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Key Performance Indicators are measurable values that show how well your app is performing in relation to your business goals—like user growth, retention, or revenue.
Why It Matters
Why Founders Should Care About This Term:
- Tracks whether your app is actually delivering business results like user engagement or revenue.
- Helps you make informed decisions instead of guesses—reducing wasted time and money.
- Aligns your team on what success looks like from day one.
- Speeds up product iterations by focusing only on what moves the needle.
- Attracts investors by showing traction with data, not just pitch decks.
Use This Term When...
- You're defining success criteria for your MVP or full launch
- You're setting up app analytics or dashboards
- You're presenting progress to stakeholders or investors
- You're prioritising features based on usage data
- You're running experiments like A/B tests or user onboarding flows
Real-World Example
In one of our projects, we used key performance indicators such as user onboarding completion rate and session frequency to track user engagement post-launch. This helped us identify drop-off points and improve user flow, resulting in a 25% increase in retained users within the first month.
Founder Insight
Most founders focus only on vanity metrics like downloads. Without the right KPIs, you might think your app is winning when it's quietly losing users. Choose KPIs that reflect real user behavior and value delivery.
Key Metrics / Concepts
- User Retention Rate – Measures how many users return after their first session
- Churn Rate – Shows how quickly users are abandoning your app
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) – Estimates the total value a user brings over time
- Conversion Rate – Tracks how many users complete a key action (signup, purchase)
Tools & Technologies
- Mixpanel – Tracks user behavior and funnel conversions
- Firebase Analytics – Free, Google-backed tool for real-time app usage insights
- Amplitude – Best for startups needing deep user journey analytics
What’s Next / Future Trends
AI is changing how KPIs work by enabling predictive analytics and smart alerts. Future dashboards will recommend what to fix—not just what’s broken. Expect privacy-first analytics to become the new norm.
Related Terms
- Indicators – KPIs are a subset of indicators focused on measuring critical success metrics.
- App Analytics – The primary tool used to collect, track, and report KPIs in real time.
- Funnel Analysis – A method to evaluate specific KPIs at each stage of the user journey.
- App Conversion Rate – A common KPI that tracks how many users complete a desired action (e.g., sign-ups, purchases).
- User Retention (if part of your extended term list) – A key KPI for assessing long-term engagement and product stickiness.
Helpful Videos / Articles / Pages
Call to Action
Not sure which KPIs are right for your app? Book a discovery call — we’ll help you define and track the metrics that matter.