01 · Window
Name the days you will count, and why that matches how the app is opened. Refuse D7 if your users return on a fortnightly bill.
The Cohort Observatory
A named ritual, not a product. Forty minutes, the same three views, and a written sentence that is allowed to be dull.
Most product groups already own more charts than they can defend. The Observatory is how Config Syncpoint slows the week: one retained cohort, one lost cohort, and the event that was supposed to explain the difference.
Guests of the Cohort Signal Lab practise this from week eight. Alumni keep the same paper template. Nothing here requires a new vendor.
The four glances
02 · Entry
Who is in the cohort. New install is rarely the honest start. First successful job, first saved item, first paid minute — pick one.
03 · Fracture
The event that splits those who came back from those who did not. If you cannot name it in one verb, you do not have a fracture yet.
04 · Sentence
A single written line for the stand-up. Adjectives are rationed. “Up” and “down” without a window are not permitted.
What we refuse to watch
Real-time tickers. Leaderboards of squad output. Any chart whose only job is to prove the last release was “loved.” The Observatory is a reading room; applause belongs elsewhere.
If your team needs help installing the ritual, the Lab is the longer path. If you already have language and want a private trio, see the Observatory seat on fees.
Next
Sit a programme, or write first
The method is taught, not licensed. There is nothing to install.