What PMs are actually trying to do
Close the loop between "we shipped it" and "here's what happened." That's the job. You make a bet. You ship. You need to know if the bet paid off. Most tools are built for analysts, not for the person deciding what to build next.
Analysts need flexibility. They need to slice data every which way. They need to build reports and maintain pipelines. PMs need answers. Did that change work? Where do people get stuck? Who uses this and who doesn't? The questions are simple. The tools are not. So PMs either wait for the data team (and the ticket goes to the bottom of the backlog) or they guess. Neither is acceptable when you're the one accountable for the roadmap.
What PMs need is a short path from ship to signal. One focus. A few numbers that matter for it. A way to see what changed when the numbers move. No SQL. No ticket. No "we'll get to it next sprint."
The PM workflow we optimized for
Set a focus. Watch the metric. Read the weekly summary. When something moves, check the journal. That's the loop. It's designed to fit how PMs actually work: lots of context switching, limited time for deep dives, and a need to stay informed without living in a dashboard.
The weekly summary is the anchor. Same time every week. The numbers that matter for your current focus. You don't have to remember to check. You don't have to log in. The summary lands. You read it. If something looks off, you click through to the journal and see what shipped or changed. Cause and effect in one place.
The product journal is what makes the loop close. Without it, you see the number move and you wonder. With it, you see the number move and you see the deploy, or the campaign, or the pricing change. That connection is what turns data into decisions.
Why "one focus" and "weekly" matter
PMs are already overloaded. If the ask is "check twelve metrics every day," it won't happen. If the ask is "read one email on Tuesday and look at one number," it might. One number and one cadence make it possible to actually use the data.
One focus also forces prioritization. You can't improve everything. Picking one thing for this cycle means saying no to the rest for now. That's uncomfortable. It's also the only way to get traction. The teams that move the needle are the ones that pick a number and watch it until it moves.
Weekly beats daily (noise) and monthly (too late). It's often enough to spot a trend. It's not so often that you're reacting to noise. And it's a cadence that fits how product works: ship, wait a bit, look at the signal, decide what's next.
How to try it
We're building in the open and using AppFit with a small set of teams. If you're a PM tired of guessing, or tired of waiting on a data team to answer "did that work?", we'd love to hear from you.
The promise is simple: one focus, one weekly signal, one place to see what changed. No dashboards to maintain. No SQL to learn. Just the loop that PMs actually need. Ship it. See if it landed. Repeat.
