PM Pitfalls

The weekly dashboard gets reviewed, noted, and filed. No one asks why a metric moved or what it means for priorities. Metrics become a reporting ritual, not a decision tool.

Overall retention looks stable at 65%. New user cohorts are retaining at 40% and declining. The aggregate is propped up by loyal early users who joined before a quality decline.

DAU goes up because you tripled push notifications. Session length rises because the app is slow. Revenue grows because you removed the free tier. All look like wins on a single-metric dashboard.

Revenue, churn rate, and NPS confirm what happened. By the time they move, the decision that caused the movement was made 6 to 12 weeks ago.