Curriculum - Design Product To Encourage Voting (with LinkedIn PM)

Summary

In this PM lesson live mock interview, Mitchell Kim, a former LinkedIn PM and current coach, discusses strategies for answering common PM interview questions. He emphasizes the importance of mock interviews and behavioral question preparation. The session delves into designing a digital product to boost youth voting rates in the US, exploring ideas like a LinkedIn-style platform for politicians and social voting apps. Mitchell outlines a structured approach to product management interviews, highlighting the need for clear communication of assumptions and goals.

Takeaways

• 😀 The mock interview focused on designing a product or experience to encourage voting, particularly among younger demographics.
• 🔍 Mitchell Kim, a former LinkedIn employee and PM lesson coach, shared his insights on common PM interview questions and strategies for success.
• 🎯 The importance of conducting numerous mock interviews was emphasized for interview preparation, as it builds confidence and familiarity with potential questions.
• 🗣 Behavioral questions were highlighted as crucial for showcasing cultural fit, especially at companies like LinkedIn.
• 🤔 The interview began with clarifying questions to define the scope of the product design challenge, focusing on a digital solution for the US market.
• 📊 Mitchell proposed a structured approach to identify user pain points, prioritize them, and brainstorm solutions to address the most impactful issues.
• 📝 He suggested that a lack of political awareness among younger people might be the primary barrier to voting, rather than logistical issues.
• 💡 Ideas generated included a social media-style story platform for political candidates, a subscription-based issue and policy discovery platform, a LinkedIn-like profile for politicians, and a social voting app.
• 📉 Mitchell prioritized the LinkedIn for politicians concept as potentially the most effective in bridging the gap between voters and political understanding.
• 👥 The interview concluded with feedback emphasizing the importance of structure, clear communication of assumptions, and the balance between qualitative and quantitative reasoning in product management interviews.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the live mock interview session with Mitchell Kim?

The main purpose of the live mock interview session is to discuss how to answer common PM interview questions and to explore the process of designing a product to encourage more people to vote, specifically targeting younger demographics.

What is Mitchell Kim's current professional status according to the transcript?

Mitchell Kim used to work at LinkedIn and is currently on flex due to visa situations. He is also serving as a coach for PM Lesson.

What advice does Mitchell give for someone preparing for a product management interview?

Mitchell advises doing a lot of mock interviews to become more comfortable and confident, and to prepare compelling stories for behavioral questions that align with the points listed on one's resume.

What is the primary focus of the product design discussion in the interview?

The primary focus is on designing a digital product experience that increases voter participation, particularly among younger people in the US, by addressing their lack of awareness and understanding of politics and the voting process.

What assumptions does Mitchell make about young people not voting in the US?

Mitchell assumes that young people might not vote because they don't understand the political system, find it inconvenient to get to voting locations, are not aware of the candidates and their policies, or feel that their voices aren't heard after voting.

How does Mitchell approach the problem of increasing voter awareness among young people?

Mitchell suggests creating a platform similar to LinkedIn for politicians, where candidates can provide information about their careers, policies, and public appearances, making it easier for voters to understand and engage with the political landscape.

What are the potential challenges in creating a 'LinkedIn for politicians' platform?

Challenges include ensuring the factuality and objectivity of the information, maintaining up-to-date content, and convincing politicians to actively use and promote the platform.

How does Mitchell address the issue of objectivity on the 'LinkedIn for politicians' platform?

Mitchell proposes a combination of politicians providing their own information, designated editors curating and validating the content, and allowing the public to request edits or provide support for the information presented.

What is the significance of integrating the voting awareness platform with existing social media channels like Instagram or Snapchat?

Integrating with existing social media channels can help meet young voters where they already spend their time, making the platform more accessible and engaging for the target demographic.

What feedback does Steven provide to Mitchell regarding his approach to the interview?

Steven commends Mitchell for his structured approach, summarizing, and checking in regularly. However, he suggests that Mitchell could have integrated more quantitative analysis or metrics into his reasoning and should ensure that his assumptions are clear and defended throughout the discussion.

What is the importance of structure in a PM interview according to the feedback given by Steven?

Structure is important as it helps keep the interview organized and on track. However, it should not make the interview feel robotic or rehearsed. The candidate should be able to adapt and respond naturally to the flow of the conversation.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to the Live Mock Interview Session

The video script begins with an introduction to a live mock interview session focused on product management (PM) interview questions. Mitchell Kim, a former LinkedIn employee and current PM lesson coach, is introduced as the interviewee. Mitchell shares his experience and emphasizes the importance of mock interviews and preparation for behavioral questions in PM interviews. The host, Steven, encourages viewer interaction and provides an overview of the session's structure.

05:02

🤔 Identifying Challenges in the Voting Process for Young People

In this paragraph, the discussion shifts to the main interview question: designing a product to encourage voting. The focus is on understanding the challenges young people face with the voting process. Several assumptions are made, including a lack of understanding of the political system, inconvenience in accessing voting locations, a lack of interest due to perceived similarity in candidates, and a feeling of disenfranchisement after voting. The conversation explores these pain points to identify areas where a product could make an impact.

10:04

💡 Brainstorming Solutions to Increase Youth Voter Engagement

The conversation continues with brainstorming potential solutions to increase youth voter engagement. Ideas such as leveraging social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat for political awareness, creating a subscription-based platform for policy and candidate information, and developing a LinkedIn-style profile for politicians are discussed. The goal is to find a scalable digital solution that can effectively engage younger voters.

15:06

🔍 Prioritizing the Most Impactful Solution

Mitchell prioritizes the brainstormed solutions based on their potential impact on youth voter engagement. He suggests that while all ideas have merit, creating a 'LinkedIn for politicians' might be the most effective in addressing the core issue of political awareness among young voters. This platform would allow politicians to share their stances and records in a way that is accessible and engaging to younger audiences.

20:07

🤝 Considering the Role of Politicians and Political Parties

The discussion delves into the potential resistance from politicians and political parties in adopting a new digital platform for political engagement. Mitchell considers the importance of gaining the support of politicians to ensure the platform's success and acknowledges the challenge of maintaining neutrality to attract both major parties in the U.S., Democrats and Republicans.

25:09

📊 Balancing Qualitative and Quantitative Reasoning in Product Strategy

Towards the end of the interview, Mitchell reflects on the approach taken during the session, discussing the balance between qualitative reasoning and quantitative metrics when strategizing product development. He suggests that while qualitative insights are valuable in the early stages of understanding user needs, quantitative measures could provide clarity and direction as the product evolves.

30:09

🗣️ Final Thoughts and Interview Feedback

In the final part of the script, the host provides feedback to Mitchell on his performance during the mock interview. The feedback highlights the importance of structure, summarization, and maintaining a conversational tone. The host also encourages viewers to participate and asks Mitchell for his thoughts on the interview process and the use of structure in responses.

Keywords

💡Mock Interview

A mock interview is a simulated job interview conducted to help candidates practice their interview skills. In the video, Mitchell Kim, a former LinkedIn employee and PM lesson coach, participates in a live mock interview to demonstrate how to answer common PM interview questions. The mock interview serves as a platform to explore and discuss various aspects of product management and interview strategies.

💡Product Management

Product Management refers to the process of guiding a product from its inception to its lifecycle end through planning, development, marketing, and support. In the context of the video, the theme revolves around designing a product or experience to encourage voting, which is a core task in product management. Mitchell discusses strategies for understanding user needs, prioritizing features, and addressing pain points to create a compelling product.

💡Behavioral Questions

Behavioral questions in an interview setting are designed to assess a candidate's past experiences and behaviors to predict future performance. Mitchell emphasizes the importance of preparing for behavioral questions, especially at companies like LinkedIn, where cultural fit is highly valued. He suggests having compelling stories ready for common questions about conflicts or changes the candidate has instigated.

💡User Pain Points

User pain points refer to the difficulties or challenges that users face when interacting with a product or service. In the script, Mitchell begins by identifying why young people may not be voting, such as lack of understanding of the political system or inconvenience in accessing voting locations. These pain points are critical for product managers to address when designing solutions.

💡Digital Product

A digital product is a product that is delivered through digital means, such as software, apps, or online services. The video focuses on designing a digital product to encourage voting, which could include mobile apps, websites, or social media platforms. Mitchell discusses the scalability and potential impact of a digital solution for increasing voter engagement.

💡Voting Experience

The voting experience encompasses all aspects of the process by which a person casts their vote, including learning about candidates, casting votes, and receiving results. Mitchell narrows the scope of the interview question to focus on specific parts of the voting experience, such as making it more convenient or informative for young voters.

💡Demographic

Demographic refers to a statistical grouping of individuals based on criteria such as age, gender, or income. In the script, the discussion targets younger demographics, particularly millennials, who are seen as an opportunity for increasing voter participation. Understanding the specific needs and behaviors of this demographic is key to designing an effective product.

💡Awareness

Awareness, in the context of the video, refers to the level of knowledge or consciousness about political candidates, policies, and the importance of voting among the younger generation. Mitchell identifies a lack of awareness as a key issue and suggests that a product designed to increase awareness could motivate more young people to vote.

💡Platform Integration

Platform integration involves combining a new feature or service with an existing platform to leverage its user base and infrastructure. Mitchell discusses the idea of integrating political awareness features with popular social media platforms like Instagram or Snapchat, which are already frequented by the target demographic, to increase the reach and effectiveness of the product.

💡LinkedIn for Politicians

This concept, as discussed in the video, refers to creating a professional profile platform for politicians similar to LinkedIn, where they can showcase their career history, policy stances, and political achievements. Mitchell suggests this as a potential solution to increase transparency and awareness about politicians, making it easier for voters to make informed decisions.

💡Social Voting App

A social voting app is a concept for a digital product that incorporates social media elements into the voting process to make it more engaging and interactive. Mitchell mentions this as a potential feature to facilitate discussions around voting and candidates, possibly increasing voter turnout by tapping into the social dynamics of the younger generation.

Highlights

Introduction of Mitchell Kim, a LinkedIn PM and PM lesson coach, as the expert for the live mock interview.

Emphasis on the importance of mock interviews for PM candidates to gain confidence and familiarity with the interview process.

Highlighting the significance of behavioral questions in PM interviews, especially at LinkedIn, and the need for compelling stories.

The strategy to focus on younger demographics who are less engaged in voting as the target audience for the product design discussion.

Assumption that younger people are not voting due to a lack of understanding of the political system and candidates' policies.

Discussion on the inconvenience of traditional voting methods and the potential for digital solutions to improve accessibility.

Proposal of a digital product integrated with social media platforms to raise political awareness among younger voters.

Idea of creating a platform similar to LinkedIn for politicians to provide factual and career-oriented information.

Consideration of the challenges in maintaining objectivity and factuality in the proposed digital platform for political information.

Exploration of the potential for a social aspect in voting, leveraging existing social networks to encourage participation.

Analysis of the potential resistance from political candidates and parties to adopting a new digital platform for campaigning.

The importance of user adoption and making the digital product fit seamlessly into the daily routine of the target demographic.

Feedback on the interviewee's performance, emphasizing the need for clear communication of assumptions and goals.

Discussion on the balance between qualitative reasoning and quantitative metrics when prioritizing product features.

Insight into the importance of structure in PM interviews, and how to maintain a natural conversation while being methodical.

Final thoughts on the importance of practice in PM interviews to refine both the structure and the natural flow of the conversation.

Transcripts

hey everyone welcome to this p.m. lesson

live mock interview as you know this is

a live mock interview where we ask

experts how they would go about

answering some common PM interview

questions I'm super fortunate to be here

with Mitchell Kim today who is at

LinkedIn he also was a part of the p.m.

lesson course and and he is a p.m.

lesson coach now as well Mitch would you

want to say anything else about yourself

yeah Thank You Steven for having me yeah

I used to work at LinkedIn and some

situation with my visa so I'm still on

flex but uh and I've been serving as a

coach for p.m. lesson and joined up a

lot and yeah and I'm excited for today's

session with Steven so looking forward

to it cool maybe before we jump in like

any tips or advice that you have for a

person recruiting right now someone

who's interviewing right now maybe just

one piece of advice do you might have

yeah I guess two things that really

helped me the most first it's just that

I did a lot of mock interviews whether

it was through so I was a client of

Steven actually when I first got started

out so I got help professionally too but

I just grabbed a friend whether it was

through online or whether it was just a

friend from school and did tons of mock

interviews and it just made me a lot

more comfortable a lot more prepared and

confident and I just knew what kind of

questions will be asked during the

actual interviews and I was able to

replicate that when I practice so I

would recommend anyone trying to recruit

for product management to do a lot of

mock interviews prior to your interview

and also another thing is people usually

don't put much emphasis on behavioral

questions it depends on companies but

LinkedIn especially cares a lot about

the culture that culture fits and people

that we hire so I would highly recommend

people to go through your resume look at

the blood points that you listed in your

resume and then really make sure you

have the stories compelling coherence

stories that you can tell for commonly

asked behavioral questions like the

conflicts you had in the past or what

kind of changes have you instilled in

your organization's those are pretty

common questions so

I think you can prepare for every

experience that you have listed on your

resume and then that will make you a lot

more they'll make you stand out during

to be of a questions portion of the

interview so that's another piece of

advice that I would give awesome yeah I

I really resonate with the the practice

is something I tell a lot of people is

just how important it is to get the

practice then because you don't realize

what you don't know until you practice

you a lot of good feedback and you were

really good at that I think that's all

you didn't get to have practicing you

got a great opportunity yeah

injury is in hand reach from a Ukraine

yeah and for those of you watching we

encourage you to comment with questions

with thoughts and any constructive

feedback would be helpful as well and we

also really would love to have you like

and subscribe to either the YouTube

channel or the Facebook you know

whichever is better for you or both if

you'd like um it helps us make sure that

we keep can keep doing these things and

know that they're valuable to you so

without further ado let's get into the

question is that okay with you Mitchell

sounds great quote so the question that

I want to ask you today is how would you

design an experience or a product that

would encourage people to vote more okay

I'm gonna take a couple more seconds

question and then probably ask a lot of

questions in the beginning since it's a

little vague I would say um so when you

say designing an experience and product

are we talking about like a digital

product physical product you have a

preference or do you have a something in

mind um let's say in the digital world

given that this is a let's assume were

interviewing for a digital tech company

that's great and I think it'd be a more

scalable solution in this case and then

are we trying to design you said

experience or product something that

covers the entirety of like a voting

experience from like learning about the

candidates to like casting their votes

and then hearing about candidate or the

results or are we like trying to do have

a little more focus and then try to come

up with like a single product in that

within that experience that is probably

prominent experience use case it's a

good question let's focus on the ladder

I don't want to redesign my call of

voting a little too much for a short

interview yeah and then I'm not too

familiar with like the barding election

processes outside of the US so is it

okay if he just constrained it to the US

and something similar that something

systems systemically similar to the u.s.

yeah let's keep it to the US for now and

we can have a small chat later if we

want to talk about how to expand to

different countries totally sounds good

and like presidential house Senate I

would assume it doesn't really matter

and then we'll try to tailor towards all

kinds of voting experience and election

processes or do you have something in

mind here it's up to you yeah yeah yeah

okay sounds good

and before last question do you have any

demographics in mind so are we trying to

help other people get to like the voting

location easily or are we trying to

target the younger population to

Millennials or do you have anything in

mind here and it's a good question let's

just say from our data were specifically

looking at younger people as people that

we are seeing there's an opportunity for

them to vote but they're not voting

totally and Danny wants to find a way to

target them and to help bring them in

you know yeah and then I think it goes

well with our target of designing a

digital product since they may be a

little more tech savvy okay so good

point you know and yeah would you mind

if I take like 30 seconds to just

organize my thoughts a little bit and

yep go for it and for those of you

watching I'll be taking notes during the

session and then I'll be providing

feedback afterwards to Mitchell so that

we can make sure we get a good sense of

how the interview might go in an ideal

way yeah just uh before I start maybe

I'll just walk through the process that

I will talk about and the next 20

minutes I will probably focus first on

the different user pain

in the voting experience like why are

they not voting why is this particular

younger generation is just not

interested in voting and then after

listening some of those pain points I'm

gonna go ahead and privatize some of

them based on some factors and then

after nailing down the pain point that

we were solving I will brainstorm some

solutions and features that we can build

to solve that pain points and then once

again prioritize those solutions and

features based on some criteria that I

come up with how does that sound yeah

perfect okay yeah sounds good and so

first question is like why earn young

people in the US or not why are they not

coding and here I think we can make some

assumptions that a maybe they just don't

understand how like the political voting

system works in general so that's like

first assumption first pain point like

they don't know how like how Senate this

electrical system work maybe is that so

we can work with that

or maybe just it's just too inconvenient

on the voting day for them to get to the

voting location so maybe you can help

with that or to dig deeper into this a

little bit maybe younger generations I

can speak for myself to like prior I

just like don't know much about politics

don't really care about the candidates

like what kind of proposed policies that

they have in mind it just looks so

similar to me and then I had this kind

of negative perception first politics so

maybe that's something that we can

tackle so that's like another assumption

and lastly maybe they're just frustrated

with political landscape like they would

cast some boats in the past and then

they feel like either their voices

aren't heard because like their

candidate didn't win it or even if he or

she won the policies or they just can't

see in effect in real life how their

votes their support is changing the

world in a way that they want to see it

happens so maybe some of those

assumptions that we can work with so

just to summarize again a they just

don't understand how the system voting

system works and they just want like a

primer to that and be it just too

inconvenient

to get to the voting locations just the

logistics is kind of keeping them away

from voting and third maybe they just

don't understand the candidates their

policies like the politics of it or the

they do understand it but once they cast

our votes or or show their support they

just don't seem feel like their voices

are heard or their candidates are

winning the election per se

so after this assumptions unless you

have something that you really like of

the four I can just go through them and

then prioritize them based on what I

think it's gonna be most impactful how's

that sound to you yeah thanks for

checking in and yeah that sounds great

go ahead and I'd love to see you these

are a great initial four set of four and

let's let's talk through them yeah and I

guess two before prioritizing I guess I

want to check step back and then think

about like our goal for this product so

we said we're building a product single

product digital product that will help

younger generations vote more in the US

and that's the ultimate goal but just

thinking about this there are certain

things that come into mind like and I

think the most important thing is just

usage and user adoption so voting we're

just trying to get this younger younger

users who this days have so many other

things that are distracting or that they

can put their attention into but we are

trying to build this product that can

fit nicely into this their routine their

rhythm and stuff like that so I'm gonna

maybe cut user adoption and usage as our

primary focus for building this

experience yeah and and then lastly

another factor that I will think about

is like how how crucial is this pinpoint

and experience of voting and then like I

really want to tackle the biggest

problem that is holding them back from

voting so I will keep that in mind also

as I practice so looking at these

don't understand how the political

voting systems work in general while I

agree and empathize that it is complex I

feel like a simple googling or I feel

like this use case is not as prominent

or is not as impactful we can solve it

by not building like a full-fledged

product but can do it by more contents

or more awareness in my opinion so

that's what I think and also second

assumption of inconvenience of getting

to the locations I think in my opinion

once you have the desire and the

knowledge to vote for you will find a

way to get to the voting location in my

opinion so like especially nowadays with

ride-sharing apps and then in my

previous school we used to have shuttle

buses on voting days to help people get

to the voting location so I think the

bigger problem here is not the logistics

or to getting to somewhere to vote it's

more about the desire and awareness

that's strong enough for these people to

have the desire to vote so I would say

let's focus on the two assumptions that

really touch on those areas a they don't

know much about the politics especially

the candidates and their policies and be

they do but they feel discouraged

because when they cast their votes they

just feel like their voices aren't heard

and in my case especially thinking about

our pot our target user group which is

the younger folks although there I've

seen younger folks who are especially

passionate about politics I would assume

the main reason that is holding these

people back against from voting is they

just don't know much about politics

candidates and proposed policies and I

feel like although there is some

frustrating factors if you're passionate

about it you will still go ahead and

then cast our vote so thinking about

this I think the most prominent and most

impactful use case or pain point that we

can tackle against is just general

awareness about the political landscape

and the candidates and the proposed

policies that this younger folks that

would be interested in

how does that sense yeah it sounds great

and I really like to break down and how

he talks about it

so we're talking about awareness is the

key goal that we want to push um what's

a key assumption that we are making here

that if wrong might change our decision

yeah so I guess the number one

assumption here is younger people don't

vote because they don't know about the

politics and the candidates the policies

is the strongest assumptions that we're

making so testing that will be the most

important thing for us to validate as we

build out this experience yep okay great

so with that assumption in mind let's go

ahead and drive forward on this idea

that awareness is the main issue then

we're not getting our voters to the

polls yeah Childress yeah yeah thank you

yeah with this assumption so let the

question is how do we build a product to

teach this user population about the

politics especially the candidates and

policies and I guess some factors that

I'll be thinking about is maybe this

younger folks I mentioned there are a

lot of things nowadays digitally

especially that grabs their attentions

and a lot of their interests maybe is

there a way we can tie politics and

voting into their interests and what are

the mediums and channels that they

frequently visit and how can we meet

them there maybe that's one thing that

we can consider and also just like if I

were the user because I am that

demographic younger generation who isn't

as involved in the political landscape

like what would I actually use a product

if it's out in the market is something

else that I will think about and just

the right rhythm and a cadence that we

need to push off the contents to raise

awareness it's the last thing that I

would think about yeah and then with

that if you could give me like like a

couple minutes to just brainstorm a

couple solutions and I'll walk through

them and then prioritize them in front

of you cool sounds good

and for those of you who just came in we

are doing a live mock interview with

Mitchell who is

p.m. at LinkedIn we are doing the

question how do you design a product to

encourage people to vote more to engage

with us we'd love for you to like this

video right now and send us reactions

and thoughts and comments and and for

you to chime in later also if you'd like

to ask Mitchel any questions or mean any

questions during the interview about

this particular interview and you can

always subscribe to us on p.m. Westin

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free content for you to put your best

foot forward with your PM interview

that's great yeah and thanks for waiting

Stephen so I came up with a couple

features three or four here and I will

just mention those to you and then if

you have anything that you like we can

focus on those or otherwise I will go

through some right as an exercise later

to figure out what will be the best

feature to build out here so one thing

just thinking about like the right

mediums and channels and and their user

rhythm that these younger generation

folks are more familiar would inspired

me to think about maybe stories in like

Instagram story or snap stories style of

political app where candidates can push

out short clips of them talking about

their involvement in the local sector

they are trying to they're going in the

election for or just something about the

policy they're sponsoring or just in

general just something to raise

awareness about their campaign so like a

simple live video campaign platform that

we can build out for younger generations

another feel just about this one so is

this is this something I mentioned it's

like a separate experience or is this

integrated into a different like a

snapchat or an Instagram yeah so I'm

talking through and then thinking out

loud as well just and last point that we

mentioned before

going to solution it's like would I

actually download this standalone app I

think the question

answer to that in my opinion is no so I

think it would be the best if you can

integrate with the existing platforms

that used users are already on like

Instagram or snapchat so we can meet

them at the right medium of the channel

so yeah okay yeah I don't think that

means that we should ditch the idea I'm

totally um just curious how you're

envisioning it yeah so if we wanted to

go down this path we could do something

I think there's creative ideas where we

could you know partner with Instagram

and I'm like a section of Instagram

that's like Instagram 2020 oh and or

2020 you know yeah right for any or you

know maybe it's just like an Instagram

election sure and then we can explore

the different candidates there so I

think it still is a good idea

but it's helpful for me to know where

your head's at in terms of the

experience absolutely yeah and yep and

no expert interrupts no norisse and

maybe we can test it first with the

integration idea first that's a little

cost effective and then if it's taking

on take we can probably spin it out as a

separate app so that I think there are a

lot of things that we can explore there

with the right channels and another one

is just that idea of tying the political

and voting system into the existing

introvert interest that or maybe the

locations of these users maybe we can

build a platform where this users can

come in and then subscribe to certain

issue certain interests certain

locations like San Francisco for as an

example and then we will regularly send

out as it digests or build up like a

discovery platform for these users to

find candidates find policies that has

to do with certain regions or certain

interests that they are particularly

passionate about so that's another idea

and maybe the third is when I look at

when I think about politicians I really

know where to go to find out more

information about these politicians I

usually google them and the wikipedia

page is pretty hard to navigate

sometimes and it's a lot of articles but

some of them are from one side and

another side and it tends to be a little

more polarizing rather than factual in

my opinion so maybe something like

LinkedIn for

ditions where it is more tailored

towards the careers that this

politicians and policymakers have

through so not only their prior work

experiences but how many bills have they

written and how many have had they

gotten past or how many appearances in

public have they been in and then what

did I say what did I talk about did I do

any fundraising did I do

did I run any ads on Facebook per se

especially in this climate and how

involved were they in this local scenes

that they are trying to run for so maybe

something like that LinkedIn for

politicians where we can go in and then

just learn more about this politics

that's tailored towards this particular

profession and election and last idea I

think this is a little bit out there but

maybe something worth mentioning it's

just a social aspect of election and

voting and especially it's something

that this younger generation is familiar

with like who is my friend voting why so

how to make voting a little more fun in

a social environment like obviously

there are things that we need to think

about and hashes because usually in

democratic society you really don't tell

other people who you voted for but

people usually do after in in private so

maybe we can tap into that space and

then facilitate the conversation in a

more civil manner and that in which way

that would encourage people to vote more

so that's the last idea

so just to recap like Instagram snapchat

style style stories platform where

candidate can raise awareness about

their campaigns or policies or election

in general and second is a platform

where you can subscribe to certain issue

or a region and then we will send out

maybe through our digest or on a

discovery platform the candidates and

policies that are specific to the

interest in locations that you subscribe

to and maybe third LinkedIn for politics

politicians where we have a platform

where you can lay out your footprint as

a politician and where we can as a voter

check out those and then

and show support and lastly who is my

friend voting cut type of a social

voting app that could encourage more

discussion and voting in general so yeah

how does this sound yeah awesome

there's a lot of cool ideas a lot of

having conversations we can have about

these ideas yeah I wanted to just first

focus on Wikipedia a sort of LinkedIn

for politicians um how do you make sure

it's factual so yeah we already kind of

talked about how Wikipedia is not

totally objective but why would this

platform be more objective and who will

be maintaining that information will be

the politicians what be a curator will

be the public like how does it formation

even get there yeah yeah that's an

interest question if and I think here

mainly there are three directions that

we can go with creating the contents and

editing the contents and validating the

contents like one is as you said and you

mention all all three already one is by

politicians themselves since it is their

profile or it is their their information

second we can have a designated editor

who can curates the information and edit

them as time progresses and third way is

crowdsourcing so really relying on the

public relying on the users that we're

going after to validate some of the

claims that this politicians make about

their experiences and past

I think there's trade-off to everything

a politicians I think owning their

contents will be most factual that maybe

since it's coming from them so we'll

have a less risk of maybe we post

something and then then disputing it so

it will be coming from them originally

and they will have more vested interest

to keep this contents fresh and up to

date so that's one thing that we can

rely on but obviously there is knowing

knowingly some trust issue with the

public and the politicians so some

people may ask hey this platform is just

shiny thing where politicians really

look good but we don't really know the

full picture so there's that side of a

risk with having a solely relying on the

politicians to have the information

up-to-date and the editor I think it

could be the most objective source of

information if you'd be careful in

selecting the right numbers and variety

of editors but also there's a

scalability issue as we build out the

platform so there's that and

crowdsourcing I think is the most

saleable solution but also the Internet

and how we mentioned the Wikipedia and

the Google records can be polarizing

sometimes it would be hard to really

understand what is fact what is not so I

think there's trade-off all in all these

accounts I am leaning towards all of the

above so we I think there's a way that

we can take all these into a single

platform in a way that makes sense maybe

we can have the politicians type in the

initial information and as they sign up

and then they can regularly update the

information as they progress through

their career and then we can have a few

editors that really make sure these

accounts are factual and then have them

arrange it in a way that makes sense

and lastly we can add craft sourcing by

the public to maybe on the profile they

can show validation show support or just

like Wikipedia they can come in to

request for edits in cases that it

doesn't make sense or they don't agree

with there's certain things and they

want to voice their opinion so I think

when we build out this platform we can I

think we need actually all three of

these factors to really build out a

platform that is factual that is most up

to date but also engaging to the public

how does that sound yeah that sounds

really well thought out for sure um and

it does address a lot of my concerns or

I I have a sense of how we can play with

it and when I'm now and you know

increasingly product strategy is a part

of some of these interviews and so I

wanted to ask you in terms of it and you

know this is maybe a little digging into

politics but like what are the

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groups of people you might have to

convince to make this product actually

go to market also let's say that we're

we're you know we're working on this

product you want to take it to the

market however we're what which group of

people do you think we're gonna face the

most resistance from totally pushing it

out yeah I think just first thought is

definitely the candidates in the

position themselves for them it is a

huge step to really put themselves out

there and then they'll be facing

probably a lot of support but also at

the same time a lot of criticism as

politics goes and they'll have to put it

they are the ones who have to put the

initial efforts to make this work and it

also use this platform actively and

advertise it and they'll be if they if

we get them on our side I think they

will be the biggest supporter as well as

ally in terms of pushing this so I think

convincing them and in a way that hey

this is how you campaign now in the

digital age to the younger generations

and then this can help you win the

elections and actually raise awareness I

think that sending that message to this

target demographic will be really

important gotcha

yeah I think it's a really good point I

would add that the parties themselves

maybe yeah you know because they're kind

of affiliated with the politician and

there might even be a situation where

one of the parties agrees to it and the

other party doesn't and then how would

that affect your platform if just one

party agrees to that platform yeah it

would be really interesting and I think

it's problematic because once one

party's say Democrats agree and then all

the Democrats petitions are on it is

easier for Republicans to say hey that

is a left-wing platform and then we got

nothing else to do so I think it will be

ideal to get both platforms in but part

of me thinks like if this really works

in the Democrats are having a lot of

success and in terms of engaging with

the younger generations there could be

some aspect of like FOMO from the other

party as well and then I think we if we

want to focus on the Democrats and

really nail that down and there's a way

to we like to convert the other side as

well

so yeah

cool yeah I think it's really good to

think about this kind of stuff because

in this product to go to market strategy

is actually really important like if

we're really thinking about it because

yeah a lot of like you don't want it to

become a democratic platform or a

Republican platform that's only but

perhaps you can do that and then use the

pressure of just like hey they're

eyeballs here we're getting a lot of

traction to bring in the other parties

cool I I kind of dug deep on that one I

you know I wanted to just pop back up a

bit and you know and not all interviews

I don't want us to like go through the

user flow with this one necessarily but

just yeah

did you get a sense for you like what

your priority was with the different

options that you out list it that you

listed and we can kind of and I know we

talked about like social aspects and

some other stuff too so I just wanted to

give you some space to talk about you

know some of the other ideas you wanted

to talk about them a little bit more and

give me a sense of priority for you

totally on and then after that we can

kind of wrap up the interview and do

feedback because I want to be mindful of

time as well sounds great thank you yeah

so just to go back to the ideas for the

audience as well

I think the story style platform like

Instagram and snapchat were this

candidates can push awareness campaigns

is cool but as you said actually both

that and the issue and interest based

work and you can subscribe to certain

issues and it will push out the contents

the idea is cool but I think there is a

factor of like if you were the user

would you actually take the time to

download this app and then have it and

then regularly visit as a user I think

there's some question mark is there for

the first one Instagram style I think

there's definitely ways to test it with

with the existing platform like insta

and a snapchat part of me thinks maybe

this is just a pure content player

rather than building a product in itself

and what we can do maybe is to utilize

platform likewise who's my friend voting

or the LinkedIn for politics bill

the audience and then we can use that

platform audience to do this more

creative style story stock and awareness

then we can even add the stories type of

profile information to maybe LinkedIn

for politics and then these people

instead of like a static profile can add

live videos of themselves or campaigns

and feed themselves so that's one

thought here and the who is my friend

boating I think that one is also very

very interesting part of me thinks there

are a lot more complexities and things

to hash out for this to really really

work and the audience also needs to

happen just noting routing back to the

single problem that's the most important

thing to solve to get the voters to vote

it's just their general awareness of the

political landscape and the candidates

and the policies so thinking tying all

that back and then just sequencing in

the products and the features I am

leaning towards to LinkedIn for politics

as well and then I think as because it

is the most I guess pressing needs to

build a platform where candidates and

this younger voters can communicate in a

factual manner and that encourages a

civil discussion so I think we can build

out this part if I were the product

manager or the founder for this company

that is targeting this goal I will build

out this LinkedIn for politics platform

and then with the audience try to

incorporate story style candidate

candidate awareness contents maybe we

can build out a discovery mechanism

where they can subscribe to certain

issues and then we'll push out certain

contents in a way or we can also use

that audience to facilitate conversation

between these users so in my opinion

looking back at all these features and

the factors that I mentioned my party

sits on LinkedIn for politics as well

cool okay this really helpful

explanation and you know in a normal

p.m. interview we may dig deep under

that but I

my whole time and keep this short video

for those watching so if you're watching

right now is a perfect opportunity to

comment and to ask mutual follow-up

questions or to offer feedback or to

just ask us in general for any questions

that you have so please comment below if

you're watching the video even if it's

just to say hi we really like it and

I'll kind of take the time now to jump

into some feedback for you Mitchell

and overall a great interview I had a

lot of fun it was a really cool topic

not when you normally get to discuss in

a p.m. interview um I thought some

things that I thought you did really

well I thought you really nailed it with

the questions in the beginning you're

really you know I could tell you're kind

of narrowing down the scope of the

question and understanding where in the

question you want to top right um you

also did an excellent job in the

beginning with summarizing so you know

you kind of went through like a B C D of

the ideas that you just talked about and

it was perfect because I was already

getting confused a little bit it was

like a little too many things and I was

like okay where is he what's he saying

like yeah I don't know and you'd said

that and then I was like okay I got it

I completely follow you and you know if

you were at a whiteboard you would

probably write it on the whiteboard as

well so awesome job with that I thought

you did an excellent job with checking

in with me and kind of just regularly

saying like you know which please jump

in if Bob LA or you know is the Sun okay

to you goals uh I thought you did a good

job integrating goals into the

conversation early on I think you could

have done it even more later in the

conversation yeah and you know just kind

of always in the interview just it's

good to go back up you know take a

breath and just say like okay what are

our goals the first place like why are

we down here what are we doing and then

you can go back down and tinker away and

kind of come up with the ideas um so I

think that's a really effective approach

to do maybe three or four times

throughout your interview um so we also

have user okay so I I prompted you for

this one but I wish that you had stayed

at your assumptions more clearly

yeah so you know it was really hard to

know where to go and I don't know like

personally I'm not convinced necessarily

that awareness is the

right direction ago but it doesn't

matter like what matters is you're

communicating that to your interviewer

god you're sitting like this is my

assumption like I think awareness is the

issue because a lot of young people

don't even know like about the

candidates they don't even care so you

can see this I'm going to defend it a

little bit more like kind of how I just

did yeah sorry if you want to jump in at

any point great thank you yeah and I

think we have a comment from the live

section as well from Metta yeah yeah

yeah yeah I'll let me to thank you for

commenting let's get to you right after

I finish with the feedback but all of

you participating currently like keep

flowing in with comments we'll get to

them you know Hari andrey lewis and some

of the others that have liked or

commented if you haven't liked this yet

please do it really helps encourage us

and we feel like we're doing something

that's all value pulling helpful so you

would love it yeah great so let's

continue on a little bit more with the

feedback Mitchell and then we'll get to

me this question um so the other sorry I

thought you had a great structure the

other big piece of feedback that I would

have for you is that unless prompted by

me I don't think we got in too much have

like insightful realizations about the

world and so what I think and I think

you did an excellent job

but I think that you know advanced p.m.

interview questions it's really

important to drop some of these nuggets

like yeah like how does voting how do we

think about voting like and kind of like

bubble up to the philosophy of the whole

thing like yeah you know like what is

what is the point of voting like voting

is to help people's voices get heard

great and so maybe we can think beyond

just voting it you think about like what

are ways to get people's voices hurt

yeah and it doesn't mean that it's a

vote it could mean that it's like a

social media thing or so you know sort

of interacting with people so I I really

like I like the interview but I think it

was a little too within the box yeah I

wish that we had stepped outside the box

and just been like okay whoa what is

what is this whole thing about like what

is the real point of this thing yeah

that's a great piece of paper thank you

yeah

um those are my main pieces feedback

overall Mitchell like you killed it with

this interview I thought it was really

well structured really thoughtful and

you know if we had more time it'd be fun

to grill you and some other stuff yeah

you can go we can go ahead and start

answering the questions if you want to

you get a chance to read me this

question yeah and I think it's a really

good question and I was actually

thinking about that myself as I was

answering because here I was

prioritizing really based on qualitative

reasoning rather than more of a streak

framework or quantitative measures like

our eyes or metrics per se before you

jump in let me read the question out

loud I'll just read it to you so the

question that made it has is do we need

to use some kind of quantify Merc to

prioritize or is it okay to use

qualitative reasoning for example ROI or

you know versus saying I think this is

more valuable because X Y Z mm-hmm I

think both qualitative or quantitative

works but in my prior experience and

then also during this interview I found

myself with the qualitative reasoning it

is easier to lose an interviewer and

lose a structure and it doesn't sound as

structured per se so if you are going

down the qualitative reasoning route I

highly recommend and I would do myself

to structure it more summarize it more

so that the arguments or more Corin and

the interviewer is with me the entire

time but always quantitative and more

strict frameworks also makes it easier

and then shows you show us an interview

that you're an analytical thinker so I

think there's a good in that and you can

maybe utilize both depending on the

question what do you have anything to

add here see what yeah I think it's good

I think it's a good point I think for

these types of interviews quantitative

analyses are not very useful maybe we

could talk about metrics much later in

the interview and once we define the

product but we would discuss it too

early on and it wouldn't be valuable

because this is ultimately a good

qualitative discussion really yeah so

then we have another question from

Nathan Nathan yeah we'll follow up with

other sorts of mock interviews hurry we

have off the platforms that we talked

about what would be the first preference

to

between LinkedIn Instagram and snapchat

and so literally cracking from around

the my interpretation is that Hardy's a

little bit misunderstanding to point

you're banging you're not saying that

we're gonna put it on LinkedIn you're

just saying that we're going to make a

platform that's similar to LinkedIn yep

but do you have any thoughts on I mean I

think he's pointing at a good point is

that like we want to target a younger

audience and be perhaps linked in style

right platforms don't agree with that

and yeah I think you're absolutely

correct that we have to target the right

channels and mediums and to meet him

there and and as Steven said I wasn't

really talking about putting it on

LinkedIn but was gonna build a separate

system we can explore but in this case

then we will have to utilize this

different channels that younger

generation frequent as a marketing

strategy or go to market to really meet

them there and then maybe push out the

contents and then integrate with this

platforms to really make sure that we

are where our target users are so yeah

that's my thought on that one yeah I

like the idea of like loading stories

into maybe you know you can bring in

some of the other stuff that you had

mentioned goody very good points there -

yeah cool and then let's get to one last

question from meetup and then we'll wrap

up the comments and questions and thank

someone for commenting and please

remember to like and subscribe and find

us on PM less and calm or youtube.com

slash p.m. lesson for tons of other

videos like this one

and maeda as last question is it is it

good practice to call out the structure

we plan to use before diving into the

answer like Mitchell did Mitchell what

were your thoughts on how that landed

and I can jump into yeah actually it's

also a lot of things that I see from my

clients where they'd gone off some books

they really practice and they really had

the structure down and and then usually

they would really follow or read a

structure for every type of question and

then the piece is feedback that I would

give to those clients it's try to loosen

up a little bit and my experience in my

experience the best interviews when like

a conversation that you have with your

friends so try to

and I think this also comes with

practice as you practice more and really

get the framework down there are rooms

for you to be more creative take out a

couple steps or add something

independent of the questions and for a

particular your modesties particular

question about calling out the structure

and summarizing before I think if you do

it too much it seems rehearsed but if in

my interview here with Stephen because

it was a lot of qualitative I was going

off a lot under a lot of things and I

could really I could see myself and

Stephen being lost there a little bit so

that's why I added in more

summarizations and the usual to help

with that so I think as you get more

comfortable as you get more practices in

you will have to read the interviewer

and this will be a little difficult with

the phone interview and make sure you

put in the right amount of structure in

place to help the interviewer be on the

same page and in the in case of one of

your interviews I would try to do it a

little more because conversation tend to

get a little lost a little easier

through phone interviews but uh Stephen

do you have anything else to add there

yeah I think structure is great I am I

am a big fan of structure and didn't

write a structure beforehand I would

just say that yeah you don't have you

robotic or mechanical with it and I

didn't feel like Mitchell was at all

during this call like Mitchell laid it

out we went through it but in any odd

structure but it you know I could poke

him I could push him and he wouldn't

change the direction and that felt

really organic and natural to me that's

good thank you all right well Mitchell

um I think we're wrapping up but I just

wanted to one last time say that you

know Mitchell is a p.m. lesson coach so

if you're looking for coaching for p.m.

rolls especially for companies like

LinkedIn Mitchell is here to help and

you can find out more and contact us

either at Steven at p.m. lesson comm or

you can find us online at p.m. lesson

comm to see our free online course and a

bunch of other great content available

for you to help you ace your upcoming