4 Analytics Frameworks you must know as a Data Analytics Practitioner

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

As a data analytics professional, you are required to perform a lot of analysis and experiments for informed decision making and every new problem poses a new challenge that needs to be solved. However different a problem might be, there are proven methodologies to approach them and not to lose sight of the bigger picture, and I’ll try to highlight the same in this blog.

What is a Framework?

Lately, we have all had enough of this buzzword, “Framework”. Although this particular jargon comes up in our day-to-day discussions every now and then, each one of us has our own definition of it. To get us all on the same page, here’s my take on Frameworks;

“ A Framework is a set of guidelines or a structure that forms a base of any business or a process. It takes different forms depending upon the context it is used in.”

For instance,

1. C#.Net framework in the software development world is a collection of technologies for building and running applications on Microsoft Windows
2. In the business context, it lists the duties and responsibilities (like Brainstorming, Interviewing, Building prototypes, etc.) of a BA professional to ensure the successful completion of a project activity

In Analytics, a framework helps a startup (or any organization for that matter) to find answers to the following queries at a high level;

1. Current stage in the startup lifecycle
2. One metric that matters (now!)

4 Key Types of Analytical Frameworks:

1. Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics
2. Eric Ries’s Engines of Growth
3. Ash Maurya’s Lean Canvas
4. Sean Ellis’s Startup Growth Pyramid

Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics

Pirate Metrics? Seriously? Now, we just can’t help but wonder,

What’s that one thing that pirates who are after valuable goods have in common with metrics that basically are critical for a startup’s success? It’s AARRR!

A term coined by Venture Capitalist Dave McClure in 2007, AARRR aka Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, and Referral are the 5 distinctive focus areas that describe the customer journey inside of your product or service.

The AARRR Pirate framework

Eric Ries’s Engines of Growth

In The Lean Startup, Eric Ries emphasizes the importance of 3 key drivers that are critical for a startup environment to thrive; Virality, Stickiness, and Paid Engines.

While each of these engines is proven to be a great growth mechanism, it’s highly essential for your startup to focus on any one engine at a given time, depending upon the offering or business strategy of yours and the current stage of your startup.

Ash Maurya’s Lean Canvas

A well-known framework, widely used to validate a business plan and helps in understanding the competition and its positioning in the market. It’s a one-page visual plan that, unlike a traditional business plan, is an ongoing activity requiring continuous updates and hence also known as a ‘living, evolving’ plan.

Note: I will dedicate a separate blog for explaining this framework in much detail.

Photo from Adobe Stock

Sean Ellis’s Startup Growth Pyramid

A fairly simple and easy-to-implement framework, vital for Go-To-Market and other growth activities. Coined by serial entrepreneur and marketer Sean Ellis, it primarily focuses on the next steps once the product/market fit is achieved.

But the challenge here is to figure out how to know whether or not the product/market fit is achieved. Answers to the following questions can help you come to a conclusion on the same.

1. What problem of the customer’s does it currently solve and How well it does? Highlights our Unique Value Proposition
2. How many others are solving the same problem? Competitor Analysis and Understanding our Positioning in the Market
3. What impact (both quantitative and sentimental) will it have on our users if we were to shut down our services? The question has to be answered only by the customers and if nearly half of them (40% or above) say that they would be disappointed, you’ve found your fit.

As you might have understood by now, there are a good number of analytical frameworks available and by no means this blog represents the exhaustive list of them. Also, there is no way to rank which of these frameworks are best as each of them gives a unique perspective of your business’s current standing and growth trajectory. It’s also a common practice among businesses to use a mix of these frameworks.

If this article piqued your interest and would like to see more such content on analytics, product management, and more, please feel free to follow me! Thanks for reading! :)