How to answer Product Design / Product Sense Questions - BEST Framework to follow!
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Diego Granados, a product manager, shares a comprehensive framework for tackling product case questions in job interviews. He emphasizes the importance of understanding constraints, setting goals, and defining the scope before diving into problem-solving. Diego advises on clarifying the question, considering user segments, identifying pain points, brainstorming solutions, and prioritizing improvements. He also stresses the need for selecting appropriate metrics to measure the success of product enhancements. The video is designed to equip viewers with a structured approach to excel in product management interviews.
Takeaways
- đ Diego Granados, a product manager, introduces a framework to tackle product case questions in interviews.
- đ Product case questions can vary widely, and interviewers may ask about anything, so candidates must be adaptable.
- âïž It's crucial to have pen and paper ready during the interview to jot down thoughts and ideas.
- đŁïž Communication skills are key; candidates must express ideas clearly, concisely, and with structure.
- đ€ Even without prior product management experience, candidates should think and communicate like a product manager.
- đ A framework is essential for guiding answers, but it's the execution and individual approach that matter most.
- đ« Avoid jumping straight into solutions; first, clarify constraints, goals, and scope of the product case.
- đ€ Engage with the interviewer to confirm assumptions and get on the same page regarding the case scenario.
- đ§ Brainstorm users by focusing on characteristics and groupings, avoiding generic age ranges for a more nuanced understanding.
- đ Prioritize solutions based on the objective, pain points, visibility, and the feasibility of physical changes for physical products.
- đ Establish metrics to measure the success of implemented ideas, focusing on user and product interaction metrics.
Q & A
What is the main focus of Diego Granados' video?
-The main focus of Diego Granados' video is to provide a framework for answering product case questions during product manager interviews.
Why are product case questions important in product manager interviews?
-Product case questions are important because they allow interviewers to assess a candidate's ability to handle real-world product challenges and their problem-solving skills.
What should a candidate do before jumping into solving a product case question?
-A candidate should clarify constraints, goals, and scope of the question, ensuring they understand the context and requirements before providing a solution.
How does Diego suggest setting the context for a product case question?
-Diego suggests setting the context by discussing competitors, personal experience with the product, alternatives to the product, and personal preferences if the question is about a favorite product.
Why is it important to brainstorm users when answering a product case question?
-Brainstorming users helps to identify the target audience and their characteristics, which is crucial for understanding their needs and pain points.
What is the significance of selecting a user segment in a product case question?
-Selecting a user segment allows the candidate to focus on a specific group that will benefit most from the product, ensuring that the proposed solutions are tailored to their needs.
How should a candidate approach brainstorming pain points for a user segment?
-A candidate should put themselves in the shoes of the user segment, considering their lifestyle, needs, and limitations to identify relevant pain points.
What are the two rules Diego suggests when proposing solutions to a product case?
-The two rules are: 1) Ensure the solution actually solves at least one of the pain points, and 2) Make sure the solution is related to the goal of the prompt.
Why is it beneficial to propose a 'moonshot' idea during a product case question?
-A 'moonshot' idea shows creativity and forward-thinking, even if the technology doesn't currently exist, it can demonstrate a candidate's ability to think outside the box and plan for the future.
How does Diego recommend prioritizing solutions during a product case question?
-Diego recommends prioritizing solutions based on the objective, pain points, visibility and time, and for physical products, prioritizing physical changes first.
What types of metrics should a candidate consider when measuring the success of their product case solution?
-A candidate should consider user metrics to understand user behavior and product metrics to understand user interaction with the product.
Outlines
đ Introduction to Product Management Interview Framework
Diego Granados, a product manager, introduces a video tutorial aimed at helping viewers master product case questions, a critical part of product management interviews. Diego emphasizes the unpredictability of these questions, which can be unconventional, and assures viewers that with practice, they can handle any question. He suggests having pen and paper ready to jot down thoughts and stresses the importance of clear, concise, and structured communication. Diego also highlights that interviewers will assess how candidates think and express themselves as a product manager, especially those without prior experience. He encourages viewers to subscribe for more content on product management and to learn various frameworks to tackle product case questions, emphasizing the need to choose one that feels natural and facilitates dialogue with the interviewer.
đ Clarifying the Product Case Question
The video segment delves into the importance of understanding the product case question before attempting to answer it. Diego advises clarifying constraints, such as budget and time limitations, and understanding whether the candidate is expected to think as a product manager for a specific company or a more generic role. He also stresses the need to identify the goal of the product case, suggesting that candidates should think critically about the company's objectives and propose goals that align with company strategy. Additionally, Diego talks about setting a scope for the solution, which helps in focusing the discussion on specific user groups and use cases. He encourages asking the interviewer questions to gain clarity and ensure that both parties are on the same page before proceeding.
đ„ Identifying and Understanding User Groups
This part of the video focuses on the critical step of identifying and understanding user groups for the product in question. Diego recommends avoiding broad age ranges and instead focusing on characteristics that define user behavior. He suggests grouping users by life stages, occupations, activities, and considering those with disabilities. The video emphasizes the importance of understanding the user's environment and needs, and the influence of these factors on product use. Diego advises brainstorming at least three distinct user groups and selecting one to focus on, based on the case's context and goals. He also stresses the importance of considering the customer's perspective, especially when the users are not the primary customers, such as when designing products for children.
đ€ Brainstorming Pain Points and Solutions
The video discusses the process of brainstorming pain points and potential solutions for the selected user group. Diego advises taking time to empathize with the user segment and identify at least three pain points related to the product. He warns against suggesting solutions that do not directly address these pain points and emphasizes the need for solutions to align with the overall goal of the product case. Diego encourages candidates to think creatively, consider new technologies, and even propose 'moonshot' ideas that push the boundaries of what's currently possible. He also provides tips on how to manage time effectively during brainstorming in an interview setting and how to communicate thoughts clearly.
đ Prioritizing and Measuring Solutions
The final part of the video script covers the steps for prioritizing potential solutions and measuring their success. Diego suggests using established frameworks to prioritize features based on factors like visibility, impact, and the effort required. He emphasizes the importance of aligning solutions with the initial goal and pain points, and considering the visibility and timing of technological advancements. The video also touches on the types of metrics that can be used to measure success,ćșć between user metrics, which track user behavior over time, and product metrics, which focus on user interactions with specific features. Diego provides examples of metrics for mobile apps and hardware products, advising candidates to research and understand the most relevant metrics for different technologies and products they may encounter in interviews.
đ Conclusion and Best Wishes for Upcoming Interviews
In the concluding part of the video, Diego thanks viewers for watching and summarizes the key points covered in the tutorial. He recaps the framework for answering product case questions, including clarifying the question, identifying user groups, brainstorming pain points and solutions, prioritizing improvements, and measuring success. Diego expresses his hope that viewers have gained valuable insights and wishes them the best in their upcoming interviews. He invites viewers to engage with more content on his channel to further enhance their understanding of product management and interview preparation.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄProduct Manager
đĄProduct Case Question
đĄProduct Sense
đĄFramework
đĄCommunication Skills
đĄConstraints
đĄGoal
đĄScope
đĄUsers
đĄPain Points
đĄSolutions
đĄPrioritization
đĄMetrics
Highlights
Introduction to the video on how to answer product case questions in product manager interviews.
Emphasis on the importance of product case questions in product manager interviews.
Advice on having pen and paper ready to take notes during the interview.
The significance of clear and concise communication in product case interviews.
Framework guidance for approaching product case questions without relying on acronyms.
Different types of product case questions that can be asked during interviews.
The importance of understanding constraints before answering a product case question.
Clarifying the goal of the product case with the interviewer.
Setting a scope for the solution to guide the product case discussion.
The necessity of discussing the context and competitors in the market for the product case.
Technique for brainstorming users and their characteristics relevant to the product case.
The process of selecting a user segment and confirming with the interviewer for the product case.
Brainstorming pain points for the selected user segment to address in the product case.
Guidelines for proposing solutions that address the pain points of the user segment.
Prioritizing the proposed solutions based on various factors during the interview.
Selecting and explaining the metrics to measure the success of the product case solutions.
Summarizing the product case question and the thought process behind the answers.
Closing remarks and well wishes for viewers' upcoming interviews.
Transcripts
hello everyone and welcome to my channel
my name is diego granados and i'm a
product manager
in today's video i'm going to show you
how to answer one of the most important
parts of the product manager
interview the product case question and
if you're new here don't forget to
subscribe and check out all my other
videos to learn more about product
management and how to become one
[Music]
every product manager interview is gonna
have a section where they're gonna ask
you a product case question
these are sometimes called product sends
or product design question
and the tricky part is that there is no
common question at all
the interviewers can ask you almost
anything they want regardless of how
crazy it can sound
product case or product sense questions
can get pretty crazy
but don't worry today we'll go over a
framework and the more you practice the
sooner you realize that you can handle
any product question they throw at you
and during an interview
for any of these product case questions
you should have pen and paper ready to
write down your ads
[Music]
during a product case question the
interviewer is also going to evaluate
you in your communication skills
are you able to express your ideas
clearly and are these ideas being
communicated in a concise way and with a
good structure
and a very important one if you don't
have the previous product management
experience
can you think and express yourself in
the same way a product manager would
but if everybody is using the same
framework wouldn't we
all give the same answer in short no the
framework is just a way to
guide you and your interviewer through
an answer in fact it is
to some degree expected that your answer
will have a very similar structure to
that of other candidates but it's very
unlikely that you will actually give the
same answer or arrive to a very similar
conclusion as
any other interviewee so with so many
options and so many frameworks out there
which one should you use well use the
one that you're more comfortable with
during an interview you have to sound
natural and make it a dialogue with the
interviewer
everybody can remember a framework but
the execution is what matters
today i'll show you a framework that has
no acronyms but rather steps to solve
the problem
this framework is not about introducing
new concepts we're not reinventing the
wheel here
so use the one that works for you or
even better adapt from multiple
frameworks and create your own
interviewers do not care about which
framework you use they care about how
you
approach the problem
there are different types of product
case questions that you can get asked
during an interview
here are some examples you can get asked
about improving a specific company
product like
how would you improve google maps or how
would you improve microsoft teams
and of course the product will depend on
the company that you are interviewing
with
however interviewers can also ask you
about improving
your favorite tech or non-tech product
another type of question they can ask
you is about designing
a product for a specific segment for
example how would you design
a new vending machine for blind people
[Music]
okay let's talk now about the framework
the entire framework we're gonna follow
looks like this
one typical mistake that people do in an
interview is that as soon as the
interviewer
asks a question like how would you
design a new type of vending machine
interviewers jump into solving the
question right away
you need to take a moment to understand
the question they're asking you
and here are some basic things that you
should clarify about the case they're
giving you in the interview
number one constraints if the question
is about a company product
like improving hololens for microsoft it
is most likely that you are in this
exercise
a pm for microsoft and you can be safe
by confirming with your interviewer
if the question is more generic like
designing a new type of tv or a new type
of vending machine
then you need to know what kind of
company you are a pm for the interviewer
might tell you that you are working for
a startup and therefore you have a limit
on budget and time
or you might be working for an r d
facility for a company like facebook
google or apple
and you don't need to worry about
constraints you can simply ask your
interviewer something like
for this case do we have any time and
resources constrained that i need to be
aware of
or if it's a case where you need to
improve a specific product for a company
say hololens you can ask something like
since we're improving hololens i'm
assuming that in this case i'm a pm for
microsoft
is that right and are there any other
resource and time constraints i should
be aware of
number two goal it is important that if
the interviewer did not tell you the
goal right away
you find out what that goal is for this
case it will be central to the entire
framework
however it's not a good idea to simply
ask a question like
what is the goal of developing this
product it is kind of a lazy way to ask
a question and the interviewer might ask
you back
what do you think the goal should be
instead
think of how the product is related to
the company you're working with in this
case question
for example let's say that you are asked
to design a new type of vending machine
for google
you can tell your interviewer something
like this
as far as i know google does not design
vending machines at all
in this case we are trying to enter the
market with a new product so i'm
thinking that increasing user adoption
can be a good goal for us
is that okay or do you have another goal
in mind
but what about revenue or profit or user
satisfaction
as long as the metrics are related to
your constraints and the product
it will be okay pick one and confirm
with your interviewer
and number three scope it is also
important that you think of setting a
scope for your solution
using the example of the vending machine
for google the requirements for a new
type of vending machine may be different
depending on whether it's going to be
used for food
or technology products or even google
products
setting a scope for this prompt can help
you have a better idea of the type of
users and constraints you need to think
of
pick one and let your interviewer know
why you chose it
but if you're not sure which one to go
for you can ask your interviewer
something like
thinking of vending machines it's likely
that the design and the needs will be
different depending on the type of
content it will have
like food versus electronics or even
google products
and it can also be different depending
on the locations that will be placed
is there something in particular you'd
like to focus on for this case
and these three are some basic things
that i recommend you should figure out
before jumping into the next step of the
framework
don't be shy about asking other
questions until you're ready to begin
answering the case
okay now that we clarify the constraints
the goal and the scope of the question
it's a good time to set the context of
the both you and the interviewer are on
the same page
take a moment to talk about the
competitors in the market that you know
of
if you have experience with the product
talk about it what are the advantages or
disadvantages about it
don't spend more than a couple minutes
here if you are designing a new product
or a solution that currently doesn't
exist in the market
talk about what are the alternatives how
are people solving this problem today
finally if you are asked a question like
what is your favorite product
talk about it why is it your favorite
product if you chose a product that is
not very common
which i highly recommend explain it
briefly to your interviewer
why is it better than other similar
products
all of this is gonna help set the
context for the product and the rest of
the case question
okay now that we have more clarity
around the question and we set the
context
now it's time to talk about the users
and perhaps you want to ask your
interviewer for
one or two minutes to brainstorm and
write down all the users that you can
think of
how long should you take well here's a
trick that you can do to practice how
much time to take during an interview
start a timer and without looking at it
try to guess when a minute and a half or
two minutes have passed
there's a moment where you will start
feeling anxious that too much time has
passed and you're close or
over that minute and a half or two
minute mark use the same approach in an
interview
ask for some time and when you start
feeling that anxiety that you're close
to a minute and a half or
two minute mark it's time to start
talking but what if you have not
finished writing down your ideas and you
feel that too much time has passed
here's something you can do start
talking about your ideas and call out
that you are still brainstorming
you can say for example okay i'm still
finishing my list of users
but let me tell you what i'm thinking
about for the different segments we
should target
this is gonna give you just a little bit
more time to finish that list of users
that you were creating
alright let's talk about now how to
brainstorm different users
my first recommendation is to avoid age
ranges
it doesn't really tell you much about
the group and you might end up confused
and confusing your interviewer
instead focus on characteristics of the
different groups
for example group them by live stage you
can talk about kids
young adults adults and elderly or even
by
occupation students who are in college
or grad school
working professionals stay-at-home
parents single parents or just parents
and it can even be more related to
specific activities
frequent gym users or being outdoorsy
and think also about people with
disabilities someone who uses a
wheelchair
or someone who is blind and now mix them
to form groups of users
young adults who are working
professionals and part-time students
stay-at-home parents who uses a
wheelchair
kids who are in school or high school
students and
it's important to know that if you are
going to talk about kids most likely
you'll need to talk about parents
while the users may be a kid the
customer is most likely an adult
and as you brainstorm these users think
of the groups who are most likely going
to use the
product you are working with in the case
additionally each group will have its
own characteristics
for instance working professionals will
likely have little time to spur
so every activity outside of work will
compete to become a priority
keep that in mind as you go through an
answer overall i recommend that you
brainstorm at least
three different groups of users but what
if the interviewer
already asked you for a specific segment
for example if the interviewer asked you
to design a better atm for the elderly
don't catalog them in just one big group
there will likely be
other users like adults or young adults
for this product and you can't forget
about them
and within the group of elderly you can
also have multiple segments
for example you can even have users in
this segment that may be blind
list different segments within this
group of users as they can change the
direction you'll take during the case
okay so we have our three groups of
users and it's time to pick one
choose one and confirm with your
interviewer tell them
why are you picking that segment for
this particular case
but which one should you pick there is
actually no standard rule to select one
so pick the one that you think makes the
most sense for the case and don't forget
to tell your interviewer
why you picked that one for example
you can pick one because you think it'll
represent the largest market share and
you can say something like this to your
interviewer
before we look at the pain points for
our users out of these three groups of
users i think we should target the young
working professionals who are also
part-time students
i believe they can represent the largest
market share for our product and
since our goal is to enter the market
with this new product
i think it makes more sense to go after
this segment would that be okay for you
or do you prefer that we focus on
another group
alright so we created a group of users
we mentioned the reason why we selected
it and we confirm with our interviewer
it is now time to think of the existing
pain points for this group of users
and once again take your time to
brainstorm it's okay to take a minute
and a half or two minutes or so
and if you need more time is the tip
that i shared before and talk about what
you currently have written so far
while brainstorming out loud in these
product case questions
you are asked to design or improve a
product because
there is a gap there is something that
the current solution is not solving for
the group of users
now put yourselves in the shoes of the
user segment that you selected
and think of at least three pain points
that are related to the product you're
working with
a common mistake here is that
interviewees sometimes share
pain points that are related to them and
not to the group of users they selected
when you think of the user groups that
we talked about earlier there will be
themes that are prevalent for each group
that will be related to the pain points
for example working professionals will
likely have less free time and if the
product requires a lot of time to be
used
that's a pain point for this group if
you talk about kids
you most likely will talk about parents
and as you can imagine
safety in any shape and form can be a
pain point
one last example for someone who uses a
wheelchair
when designing physical objects you may
need to think not only of the space but
also on how a wheelchair moves
one distinction of these pain points
versus the previous step where we
brainstorm our users
is that we will not select just one of
the pain points we will actually use
all of them and try to come up with
solutions
once you are ready to tell the
interviewer the papers you brainstormed
use a clean structure to list them
remember make it as
easy as possible for your interviewer to
follow your thought process
for example you can start by saying
something like okay
i thought about three payments for this
group of users first
and now that we understand the context
of the problem the customers we are
targeting and their pain points
it's time to come up with a few ideas to
improve or design our product
once again ask the interviewer for a
couple minutes to brainstorm solutions
i told you about brainstorming three
users and three pain points
and i also suggest coming up with at
least three solutions
you can have more if you want just be
conscious of your time during the
interview and the fact that if your
interview is over the phone
you need to keep it structured and
concise
now to solve your customer pain points
you don't need to map
one pain point to one solution you can
propose a solution that solves more than
one pain point at the time
or even all of them however don't forget
to always propose
at least three solutions and how do you
come up with solutions or improvements
to the product
i have two rules and three suggestions
for you
rule number one make sure your solution
actually solves at least one of the pain
points
i know it sounds obvious but i have seen
many many candidates call out features
or improvements that end up not solving
any of the payments for the users
and rule number two make sure that your
solution is also related
one way or another to the goal of the
prompt for example
if the goal that you and your
interviewer agreed on at the beginning
was to increase the customer
satisfaction
maybe an improvement on reducing price
might not be the best way to achieve
customer satisfaction
and now on to the suggestions number one
don't hold back on having more
technology whether you are improving a
pair of shoes or a mobile app
don't be afraid to suggest new
technologies to improve it don't limit
yourself to just the technology that
already exists in the product number two
don't be afraid to mix multiple products
from the same company
for example if you're improving
powerpoint hololens can be part of one
of your solutions
as long as it makes sense and as long as
it solves the pain point go back to
rules number one and number two
and suggestion number three let your
imagination run wild
and have a moonshot idea do not be
afraid to think of a crazy solution for
the problem
think of this if you had a magic wand
how would you solve the problem
that's your moonshot idea just make sure
that your ideas follow rules number one
and number two
in fact companies like google love
hearing about your moonshot ideas
but what if it's so crazy that it's not
visible what if the technology doesn't
even exist
don't worry we'll talk about
prioritizing these solutions next
all right time to prioritize our
improvements to the product
as always if you need time ask for it
there are many ways to do this exercise
during an interview
for example you can prioritize based on
visibility desirability and viability or
impact versus effort analysis or any
other framework
to prioritize that you are comfortable
with that you may already know
so what is my recommendation regardless
of the framework that you use
to me there are four things that you
have to take into account when
prioritizing features during an
interview
number one the objective we clarified at
the beginning of the prompt
number two the pain point or pain points
that
if we were to solve will help us achieve
our goal faster
number three visibility and time
remember your moonshot idea
well you can say that while the
technology is not available today
you can prioritize r d for that solution
because it can give you a huge
differentiator in the future once it's
completed
and number four this last one applies
only to physical products
prioritize physical changes or
improvements first
once a customer buys your product it's
easier to change software than changing
a physical component of the product
is there a perfect way to prioritize
during an interview
not really but having a framework and
letting your interviewer know your
thought process will lead you to a great
answer
we are almost at the end of our product
case question
now that you listed your features and
prioritize them it's time for you to
measure whether your ideas were
successful if they were
implemented the metrics that you will
use to determine whether your idea is
successful
will depend on the type of solution you
are implementing and for simplicity of
the interview we can divide the metrics
into two types
user metrics that will help us
understand how users behave over time
around our product
and product metrics that will help us
understand how the users are interacting
with our product
let's do an example of metrics for a
mobile app if you are developing or
implementing a mobile app here are some
of the metrics that you will talk about
and if you are talking about a hardware
or physical product
your metrics will actually change here
are a few of the metrics that you can
track
now you don't need to mention all of
them during an interview
pick the ones that you consider the most
relevant and let the interviewer know
for example you can say something like
this now that we've prioritized and
implemented the features i mentioned
before
and since our goal is to enter this new
market
i would measure the improvements on the
mobile app by looking at the number of
downloads
daily weekly and monthly active users
and the retention rate
and i think we can also track the amount
of time that it takes to users to
discover our new feature
that can also help us identify whether
there are any issues in the ux and how
we implemented this feature
and while there are other metrics that
we can use to track success in the
mobile app
these are just a few metrics to get us
started if you're interested
we can talk more about different metrics
while this was an example on mobile apps
as you practice more and more for your
interviews
you'll realize that you'll talk about
different technologies and different
products
and you'll have to do some research on
what are the most common or the most
basic metrics to track
for these different technologies that
you will talk about
and finally at this stage you are
officially done with the product case
question
if you have a couple minutes left on
this case you can use them to very
quickly summarize the question
the goal the product the user segment
you worked with
the pain points and improvements the
prioritization you did
and the metrics to track success of your
improvements
thank you so much for watching i hope
you enjoyed this video and learn about a
new framework to answer your product
case question
i wish you the best in your upcoming
interviews and i'll see you next time
you
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