Smarter Week

How to automate it

How to automate “pull product metrics and check feature adoption”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today.

45 min
typically, once a week
55%
of the time can be automated
Easy
to set up

Fix 1 of 2

Software featureBest fix

Ask your product analytics tool questions in plain English

Amplitude, Mixpanel, PostHog and Pendo now answer questions like "how many accounts used the new export last week?" and build the chart for you.

Typically saves about 45% of the time15 min to set up
  1. 1Check which AI features your analytics tool includes (Amplitude AI, Mixpanel Spark, PostHog AI, Pendo AI).
  2. 2Ask your question in plain English and check the event definitions it picked.
  3. 3Save the chart to a feature dashboard so you never rebuild it.
  4. 4Set an alert or weekly digest for the metrics you check every week.

Tools: Amplitude · Mixpanel · PostHog · Pendo

Fix 2 of 2

Automation

Build the report once so it refreshes itself

Connect the spreadsheet or dashboard straight to the source so next week's report is already done.

Typically saves about 80% of the time4 h to set up
  1. 1List where each number comes from.
  2. 2Use Power Query (Excel), a connected sheet, or a Google Data Studio or Power BI dashboard pulling from the source.
  3. 3Schedule the refresh and send the link instead of an attachment.

Tools: Excel Power Query · Power BI · Google Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio) · Google Sheets connectors

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

Product manager

HourLeak · the 8-minute work audit

How many hours does this cost you?

The free 8-minute check works out where your week goes and gives you your top fixes. The team scan does the same for everyone and adds it up, so you know which leaks to fix first.

Take the free check Scan my team, $49

Answers are anonymous. Leaders only see team totals.

Other common tasks for Product managers