# North Star Metric

The single measure that best captures the core value a product delivers to customers and predicts their retention.

A North Star Metric is the one measure that best captures the core value a product delivers to its customers and that predicts their continued use. It is chosen to align an organization around genuine value creation rather than around whichever numbers are easiest to grow.

The discipline of a North Star Metric is that it must predict retention, which rules out vanity metrics. Sign-ups, downloads, or page views flatter a deck but say little about whether customers keep getting value; active, repeated use does. A well-chosen North Star Metric ties day-to-day work to the behavior that actually foreshadows lasting benefit.

### Commonly confused

A vanity metric. Sign-ups flatter the deck; active, repeated use predicts the benefit.

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[View this page on the website](https://getconductor.com/glossary/north-star-metric) · Last updated: 2026-08-04