Mock Product Manager Interview (LinkedIn PM): Improve Spotify's Social Features

Summary

In this mock product management interview, Mitchell, a PM and interview coach at LinkedIn, discusses enhancing the Spotify app with social features. The conversation covers understanding user needs, leveraging music to express identity, and building a social network to strengthen Spotify's market position. Mitchell suggests revamping user profiles for self-expression, integrating music sharing in chats, and creating a music-based feed. The interview emphasizes the importance of non-intrusive feature introduction, user retention, and network density as key metrics for success.

Takeaways

• 😀 The interview features Mitchell, a PM interview coach and product worker at LinkedIn, focusing on a mock PM interview about improving Spotify with social features.
• 📱 The interview question involves enhancing the Spotify app's user experience through social connection features.
• 🎵 Mitchell suggests building a moat for Spotify by leveraging social features to retain its core user base and stand out against competitors.
• 📊 Mitchell emphasizes appealing to users' psychology, especially Millennials, by allowing them to express their identity through music on Spotify, similar to Instagram's story-sharing feature.
• 📝 Mitchell proposes a music-based profile feature where users can curate their profiles with music and personal photos, making their profiles more interactive and expressive.
• 💬 Another suggested feature is a music-based chat function, allowing users to share music clips within their network, enhancing social interaction on Spotify.
• 📰 Mitchell also recommends revamping Spotify's friend activity feed to make it more engaging and in line with the app's design, promoting social discovery of music.
• 🧩 Prioritization strategy: Start with lightweight features like the music-based profile, then enhance the discovery feed, and finally introduce the more complex chat feature.
• 👥 To test the new features, Mitchell suggests conducting user interviews with active Instagram users to understand their behavior and preferences.
• 📈 Important metrics to track for these features include profile completion rates, profile visits, and retention impacts, focusing on enhancing user engagement without compromising Spotify's core strengths in music discovery and recommendations.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the mock interview with Mitchell?

The main purpose of the mock interview is to demonstrate how to improve the Spotify app or experience using social or social connection features.

What is the core demographic that Spotify is trying to appeal to according to the interview?

Spotify is trying to appeal to young Millennials, aged around 20 to 40, with a focus on discovery and recommendation features.

What is the concept of a 'moat' in the context of Spotify's product strategy?

A 'moat' refers to creating a competitive advantage that is difficult for other companies to replicate, in this case, by building a social network that keeps users engaged and loyal to Spotify.

What is the assumption about the current state of Spotify's user base?

The assumption is that Spotify has a large user base, particularly among Millennials, and there is competition from other music services like Pandora.

What is the proposed approach to enhancing Spotify's social features?

The proposed approach includes creating a music-based profile that allows users to express their identity and curate playlists, as well as introducing a music-based feed and chat functionality.

How does Mitchell suggest leveraging Instagram's influence on music sharing?

Mitchell suggests focusing on the psychology of users who share music on Instagram to appear cool or trendy, and incorporating similar features into Spotify to enhance social interaction.

What is the concern about the proposed music-based profile feature in terms of user engagement?

The concern is that the feature might require a lot of upkeep from users, such as updating their profile daily, which could be burdensome and lead to inactivity.

How does Mitchell address the potential burden of maintaining a music-based profile?

Mitchell suggests that the profile updates should not be an obligation and that they should remain live until the user decides to change or remove them, reducing the burden on users.

What metrics would Mitchell consider important for evaluating the success of the music-based profile feature?

Important metrics include the completion rate of profiles, the number of profile visits, and the impact on user retention, such as increased daily usage.

How does Mitchell propose to launch the new social features on Spotify?

Mitchell proposes launching the features by first reaching out to creators and artists to curate cool profiles, making it exclusive and appealing, and then gradually rolling it out to a wider audience.

What is the potential trade-off between introducing new social features and maintaining Spotify's focus on music discovery and recommendation?

The trade-off is that while social features can enhance user engagement, they should not overshadow or detract from Spotify's core strengths in music discovery and recommendation.