Facebook Product Manager Execution Interview: YouTube Goals & Decline

Summary

In this product management mock interview, Selena, a product manager at Facebook, discusses setting goals for YouTube amidst the pandemic's growth surge. She emphasizes the platform's mission to entertain and inform, proposing engagement metrics like watch time and user interaction as key performance indicators. Selena also addresses potential trade-offs and strategies to investigate a hypothetical decline in watch time, highlighting the importance of understanding user behavior and competitive impacts on platform performance.

Takeaways

• 😀 Selena, a product manager at Facebook, discusses setting goals for YouTube with a focus on engagement, retention, and monetization.
• 🎓 YouTube's mission is to entertain and inform its users, with engagement being a precursor to monetization through ads and subscription products like YouTube Premium and YouTube TV.
• 📈 Selena suggests focusing on user actions that drive engagement, such as watching videos, commenting, liking, and subscribing, as key metrics for success.
• 📊 To measure success, Selena proposes tracking metrics like average watch time per user, average number of videos watched per session, and engagement actions like likes, comments, and subscribes per video viewed.
• 🌟 The 'North Star' metric identified for YouTube is watch time, which is critical for both user enjoyment and future monetization.
• 🔍 Counter metrics discussed include time well spent, churn rate, reported videos, and creator distribution to ensure a balanced and positive user experience.
• 🤔 Selena considers various factors that could affect watch time, such as competition, internal company changes, and user behavior shifts.
• 💡 When addressing a decline in watch time, Selena emphasizes the importance of asking key questions to understand the scope and potential causes of the issue.
• 🔄 The introduction of YouTube Shorts, a feature similar to Instagram Reels or TikTok, is identified as a possible cause for the decline in watch time due to shorter content consumption.
• 🛠 Selena advises that when launching new products, it's crucial to consider the trade-offs between watch time and other forms of engagement, and to adjust strategies accordingly.
• 🔍 For further investigation, Selena recommends examining API usage, partner networks, and other analogous products within Google's ecosystem to identify competitive impacts.

Q & A

What is the primary mission of YouTube according to Selena?

According to Selena, YouTube's primary mission is to entertain its users, providing a platform for billions of people worldwide to watch videos daily. Additionally, it serves to inform and educate, allowing users to learn something new.

What does Selena suggest as the overarching goal metric for YouTube?

Selena suggests focusing on an engagement bucket metric as the overarching goal for YouTube, which includes user actions like watching videos, commenting, liking, and subscribing. She believes that monetization will follow engagement.

How does Selena approach the task of setting goals for YouTube?

Selena approaches the task by first discussing YouTube's mission and overarching goals, then identifying high-level metric buckets for success. She then delves into specific user actions that support these metrics and proposes tactical metrics, a top-line goal metric, and counter metrics to watch out for, concluding with an evaluation of any trade-offs.

What is the significance of focusing on engagement before monetization, as suggested by Selena?

Focusing on engagement before monetization ensures that the product is loved and used by users, which naturally leads to opportunities for monetization. It helps in building a strong user base that spends time on the platform, making it more attractive for advertisers and potential subscribers.

What are some user actions that Selena identifies as important for driving engagement on YouTube?

Selena identifies watching videos, the number of videos watched per day, watch time, liking, commenting, and subscribing as important user actions for driving engagement on YouTube. She also mentions the importance of considering the diversity of content watched by users.

Why does Selena consider 'watch time' as the North Star metric for YouTube?

Selena considers 'watch time' as the North Star metric because it directly reflects how much users are enjoying the content on YouTube. It is a strong indicator of user engagement and satisfaction, which ultimately leads to monetization opportunities.

What counter metrics does Selena suggest to balance the focus on watch time?

Selena suggests counter metrics such as 'time well spent' to ensure users are enjoying their time on YouTube without neglecting other aspects of their lives. She also mentions the importance of content distribution to ensure a healthy ecosystem for all creators and watching for churn and reported videos to maintain content quality and user retention.

How does Selena approach the investigation of a decline in the watch time metric?

Selena starts by asking key questions to understand the duration, consistency, and scope of the decline. She then categorizes potential issues into internal team, internal company, and external factors. She considers factors like competition, partnerships, bad press, and product cannibalization as possible causes.

What is the role of YouTube Shorts in the context of the declining watch time metric?

YouTube Shorts, being a new feature with shorter video content, could lead to a decrease in watch time as users may spend less time on the platform per session. However, this could also be a strategic choice to engage with younger audiences who prefer short-form content.

How does Selena handle the trade-off between watch time and the introduction of new features like YouTube Shorts?

Selena acknowledges that there might be a trade-off between watch time and the introduction of new features. She suggests that it's important to consider how much watch time the company is willing to give up to support new product launches and whether watch time is still the right North Star metric in the context of these changes.

What advice does Selena give for product managers when dealing with a decline in key metrics?

Selena advises product managers to start by asking questions rather than immediately diving into data. She emphasizes the importance of communication with the team and structured thinking when investigating issues. Additionally, she suggests considering both the goals of the company and the user experience when evaluating the impact of new features or changes.