? - Which metric would warn you that the app is making people's calendars worse, and what would you do if it moved? - How would your priorities change if the app moved from a free tool for individuals to licenses sold to whole companies?