The Structure of a Product Review

Part 2 on our multi-part series on Product Reviews

The key to a successful Product Review is simple: tell a clear, structured story.

I’ve always believed that the key to being a great Product Manager is being a great storyteller—not in the traditional, campfire sense, but in the ability to clearly communicate what matters and why. Product Managers don’t need to spin tales or deliver dramatic reveals. They need to guide a team through complexity, align people around a vision, and make structured decisions. And that’s where storytelling—done right—becomes a superpower.

Product Reviews are a Microcosm for Product Success

As part of a Product Review, I want you to tell me a story about how this product can be successful and taken to market effectively. This isn’t a M. Night Shyamalan story, so don’t provide any twists or surprises. Tell the story in a way that maximizes clarity and objective decision making, using these common elements:

1. Product mission

   Every product review should start with the mission of the product. Full stop. If you don’t get everyone in the room anchored on the mission, you allow the chance for decisions in further slides to run astray. If the product review starts and you get people balking at the mission, don’t move forward until you fix this misalignment. Nothing else matters if the mission is not clear and universally accepted.
   
   

2. North Star metric

   Great, now that you have your mission defined, how do you measure it? A single North Star Metric that is strongly correlated to product success is essential to making and measuring progress on your mission.

   I believe the greatest North Star metric in history is YouTube’s “Total Watch Time”. It’s clean, measurable, easy to comprehend and there are many, many ways and tactics for which to improve upon it.
   
   

3. KPIs specific to this component

   Your North Star metric tells you where you're headed—but it won’t move overnight. It reflects the long game: multiple launches, iterations, and improvements over time. That’s why each Product Review needs to highlight the KPIs you can move now. These are the metrics directly impacted by the decision at hand and, if chosen well, they’re tightly linked to the North Star. Put simply: if this launch works, these KPIs should go up—and when they do, your North Star will follow.
   
   

4. User feedback

   We build product for users. It’s a simple but powerful statement that is often overlooked when people get overly consumed by the data. The best way to stay grounded is with the Jobs To Be Done Framework developed by Clayton Christianson and colleagues. What problem are users hiring your product to solve? Your review should make that answer obvious—with real user insights, not just dashboards. Whether it’s understanding the pain or validating the solution, user feedback isn’t optional. It’s the point.
   
   

5. Data and test results
   I live by the adage: if it can be measured, it can be improved. Product Reviews are where decisions get made—and that means showing your work. No metrics? No meeting. You’re not ready. Get the data, validate your assumptions, and then let’s talk. We’ll cover more on building a data-first product culture in future BTStrat posts—so if this sounds like tough love, good. That means it’s working.

6. Options, presented in a structured way
   Now we get to the most important part of any Product Review: the options. By this point, the room has probably had a lively discussion—questions flying, opinions swirling, maybe even a few tangents. That’s normal. But now it’s your job to bring the room back to clarity.

   Lay out the options in a structured, side-by-side format. A simple matrix works best: options as columns, key decision criteria as rows. Fill in the cells with data where you have it. Where you don’t, a Green-Yellow-Red system can help signal trade-offs without getting bogged down.

   And yes, come in with a strong recommendation. But don’t mistake decisiveness for finality. This is also the moment to invite input—pressure-test the recommendation, surface new angles, and make sure the team is aligned on the best path forward for the product, the user, and the business.

7. Go-To-Market (GTM) strategy

   As much as I’d love to believe that a great product speaks for itself, reality says otherwise. A product isn’t truly great unless people actually use it—and that means having a clear path for getting it into their hands. That’s your GTM strategy.

   GTM doesn’t look the same across companies or products. It might mean landing a single lighthouse customer, running a paid acquisition campaign, or partnering with sales. But one thing is universal: your GTM strategy needs to be part of product development, not an afterthought. If you’re figuring out distribution after the build is done, you’re already behind.

We’ve covered the core elements of a strong Product Review—but we’re just getting started. In upcoming posts, we’ll share concrete templates you can steal, along with practical ways to use AI to streamline and elevate your review process.