Product Analytics Certification Course

Workbook and
Study Guide
TAB LE OF C ONTE NT S

Module 3 Exercise: 03
Mapping your North Star Metric

Module 4 Exercise: 05
Using the Product Analytics Hierarchy of Needs

Module 5 Exercise: 09
Understanding your product's core features

Module 6 Exercise: 12
Building a business case for your product decisions

Module 7 Exercise: 16
Making the case for product analytics software

Product Analytics Certification Course 18

Exam Study Guide
WO RK BOOK I NTROD U CTI ON

To help you apply what you’ve learned to your own product, we put together five
exercises that correspond with lessons in the Product Analytics Certification
Course. We recommend completing each exercise when they are prompted by
the instructor, but you can always come back to this workbook at any time.

All of the exercises can be done alone, and some can be done in a group
setting. Each one puts course material into practice in order to help you build,
refine, and expand your product analytics strategy. Feel free to complete the
exercises more than once or revisit them in the future—they can be a great tool
for product planning.
 MODULE 3 EXERCISE

Mapping your North Star Metric

Overview
You can do this exercise alone or with members of your team to start
thinking about what a North Star Metric (or one of your North Star
Metrics) could be. If your team is already using an established metrics
framework or already has a North Star, you can use this exercise to brainstorm
additional North Stars, or a North Star you might want to focus on in the future.

The goal of this exercise is to identify the metrics that will best support your
business and help your teams make decisions.
North Star Planning Template

VISION: Document your company or product vision as it GOALS & PRIORITIES: Note the goals or priorities that
stands today. are most important for your team right now.

NORTH STAR METRIC: Identify a North Star Metric that MEASUREMENT: Note how your North Star is calculated,
you can use to measure the core value of your product. and how you’ll measure and monitor it.

ALIGNMENT: Document how your North Star aligns with LEADING INDICATORS: List two to five metrics you
your goals or priorities. can track that are likely to cause movement in your
North Star.

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES: Note ways in which CHECK METRIC: Choose a metric or metrics that you
you could be successful at achieving your North Star can monitor to ensure you are not over-optimizing your
Metric, but also cause problems in other ways. North Star Metric.
 MODULE 4 EXERCISE

Using the Product Analytics

Hierarchy of Needs

Overview
This exercise will help you implement the Product Analytics Hierarchy
of Needs at your own organization and use it to advance towards
Data Actualization.

In the first part of the exercise, you’ll fill out the Hierarchy to determine
where you stand, including which steps your company has already
achieved and where there is more work to be done. Once you know
where you fall in the Hierarchy, you’ll be able to narrow in on that step and
identify where to focus your efforts.

You can do this exercise alone or with your team, but we recommend
bringing in your key stakeholders. You might share the Hierarchy
framework with them ahead of time so they’re prepared to discuss it
in more detail.
Product Analytics Hierarchy of Needs

PART 1

First, fill out the Hierarchy graphic below.

STEP 1: COLLECT STEP 4: ACT

Note what product data you’re currently able to Outline some ways you’ve taken action on the
track and how you collect this data. data, metrics, and insights you’ve collected.

STEP 2: REFINE STEP 5: DATA ACTUALIZATION

Document the metrics you use to understand Document characteristics that you believe
product performance and user behavior. demonstrate that your company is data-
informed.

STEP 3: BUILD
Note any reports you use to describe or compare
product usage.

STEP 5

STEP 4

STEP 3

STEP 2

STEP 1
 PART 2

Based on what you’ve documented, assess where you are in your progression up the pyramid.
If you didn’t make it very far up the pyramid, you can also use the space to document what you
want your product analytics strategy to look like.

Once you know where you fall in the Hierarchy, fill out the two sections below:

CHALLENGES: Document what’s holding SOLUTIONS: Document what you need in

you back in this step. What’s missing? order to overcome these challenges. What
What do you need to implement or build? projects can you establish? Who do you need
to bring on board to help you?
Once you’ve solved for that step, feel free to repeat the Challenges and Solutions exercise
for additional steps in the pyramid.

CHALLENGES: SOLUTIONS:

CHALLENGES: SOLUTIONS:

CHALLENGES: SOLUTIONS:
 MODULE 5 EXERCISE

Understanding your
product’s core features

Overview
Defining your product’s aha moments or core features is not a simple process.
It takes time, iteration, and measurement via product analytics to ensure you
know which parts of your product are key to customers finding value and
ultimately, outcomes like retention and revenue growth.

This is an exercise you can do once you have a list of what you believe are your
product’s core features or aha moments. It will help you better understand if
these features are truly core to your customers’ experience.
 Adoption - Retention Matrix
The horizontal axis of the matrix represents Adoption, with Low Adoption on the left and High
Adoption on the right. The vertical axis represents Retention, with Low Retention on the bottom
and High Retention on the top. This creates four quadrants with various combinations of high and
low adoption and retention. The idea is that your aha moments should have both high adoption
and high retention.

PART 1

Map your list of features to the diagram, placing a feature in the appropriate quadrant. If you
have access to product analytics data, use this to identify the adoption and retention levels for
each feature.

HIGH RETENTION

HIGH ADOPTION
LOW ADOPTION

LOW RETENTION
 PART 2

Take a look at your distribution of features as they relate to adoption and retention.
Think about how you can use this information to determine next steps.

Example scenarios:

High Adoption, Low Retention: You have likely chosen an aha moment that every user
has to use when they log in to your product.

Low Adoption, Low Retention: You might have chosen a feature that should be removed
or deprecated from your platform. Or, you should focus on improving adoption of the
feature to see if it impacts retention. This is also referred to as a “fix opportunity.”

Low Adoption, High Retention: This is also referred to as a “growth opportunity.” It could
be that only power users have discovered this feature. The best thing for you to focus on
is increasing adoption so that you can see if there’s any impact on retention.

High Adoption, High Retention: This is a good indicator that the feature is core to your
users’ experience and truly is an aha moment.
 MODULE 6 EXERCISE

Building a business case

for your product decisions

Overview
A business case is a document that describes the “why” of any piece of work.
For software products, it is a decision tool to help companies justify whether
or not to move forward and invest in a product or feature idea.

This exercise will help you put together a business case for an idea you
have for your product. It could be something like a proposal for a new
feature, updates to existing functionality, or to improve the usability of your
product area.
Business Case Planning Template

PART 1

Give an overview of your proposed idea.

PROBLEMS: Explain the problem or BUSINESS OUTCOME: Document the

problems that your idea aims to solve. business outcome or outcomes you’re
looking to impact.

PRODUCT OUTCOME: Note the product RATIONALE: Detail how the product
outcome that you’re proposing. outcome relates to the business outcome.
How will doing X in the product help drive Y
for the business?
 PART 2

Document any supporting data that you have.

QUANTITATIVE: Add any data from product analytics that helps support your proposal.

QUALITATIVE: Add data from customer interviews, surveys, or other feedback mechanisms
that support your rationale or illustrate the problems you detailed in Part 1.
 PART 3

Note any additional information you’d like to include.

AUDIENCE: Describe your target audience. SCOPE OF WORK: Document the work that
will go into achieving this product outcome.

SUCCESS CRITERIA: What does success look like?

DELIVERY MILESTONES: Document any key milestones and/or a general timeline for this work.

DEPENDENCIES OR RISKS: Note any dependencies or risks that may impact this work getting done.
 MODULE 7 EXERCISE

Making the case for product

analytics software

Overview
If you’re in the process of trying to get a product analytics tool or know you’ll
want to make the case for it at your organization, this exercise will help you
kickstart or optimize that work. It will force you to think about the outcomes
you’re looking to achieve with product analytics, help you document current
pain points, and quantify the potential impact of this software investment.
 Business Outcomes Worksheet

BUSINESS PAIN QUANTIFIED INDUSTRY BUSINESS REVENUE, COST,

OUTCOME POINT IMPACT BENCHMARKS IMPACT OR RISK

Example: Example: Example: Example: Example: Example:

Reduce strain Support teams It typically takes Common industry Product analytics Cost
on support teams are flooded with support team X target is 5-15% will help eliminate
support tickets hours per month reduction in support 10-25% of Y dollars
every month to resolve support tickets spent per year on
tickets, which costs support tickets
the company Y
dollars per year
Product Analytics Certification Course

Exam Study Guide

 STUDY GUIDE

Product Analytics Certification

Course Exam Study Guide

Introduction
We’re excited that you’re interested in becoming Product Analytics
Certified! The Product Analytics Certification Course is designed to teach
the foundations of product analytics strategy and help you bring data-
driven practices to your own work, your team’s operating model, and your
company’s culture.

By getting certified, you’ll be able to show that you’ve mastered the

fundamentals of product analytics and are well on your way to becoming a
data-driven product leader.

This study guide provides an overview of the Product Analytics Certification

Course exam and how to best prepare for it.

The guide includes:

– Details about the exam
– Topics covered
– Sample questions
– Tips to prepare for the exam
– Two educational handouts from the course:
• Data Literacy Glossary
• Product Analytics Hierachy of Needs Infographic
 EXAM DETAILS

Format: 30 multiple choice questions

Time alloted: 90 minutes

Passing score: 75%

Number of attempts: Three

Cost: $149 (USD), includes the course as well as the exam

Delivery method: Online, not proctored

Language: English

Prerequisites: None, though we highly recommend that you take the Product Analytics
Certification Course to prepare for the exam.

TOPICS COVERED IN THE EXAM

The questions on the test align to the material covered in the Product Analytics Certification
Course, and are similar in nature to the end-of-module quiz questions. The topics and percentage
of questions per topic on the exam are outlined below.

TOPIC % OF TOTAL EXAM

Product analytics, explained 17%

Defining your product analytics strategy 20%

A framework for using product analytics effectively 13%

Product analytics in practice 20%

Using product analytics to make a business case 13%

Getting started with product analytics 17%

 TIPS TO PREPARE FOR THE EXAM

This is an “open-book” exam, so be sure to have any notes you captured while taking
the course beside you before beginning.

The test is timed without the ability to pause, so be sure you have a dedicated
90 minute period available before clicking “Start.”

Make sure you have a quiet space so you can focus while taking the exam, with
few distractions.

Take your time to read exam questions carefully.

We also ask that you please don’t cheat and don’t share exam content with others.

Good luck on the exam! You’re one step closer to becoming Product Analytics Certified.
 Data literacy glossary
10 common product analytics terms to know.

Acquisition – In the world of software, acquisition refers to the process of gaining

new users of your product. Teams can use product analytics to track acquisition via
metrics like new user signups and logins.

Cohort – Another way to describe a subset of your user base. Cohorts typically have
a time component to them, for example your August Cohort of new users would be
all of the users who started using your product in the month of August. There are
also behavioral cohorts, which are essentially the same thing as segments.

Engagement – Also referred to as Product Engagement, this tracks how users interact
with an application at the most granular level. You can measure Engagement with
a variety of metrics, for example using Adoption, Stickiness, and time spent in-app.

Event – An action a user takes within a software product. This includes

clicks, slides, gestures (for mobile and other device types), play commands
(for audio and video), downloads, page loads, and text field fills. Some generic
examples of events are: Share Dashboard, Select Option, Change View, and Enter
New User.

Funnel Analysis – A measurement of how customers move through a defined series

of steps in your application. This helps provide clarity as to where users drop off
when following these steps, and where they go from that drop-off point.
 Growth – A measure of the net effect of your user acquisition and retention efforts.
A product—and company—achieves growth by adding new customer accounts or
by increasing usage within existing customer accounts (or ideally, both).

Path Analysis – A visualization of what users are doing before or after using a
specific page or feature in your application, shown as the sequence of actions that
users took before or after the target event.

Product Adoption – Also referred to as Activation, this measures when users

understand your product’s value and perform certain actions, for example engaging
with key features and moving through account setup workflows.

Retention – The percentage of users or customer accounts still using your product
after they initially install or start using it. Another way to understand if users are
continuously engaging with your product is with Stickiness, which measures how
many users return to the product on a regular basis.

Segment – A subset of software users that share a common characteristic, or

multiple common characteristics. For example, you can create segments based on
users’ company size, industry, location, role, or how they use your product.

www.pendo.io/product-analytics-certification/
 Product Analytics
Hierarchy of Needs

A simple step-by-step framework that will help you get the right data, properly analyze it, and use it
to bring real change to your organization’s decision making and product development processes.

Data Actualization
5
When you’ve reached Data Actualization, you:
Data-informed product teams and companies have the - Have accurate, clean, and actionable data
right data where and when they need it, leveraging it to - Are able to ask and answer harder questions
make better decisions at every stage. - Might use gut feel as a starting point

Tools to help you take action:

- Analysis Take action
- Dashboards 4 Using the insights you’ve pulled out
- Storytelling of your data, you’ll be able to take the
appropriate next action.

Build metrics into reports

Types of reports:

3 Establish tables and graphs that describe

- Paths
- Funnels
or compare product usage over time and - Retention
with other important metrics.

Refine data into metrics

2
Metrics group and organize data to help measure
specific aspects of your product or business. Turn your data into standard and custom
metrics in order to standardize measurement
of product performance and user behavior.

People data: Behavior data:

- Visitors - Events
Collect data
1 Collect information about the people
- Accounts
- Segments
- Page Loads
- Clicks
who use your product and the - User Metadata - Feature Usage
actions they take.

www.pendo.io/product-analytics-certification/