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| Criterion |  Growth North Star Metric |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Engineering Goal Question Metric |  Decision Making DACI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When product teams track many metrics, the view of the actual customer outcome easily gets lost. A North Star Metric bundles growth, usage, and value contribution into one signal that makes the system's direction visible. | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | Helps clarify technical problems, hypotheses, and next steps in concrete terms. It breaks a technical problem into testable parts. The result is captured as a GQM table and metric briefs. | In cross-functional decisions, responsibilities quickly blur between approval, influence, and execution. DACI arranges these roles so decision pressure, contribution, and information stay cleanly separated. |
Complexitydifferent | Medium | Low | Medium | Low |
Timedifferent | 1-2 h | 45-90 min | 90-180 min | 30-60 min |
Participantsdifferent | 3-8 | 2-8 | 3-6 | 2-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | North Star metric, Input metric tree, Measurement cadence | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | GQM Table, Metric Profiles | DACI Matrix, Decision Owner, Decision Log |
Tagsno overlap | GrowthMetricsAlignmentRetention | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | MetricsMeasurementEngineeringAlignment | DecisionRolesGovernanceAlignment |