Back to the playbook

Foundations

What product analytics is, how it differs from the other two things people call analytics, and the funnel model every later chapter sits on.

  1. 01What is product analytics?Product analytics is the analysis of what users do inside your product. The test is whether you can point at a row of data and name the user who did it. Revenue by country, sales by region and anything else that can't name a user is not product analytics.2 min read
  2. 02Product vs data vs business analyticsData analytics is the umbrella; product analytics and business analytics both sit under it. Product analytics studies how users behave inside the product. Business analytics answers questions about business objectives: revenue, markets and internal reporting.3 min read
  3. 03How to hire a product analyst: screen for the mindsetFounders screen product analysts for SQL and tools, then hire someone who pulls any number but can't say which number to ask for. The skill that separates a good product analyst is understanding how users move through the product well enough to turn a vague problem into one specific question. You can test for it in ten minutes by asking a candidate to map your product and say where users would drop off.5 min read
  4. 04Every product is a funnel: how to model yoursEvery product is a set of steps people go through in order, and so is every feature inside it. Count how many people reach each step, find the step where the biggest share drops off, and your problem shrinks from the whole product to one step.3 min read
  5. 05Product analytics by stage: what to build at your sizeSign-ups a month, not visitors, decides your analytics stage. Under 1,000 sign-ups a month, one product analytics tool on its free tier is enough. From 1,000 upward, track all the core actions in your product and use the data to find where and why people drop off.5 min read