How the North Star Metric Skill Defines Input Metrics and Business Game Classification

The north-star-metric skill in the phuryn/pm-skills repository classifies products into three mutually exclusive business games—Attention, Transaction, and Productivity—and requires users to define 3–5 input metrics that are short-term movable, directly contributory, and team-ownable to drive the selected North Star Metric.

The phuryn/pm-skills repository provides structured product management skills for AI-assisted workflows. The north-star-metric skill offers a systematic framework for defining how a product creates value by first categorizing its business model and then identifying actionable metrics that influence long-term success.

Business Game Classification in the North Star Metric Skill

According to pm-marketing-growth/skills/north-star-metric/SKILL.md, the skill organizes products into three distinct categories based on how they generate value. This classification, found under "The Three Business Games" (lines 25–32), determines which type of North Star Metric (NSM) best captures the product's core impact.

The Three Business Games

• Attention: Measures customer engagement and time spent with the product. Examples include Facebook, Spotify, YouTube, and TikTok.
• Transaction: Tracks the volume of exchanges between customers and the platform. Examples include Amazon, Uber, Airbnb, and PayPal.
• Productivity: Evaluates efficiency in helping users accomplish work or achieve goals. Examples include Canva, Dropbox, Loom, and Notion.

When invoked via the command file at pm-marketing-growth/commands/north-star.md (lines 28–36), the skill's first step is to "Classify the Business Game," forcing a selection among these mutually exclusive categories.

Defining Input Metrics as Leading Indicators

After establishing the NSM, the skill directs users to define input metrics (also called leading indicators). The requirements appear in SKILL.md under "Step 3: Identify Input Metrics" (lines 53–57) and are reinforced in the command file's "Define Input Metrics" section (lines 52–58).

Requirements for Valid Input Metrics

Each input metric must satisfy three specific criteria:

1. Easier to move in the short term than the NSM itself, allowing for rapid experimentation.
2. Directly contribute to movement in the North Star Metric, establishing clear causality.
3. Pinpoint optimization levers, enabling teams to identify specific actions that drive growth.

Additionally, the skill recommends that input metrics be MECE (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive) and explicitly ownable by a specific team or squad.

Skill Execution Flow and Code Structure

The implementation follows a strict sequential process defined in the command file. When a user invokes /north-star <product description>, the skill executes four distinct phases:

1. Business Game Classification: The model selects one of the three games based on the product description.
2. NSM Selection: The model proposes candidate metrics and validates them against seven criteria (understandable, customer-centric, sustainable value, etc.).
3. Input Metric Definition: The model generates 3–5 metrics meeting the three requirements above.
4. Framework Generation: The output renders as a markdown "North Star Framework" containing the classification, NSM, validation table, and input-metric table with owners.

Example invocation and output structure:

# Example invocation

/north-star B2B SaaS for team collaboration

# Expected generated framework (truncated)

## North Star Framework: Team Collaboration SaaS

**Business Game**: Productivity

### North Star Metric

**Metric**: Weekly Active Teams
**Definition**: Number of teams that log in at least once per week
...

### Input Metrics

| Input Metric      | Drives North Star By            | Owner   |
|-------------------|--------------------------------|---------|
| Teams Created     | Increases potential active teams| Growth  |
| Team Retention %  | Keeps existing teams active     | PM      |
| Feature Adoption  | Boosts usage per team           | Eng.    |
| Onboard Completion| Speeds first-time value delivery| CS      |

This output format follows the template defined in pm-marketing-growth/commands/north-star.md (lines 59–88).

Summary

• The north-star-metric skill recognizes three business games: Attention, Transaction, and Productivity, as defined in SKILL.md.
• Input metrics must be short-term movable, directly contributory to the NSM, and actionable for specific teams.
• The skill mandates exactly 3–5 input metrics that should be MECE and team-ownable.
• Execution follows a four-step flow from classification to framework generation, implemented in the command file at pm-marketing-growth/commands/north-star.md.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three business games defined in the north-star-metric skill?

The skill defines Attention (engagement/time spent), Transaction (platform exchanges), and Productivity (efficiency/goal achievement). These categories determine the appropriate North Star Metric type and are located in pm-marketing-growth/skills/north-star-metric/SKILL.md under "The Three Business Games" (lines 25–32).

How many input metrics should be defined for a North Star Metric?

The skill requires exactly 3–5 input metrics. This constraint ensures focus while providing enough coverage to capture different growth levers, as specified in both the skill definition (lines 53–57) and command implementation files (lines 52–58).

What makes an input metric different from the North Star Metric?

An input metric is a leading indicator that is easier to move in the short term and directly influences the NSM, whereas the North Star Metric is a lagging indicator representing sustainable customer value. Input metrics help teams identify specific optimization tactics, while the NSM tracks overall product health.

Where are the business game and input metric definitions located in the repository?

The definitions reside in two key files: pm-marketing-growth/skills/north-star-metric/SKILL.md contains the conceptual framework (business games at lines 25–32, input metrics at lines 53–57), while pm-marketing-growth/commands/north-star.md implements the execution logic (business game classification at lines 28–36, input metric requirements at lines 52–58).

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