Product Manager Mock Interview: Facebook Friend Requests are Down 10% (with Meta PM)

Summary

In this mock product management interview, Lauren, a PM at Meta, tackles the sudden 10% decline in Facebook friend requests. She systematically explores potential causes through root cause analysis, considering internal factors, user behavior, market changes, and new regulations. Identifying competition from TikTok and a European privacy law as key issues, she proposes strategies to address the problem, emphasizing the need for creative solutions and proactive marketing responses.

Takeaways

• 😀 The mock interview scenario involves a 10% drop in friend requests on Facebook overnight, prompting a need for root cause analysis.
• 🔍 The interviewee, Lauren, suggests a systematic approach to identify the root cause, including segmentation and potential root causes like contextual, internal, and external factors.
• 📊 The problem is not restricted to a specific time period or platform; it's a sudden drop across all platforms in the US.
• 👥 Lauren emphasizes the importance of checking internal systems for any issues, such as product instability or code changes that might have affected the feature.
• 🔄 She also considers external factors like changes in user behavior, market landscape, and competitor behavior, specifically noting the rise of TikTok as a social platform.
• 📉 The interview discusses the impact of a new data privacy law in Europe that affects Facebook's operability, potentially contributing to the drop in friend requests.
• 🛑 The team is not aware of any immediate user reports or logging issues that suggest a problem with the friend request feature.
• 📉 The possibility of decreased marketing efforts by Facebook coinciding with the drop in friend requests is considered as a contributing factor.
• 🤝 Lauren recommends working closely with privacy teams, lawyers, and local designers to understand and navigate the new regulations and to revamp the product accordingly.
• 📈 For long-term strategy, she suggests enhancing marketing efforts and staying proactive with PR and regulatory changes to mitigate similar issues in the future.
• 💡 The interview concludes with advice on using a framework for root cause analysis, leveraging outside knowledge creatively, and being prepared to discuss various scenarios and mitigation strategies.

Q & A

What is the primary focus of the mock interview in the video?

The primary focus of the mock interview is to address a hypothetical situation where friend requests on Facebook have dropped by 10% overnight, and to determine the root cause of this drop.

Who is conducting the mock interview and what is their role?

The mock interview is conducted by Kevin Way, who is facilitating the discussion and providing scenarios to Lauren, a PM at Meta, to assess her problem-solving skills in product management.

What is the initial approach suggested by Lauren to tackle the friend requests drop issue?

Lauren suggests an initial approach of root cause analysis, which involves asking follow-up questions to understand the segmentation and potential root causes, categorized as contextual, internal, and external.

What specific information does Lauren request to better understand the friend requests drop?

Lauren requests information about the geographical segmentation, platform specifics (iOS, Android, mobile web), and whether the drop is limited to friend requests or extends to other areas.

How does Lauren address the possibility of internal issues causing the drop in friend requests?

Lauren inquires about any overnight product instability, code issues, user logging reports, and changes in product prioritization that could have affected the friend request feature.

What external factors does Lauren consider that might have led to the decrease in friend requests?

Lauren considers changes in user behavior, market landscape, competitor behavior, and new regulations or laws that might have affected the platform's operability.

What is the significance of the data quality check in this scenario?

The data quality check is significant to ensure that the reported 10% drop in friend requests is accurate and not due to issues with data collection or reporting.

How does Lauren handle the unexpected scenario where multiple factors are contributing to the problem?

Lauren handles the scenario by considering each factor (marketing, competitors, regulators) and discussing potential strategies to address each one, while also planning for future mitigation.

What steps does Lauren propose to work around the new data privacy law affecting the platform?

Lauren proposes collaborating with the privacy team and lawyers to understand the impact of the law on user flow, brainstorming solutions, and potentially creating a new UI flow for testing in a future update.

What strategies does Lauren discuss to mitigate the impact of competitors like TikTok on friend requests?

Lauren discusses the importance of increasing the marketing budget and aligning marketing efforts with product updates to regain user engagement, especially in light of competitors' shifts towards social features.

What advice does Lauren give to the audience on approaching root cause analysis questions in interviews?

Lauren advises the audience to use a framework to organize their thoughts and questions, connect information given by the interviewer, use outside knowledge to add uniqueness to their responses, and be prepared to discuss various scenarios and mitigation strategies.

Outlines

00:00

🛑 Product Management Interview Scenario

The video script begins with an introduction to a product management mock interview hosted by Kevin Way, where Lauren, a PM at Meta, is the guest. The scenario presented is a sudden 10% drop in friend requests on Facebook, and the discussion is about how to approach this problem. Lauren suggests a root cause analysis, considering segmentation and potential root causes such as contextual, internal, and external factors.

05:01

🔍 Investigating the Friend Request Drop

In this paragraph, the discussion delves into the specifics of the drop in friend requests, focusing on the United States across all platforms. The conversation explores whether the issue is isolated to friend requests or if it's part of a broader trend. It's confirmed that there's no seasonal or one-time event causing the drop, and internal checks reveal no significant product degradation, user reporting issues, or priority shifts that could explain the decline.

10:01

🤔 External Factors and Regulatory Changes

The conversation shifts to external factors that might be affecting the friend request numbers. It's revealed that there haven't been any significant changes in user behavior, but there's a consideration of market landscape changes, particularly with competitors like TikTok shifting towards a more social focus. Additionally, a new data privacy law in Europe is mentioned, which could impact Facebook's operations and potentially affect user engagement, including friend requests.

15:03

📉 Addressing the Decline and Future Mitigation

Lauren concludes that the drop in friend requests could be due to a combination of the new European privacy law and increased competition, especially from TikTok's shift in strategy. The company's own reduced marketing efforts are also considered a contributing factor. Lauren suggests working with privacy and legal teams to navigate the new law, leveraging insights from local teams to inform product development, and increasing the marketing budget to address the challenges. The discussion wraps up with advice on approaching similar root cause analysis questions in interviews, emphasizing the importance of using a framework and being creative with the information provided.

Keywords

💡PM (Product Manager)

A Product Manager (PM) is a professional responsible for the vision, strategy, planning, and execution of a product or product line. In the video, the role of a PM at Facebook is central to the scenario presented, where the PM must address a sudden 10% drop in friend requests. The PM's approach to problem-solving is showcased through root cause analysis and strategic planning.

💡Friend Requests

Friend requests are a core feature of social media platforms, allowing users to initiate connections with others. In the video, a 10% decrease in friend requests is the central problem that the PM needs to investigate and resolve. The term is repeatedly mentioned as the focus of the root cause analysis.

💡Root Cause Analysis

Root cause analysis is a method of problem-solving used to identify the underlying causes of a specific problem or undesirable outcome. In the video, the PM approaches the issue of declining friend requests by conducting a root cause analysis, which involves asking follow-up questions and considering various factors that could be contributing to the issue.

💡Segmentation

Segmentation in the context of the video refers to the division of data into specific groups or segments to better understand and analyze the problem. The PM inquires about segmentation to pinpoint where the drop in friend requests is occurring, such as in specific geographical areas or across different platforms.

💡Internal Factors

Internal factors are elements within an organization that can affect its operations or performance. In the video, the PM considers internal factors such as product stability, code changes, and user reporting to determine if any internal issues might have caused the drop in friend requests.

💡External Factors

External factors are influences outside of an organization that can impact its performance or the environment in which it operates. The video discusses external factors such as market changes, competitor behavior, and new regulations that could potentially affect the number of friend requests.

💡Data Privacy

Data privacy refers to the protection of personal information from unauthorized access or disclosure. In the video, a new data privacy law in Europe is mentioned as a potential external factor that could affect the platform's ability to process friend requests, illustrating the impact of regulatory changes on social media operations.

💡Marketing Budget

The marketing budget is the allocated funds used for promoting a product or service. In the video, it is revealed that the company has decreased its marketing budget, which could potentially affect user engagement and the number of friend requests if fewer people are being reached or convinced to use the platform.

💡Competitor Behavior

Competitor behavior refers to the actions and strategies of other companies in the same market. In the context of the video, the PM considers how changes in competitor behavior, such as TikTok shifting towards being more social, could influence user preferences and affect the number of friend requests on Facebook.

💡MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product, which is a version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future development. In the video, the PM discusses the possibility of revamping the MVP based on new information gathered from various teams to address the issue of declining friend requests.

Highlights

Introduction to the mock interview scenario where friend requests on Facebook have dropped by 10%.

Lauren, a PM at Meta, introduces herself and her role working on Instagram.

Approach to the problem through root cause analysis, considering segmentation and potential root causes.

Identifying the overnight drop in friend requests and the absence of a specific time period for the decline.

Segmentation revealed: the issue is US-based and affects both mobile and web platforms.

Ruling out seasonality or variance in trends as a cause for the drop in friend requests.

Internal investigation to ensure no product degradation or code issues affected friend requests.

No significant user reporting or logging issues detected within the internal systems.

Assessment of data quality and alignment with data scientists to confirm the accuracy of the reported drop.

External factors considered, including changes in user behavior and market landscape.

TikTok's shift towards being more social and the impact on Facebook's friend requests.

Discussion on the potential influence of new data privacy laws in Europe affecting Facebook operations.

The impact of decreased marketing budget on friend request numbers.

Hypothesis formation combining competitors' actions, regulation changes, and internal marketing strategies.

Developing strategies to work around the new data privacy law and its implications.

Importance of engaging with local teams in Europe for insights on product development.

Revamping marketing plans to address the challenges posed by the new law and competitors.

Long-term strategies to mitigate similar issues in the future, focusing on marketing and PR preparedness.

Advice for interviewees on approaching root cause analysis questions with a structured framework.

Encouragement for using outside knowledge to add uniqueness to interview responses.

Closing remarks summarizing the mock interview and providing guidance for the audience on interview preparation.

Transcripts

let's say you're a pm at facebook and

friend requests are down by 10

what do you do

[Music]

hey everyone welcome back to another

exponent product management mock

interview my name is kevin way and on

today's show we have lauren we're going

to be doing an execution question and

before we jump into that lauren do you

want to say a few words maybe introduce

yourself real quick

yeah hi everybody thank you for watching

this exponent video

my name is lauren and i am a pm at meta

working on instagram

cool thanks for coming on today's show

so we're going to be doing an execution

question and this is what i'd like to

ask

let's say you're a pm at facebook and

friend requests are down by 10

what do you do

yeah okay sounds good um just to kind of

get a little feel for for the problem um

are we looking at a certain time period

or time frame that we're seeing front

requests down by 10 or kind of just

across the board

uh great question let's say that

normally it's at some level and you walk

in overnight it just dropped 10 percent

okay cool

so some level happened overnight um

sounds good then

no specific time period or any

information on that outside of that

right yeah let's just say it was just an

overnight drop

okay sounds good

um so i think for this question kind of

approaching it from a

root cause analysis type style is going

to make the most sense so how i kind of

approach these questions is i like to

ask some follow-ups to kind of get you

know a little bit deeper on segmentation

and where we're seeing the problem and

then i've got it bucketed by

potential root causes so contextual

internal external um and i just kind of

have some questions to probe a little

bit deeper to see if we can find the

issue that sounds good

sounds good

okay great um so we know that it

happened overnight there's no other time

period do we have any information about

you know what segmentation in the world

geographically is experiencing this

issue um and any type of platform

information like are we seeing this on

ios android mobile web

let's say that this is in the us it's um

across

both mobile and web

um and

yeah like that's the information that

the data analyst has

okay and by mobile do you mean mobile

web or mobile as in ios and android

so it's across both mobile and web just

across all platforms we're just seeing

this drop okay cool

across all platforms

and we're only seeing it for friend

requests right

right

okay cool so we've got this 10 drop in

friend requests in the united states

across all platforms um which leads me

to kind of have some initial thoughts

and inklings about where this might go

but i do have some more questions to ask

just to make sure

um so is this are we seeing this on any

type of seasonal basis does this happen

on a weekend or is it repetitive on a

holiday or is this kind of just a

one-time thing

yeah so zooming out we don't see any

sort of seasonality there's no sort of

variance that we're concerned about here

is totally unexpected when we just look

at like the broader uh trends and

historical trends

okay great so then i guess that would

kind of lead me to if i'm walking in and

i'm seeing this as a pm my first gut

check would be to

check our internal systems and make sure

nothing broke overnight on our side

before digging externally to see a

little bit more and just check that

internal box off so in terms of that are

we seeing um any information about a

degrading product um or reprioritization

of product needs

what do you mean by like degrading

products

yeah are we seeing that maybe our

product became unstable overnight due to

a build that was just pushed or did

somebody's code maybe affect um what our

project is and our feature and what

we're seeing in friend requests

so

we're always

deploying things um

there's always bugs and codes somewhere

but um i don't think uh there's anything

large that's standing out but if there's

any specific areas you want me to dive

into um i can definitely take a look for

you

yeah are we seeing anything uh

internally about any logging reports

that are coming from users

so what what do you mean by logging

um sorry so like just internal any

external reporting like our users

reporting to us that there's a certain

problem and we're seeing a spike in all

of our bug volume that we're seeing on

our back end

i see uh no it doesn't look like there's

any sort of concerns from users

okay cool

okay great so we have nothing major on

the code side impacting us and nothing

it seems

in terms of user reporting and nothing

causing major concern

um

have we re-prioritized product needs say

maybe we went to focus completely on

something else and we missed the ball

what we were supposed to do for friend

requests and maybe something didn't get

completed on that side

uh

priorities are always shifting uh

facebook is a huge company um

the friend request feature is still very

prominent on the facebook page um so

in terms of like ui no there hasn't been

any large priorities priority shifts

around like how we're servicing friend

requests

okay great and then does the data

scientists seem to be aligned with the

data that's coming in like is our data

quality you know usually up to par and

where it is um have we seen any changes

with our data quality specifically

uh data quality wise like we can trust

this data it doesn't look like there's

any problems with data quality here

okay cool

okay so then it sounds like on the

internal side of things um we're a

little bit buttoned up there so that

makes me feel better as a pm and now we

can kind of shift and transition to

looking at maybe some external factors

that could be causing this problem

sure

um have we seen any major changes in

user behavior

what are some examples of areas that

you'd look at

um particularly maybe people who have

just stopped requesting friends or you

know people who used to be daily active

users have now converted to monthly

active users um and we're kind of seeing

lower usership that could be causing

this

um

no i mean like uh i think

there isn't anything around like user

behavior that has caused like a sudden

overnight drop

okay cool

um

and then has anything changed with the

market landscape or competitor behavior

um i know we just mentioned that nothing

around user behavior caused a sudden

drop but i know our big competition

right now is tick tock so maybe did they

launch a better feature in terms of

connecting with your friends and the

newest update of their app or maybe

something kind of similar to that

uh

so like

how how would i help you determine if

something happened with a competitor

like is there any area that you would

look at any place you would look at

um i was just thinking maybe general

news um like have we heard anything or

any updates maybe from techcrunch that

would suggest we should be looking out

for competition at the moment

got it um yeah i mean like looking at

techcrunch looking at maybe like the

press releases on some of the tech talks

websites it does look like they they

themselves are shifting towards being

like a more social app rather than just

being like a content app so maybe

there's something there

okay cool that's good to know so tick

tock shifting to be

social and less content driven

okay we're gonna i'm gonna put a pin in

that for right now and potentially come

back to it since it's a really good lead

in terms of regulation and marketing um

you know we've been in the news a lot

has anything new happened that i should

know about from maybe the government or

any new laws that have changed and kind

of changed the way we're allowed to

operate our

uh let's dive a little bit deeper here

like uh what are some examples of like

changes and regulations that you'd want

me to look for and there's like so so

many different areas where we operate so

it's hard for me to dive into a specific

place

yeah um particularly data privacy um i

know that there's been a lot of

talk and conversation about how we

should be implementing data privacy as a

nation at the moment in the united

states specifically

and that's a pretty taboo topic so i'm

not quite sure did maybe a new law come

out or a new set of guidelines maybe

from the ftc that we now have to adhere

to

uh let's say that overnight europe

summit country in europe passed a law

around data privacy and suddenly we're

no longer able to operate in that area

so

even though it's in europe it's

affecting the united states across all

platforms

um yeah um perhaps there's like well

i'll leave it up to you but perhaps like

there's like friends who are maybe like

trying to add people in other countries

and they're no longer being they might

no longer mean they probably are not

able to add friends in europe for

example because of this change in uh how

we can operate in a certain country

okay great so

just to make sure i have that right

country and europe passed a law

that changes user privacy

um

execution for our platform

and it's preventing us from being able

to operate in that country okay which is

preventing operability in that specific

country

okay um

i think

i kind of i think i might have enough

here to to make a well-informed

conclusion on what the problem might be

but if i miss it based off of the notes

that i was taking um definitely feel

free to hop in and just kind of direct

me to the right way

um so i'm thinking that it's a

combination of two things competitors

and then also regulation

um

actually i did i i did have one more

question about regulation um

law that passed in europe did this apply

also to tick tock or all social media or

was it just kind of targeted towards

facebook specifically

yeah let's say that it was targeted

towards both tick tock and facebook and

any other

uh tech companies that were that was

operating in this country in europe

okay so generally maybe any social media

that's operating in europe

okay

and then

one more question have we seen anything

major regarding um marketing campaign

efforts on tick tock or any competitors

or have we ourselves decreased our

marketing budget

yeah let's say due to budget changes we

did decrease

some marketing

okay

okay

um then kind of back to the conclusion

that i was attempting to draw earlier um

i think that because of this law um

it obviously makes it tough for people

in europe to friend americans or people

in americans to or people in america to

find um friend their friends that might

be over in this specific country in

europe

so generally that law that new new law

that just passed is going to decrease

friend requests anyway simply because

the sheer amount of volume that just

simply can't execute because of this new

law um and then i think that in

combination with um tick tock's new aim

to try to shift to be more social and

less content driven um that definitely

plays a big role because of just the

grip and the hold that tick tock has on

society right now and users um they are

the number one social media platform at

the moment and with current trends it

seems that it's going to stay that way

and then we also kind of shot ourselves

in the foot by decreasing our own

marketing budget because now that we've

got this new law we'll probably need to

reamp that up in order to make users

feel secure or find a solution um to

this new law that's been passed in

europe does that sound about right

yeah

i think these hypotheses sound like

there's directions that we can go

towards and i'm curious as the pm for

this area what would you do

yeah um well first i would figure out

you know

how can we work around this law so

getting together with privacy team and

lawyers to figure out you know where

exactly does this law

come into effect in terms of our own

user flow and then narrowing it down to

that specific point and then

brainstorming ideating trying to figure

out you know different solutions or ways

that we could work around it and then

maybe come up with a newer version or a

new ui flow that could be tested later

to see how it fits with users in a new

update

um is there anything else that you would

do to address some of the other areas

like

maybe like what happened in europe or

anything else

well definitely data definitely privacy

um and those teams that sit over in

europe for sure but then also you know

meeting with the people who live in

these countries maybe we have designers

ux designers or user researchers that

can kind of use some of their insights

to inform how we should build a new

product going forward to get that

engagement back up

and then i would also meet with pmms to

up the marketing budget and see

specifically you know where are we

falling in terms of reaching users um

why are they leaving and then revamping

a plan to kind of with marketing to go

together with the

new revamped mvp that we're going to use

based on the new information that we're

getting from our our lawyers our privacy

team our data teams all in europe

cool

um

so let's say um you've you know you've

done you've put out some pretty good

hypotheses it sounds like you have some

good action plans to resolve these in

the short term

um in the long term so we've identified

like three sort of like we're getting

hit on three fronts right like marketing

uh competitors and regulators

um maybe you can pick one of these just

for the sake of time and you can tell me

how you would make sure we don't

fall into this pitfall in the future

again

yeah

um that's a really good

question

i

i would probably choose out of these

like you mentioned marketing competitors

regulators i'm just gonna talk through

them um marketing makes sense because

that is a way to to kind of fix the

problem after it's happened you can get

a good assessment on what's going on and

then figure out a response to what's

happening rather than um trying to

proactively fix it or find a solution

that may not work um competitors i'm a

little bit hesitant to dive right into

there just because like i mentioned

before tick tocks market share is just a

behemoth at this point and it can get

really sticky because users before you

know we had the agency over

over like what they could see what they

do

and how they interact with social media

just

as a result of being you know one of the

first companies to do so but now that

tick tock is growing and social media

platforms are also growing um we're kind

of losing that hold that we've had on

our users once before and they kind of

hold some more of the power um these

days than maybe that they used to in the

past

um and then regulators i'm i'm hesitant

my only answer to regulators would be to

lobby and to put a bunch of money into

lobbying but we don't necessarily know

anything that's going to come out of

regulation or when that that's so um

random most of the time just sporadic

it's really tough to get ahead of so you

would have to retroactively respond to

that too

um i think in terms of making sure that

this never happens or this never happens

again or just mitigates the risk of

happening again as much as possible um i

would really work with the marketing

team closely to keep a plan in place for

pr stuff when this does kind of happen

with regulation

and making sure that we're on top of

everything as soon as it comes out

yeah um cool thanks for the answer

lauren um i think we can conclude the

mock interview here i think you answered

the question pretty well you were able

to sort of like take some quick cuts to

see whether there were any like

geographical or i guess like server

outages or anything like that and then

we took a look at internal and external

factors

i try to put a spin on things usually i

think in these mock interviews for root

cause analysis the interviewer just has

one thing i try to give you three

different areas and i try to like make

this more challenging for you and i've i

asked you a lot of questions like you

asked me like oh like what is logging in

obviously i know what logging is but i

wanted you to tell me what would have

meant for you and um i've definitely

tried to put a lot of pressure on you

and i think you handled all of all of my

pushback very gracefully um and you

probably also didn't expect me to tell

you there were three different areas

where we were being attacked right

um

yeah and i i thought you handled it

very nicely um in the end i loved how we

were able to have a discussion around

not only identifying the problem but

also addressing it and talking about how

in the future we can mitigate this

problem

so all in all i really like the answer

and i guess maybe in the last minute or

so maybe you can tell the audience how

they could approach a question like this

yeah um so as you saw in the in the

video i started with a framework and i

think root cause analysis questions are

the easiest to follow a framework off of

um because it allows you to just segment

all your questions into different

buckets and it keeps it really organized

for the interviewer to be able to follow

um i think what's major here is just

making sure that when you get certain

bits of information or the interviewer

confirms like oh this is the problem or

this is not the problem or we are we

aren't seeing this to start connecting

those in your head and start seeing what

types of trends might be able to be

extrapolated from this information and

really get creative um i'm not afraid to

use my outside knowledge in fact i love

it i think it adds a bit of flair and

uniqueness to the interview because you

don't want to seem too cookie-cutter um

but as long as you know your industry

and you're familiar with the background

of you know what you're being asked then

i think it's totally okay to bring that

knowledge into your interview yeah and

sometimes your interviewer might not

even give you like what the final

problem is what what if in the at the

end of the interview they tell you oh

it's like none of these things then what

do you do so definitely uh be prepared

to speak about various

i guess like scenarios and how you'd

mitigate those risks

all in all love the answer lauren thanks

for coming on today's show and for the

audience watching at home good luck with

your upcoming pm interview

thanks so much for watching don't forget

to hit the like and subscribe buttons

below to let us know that this video is

valuable for you and of course check out

hundreds more videos just like this at

tryexponent.com

thanks for watching and good luck on

your upcoming interview

[Music]