Product metrics and goals
OKRs (objectives and key results)
Also called OKR, Objectives and key results
A goal-setting format: an inspiring objective, and two to five measurable key results that show whether it was reached.
How it's worked out
Objective: what we want, in words. Key results: 'metric from X to Y' by a date
The objective says where to go; the key results say how you'll know you got there. Good key results are outcomes, such as a metric moving, not tasks such as launching a feature.
Teams usually set them quarterly. Many treat 70% achievement as success, to encourage ambitious goals.
In practice
Objective: new teams get value in their first week. Key results: trial activation from 40% to 50%; weekly active accounts from 1,030 to 1,050.
Common mistake
Writing a to-do list as key results ('launch onboarding v2'). Shipping isn't the result; the change it causes is.
Where it comes from
Developed by Andy Grove at Intel in the 1970s, building on Peter Drucker's management by objectives. John Doerr took them to Google and described them in Measure What Matters (2018).