With the software continuously eating the world and the pandemic ghost reeling from the background has shown nothing but even a stronger appetite for the software to continue eating the world. The role of a Product Manager is not shy from continuing to grow at least for another decade. Relatively speaking, the absolute definition of a Product Manager role is less than a decade old and over the past few years it has been getting slightly different flavors by each organization, yet the only constant association with it has been Agile. Which is itself, I'd like to believe has its own slightly different flavors that vary by each organization and how they translate the 12 Principles behind the Agile Manifesto.
Product Management for Dummies is so much more than a beginner's guide to Product Management. It is a comprehensive, well-written guide book, rich with advice and real world examples from industry leading companies. Product Management For Dummies Brian Lawley, Pamela Schure E-Book 978-1-119-26403-3 January 2017 $16.00 Paperback 978-1-119-26402-6 January 2017 $26.99 DESCRIPTION Your one-stop guide to becoming a product management prodigy Product management plays a pivotal role in organizations. In fact, it's now considered the fourth most important title in. Download Product Management For Dummies EPUB or any other ebooks from Business, Economics category. Download books » Business, Economics » Download EPUB Product Management For Dummies. Product management plays a pivotal role in organizations. In fact, it's now considered the fourth most important title in corporate America―yet only a. If you're one of the hundreds of thousands of people who hold this essential job—or simply aspire to break into a new role— Product Management For Dummies gives you the tools to increase your skill level and manage products like a pro.
Nevertheless, I have been fortunate to go through hundreds of Product Management interviews over the past 6 years and I thought to bring forward some helpful tips for all of you out there who are actively applying for Product Manager positions whether you're experienced, looking to break into it or come with a shy experience.
NOTE: as everything usually taught around Product Management, this is one of many ways to break down Product problems and it uses a funnel approach where you start with a broader problem definition and narrow it down through constructive steps that help you with maintaining the focus and forming the solution faster. So, take it with a grain of salt. And if you cannot relate to it or find it helpful, do not feel discouraged from searching for what works best for you. Frameworks are inspired by Bijan Shahrokhi videos and his brainwork of Product Management Exercises.
This guide should help you with Product Management interviews focused on simulating a real Product problem with a ticking bomb – aka interview time limits. I agree to be stressful to some and not necessarily the best way to weed out calibers, but this is how our broken system works for now. So, buckle up. The following frameworks should help you ace the following Product Manager interviews.
- Product Sense or developing a new product to solve a given problem.
- Product Improvement or developing new product features to solve an existing product problem.
- Product Execution or Metrics or ways to measure up your product success at various stages.
Tips and Tricks
Any Product problem goes through two major stages. The top of the funnel is concerned with Framing/Goal Setting and it focuses on WHAT, WHO, and WHY. While the narrow bottom part of the funnel is focused on Features/Solutions or rather the HOW. Steps may vary from one problem type to another, but they are generally quite common.
User Groups
Defining user groups is an integral step of the Framing/Goal Setting stage. For two good reasons. First, you cannot form a solution in 45 minutes for all user groups. Second, if you do not whom you are solving for, your solution may lack logical horsepower or may bring undefendable questions by the interviewer. Assuming Gmail situation, those are the type of users of any product:
- Power User: Checks their inbox multiple times during the day. Efficient, productive.
- Casual User: Checks their email once or twice a day. Does not send or receive many emails.
- Occasional Users: checks their email once every few days. Usually an elderly person and someone who is less tech-savvy.
How to ace your interview?
Usually, you will start with the big picture before breaking down the problem area into smaller components. To build a product solution or identify a KPI/metric, you will need to prioritize some elements (e.g. a specific user group or user problem). When you do that, always consider what will have the biggest impact on the product/users. You will be assessed based on the following:
• Structure: Using a framework of your choice to solve the problem methodically.
• Ability to discuss tradeoffs: Using a prioritization framework of your choice to assess more complex scenarios, such as evaluating the pros and cons of two possible solutions to choose the best one to implement.
• User empathy and ability to think about different user segments: In the Product Execution or Metrics, you are expected to identify and track relevant metrics based on the specific user segment and product stage (development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline)
• Creativity and innovation: Particularly important in product sense interviews, the creativity or uniqueness of the solution and how you connect the dots is as important as the process you go through in devising it.
• Relating your solution to company mission: The cherry on the top is relating your solution to the broader mission of the business and/or relating to other existing product features that could complement and help your solution to maintain its growth – whenever asked. It reflects your deep knowledge of the company mission and its product portfolio.
Product Sense
Product problem is usually about a new line of product that could be either a product of its own or be added to an existing product. There are 8 steps that you can follow to solve this problem.
Framing/Goal Setting (WHAT/WHO/WHY)
Product Management For Dummies Resources
Step 1 (WHAT)Clarify the scope of the question.
Describe the product and what it does. What is the product vision? Understand the product landscape.
Step 2 (WHO)List the user groups and chose the one you are focusing on.
- Power User: Checks their inbox multiple times during the day. Efficient, productive.
- Casual User: Checks their email once or twice a day. Does not send or receive many emails.
- Occasional Users: checks their email once every few days. Usually an elderly person and someone who is less tech-savvy.
You want to choose user groups that are distinct from each other and have unique needs. Explain the characteristics of each user group and what makes them unique briefly. After listing out the user groups, chose the one user group that you will be designing your product for and explain your reasoning behind it.
Step 3 (WHY)List the user needs for your user group (pain points)
A common mistake among PM candidates in step 3 is to start mixing user needs with solutions. It is especially important to only cover user needs and not solutions at this step of your answer.
Step 4 (WHY)Prioritize user needs (pain points)
Once you have a list of user needs, you will want to prioritize them based on some meaningful attributes. Some examples are the impact on the user, revenue potential, and the level of effort to address that need.
You can go as far as creating a table that helps you evaluate each user's need based on the criteria you have come up with. Summarize your evaluation and explain the reasoning behind choosing the 2-3 user needs you have selected.
Features/Solutions (HOW)
Step 5 (HOW)List your solutions (product ideas)
Your opportunity to present your creativity and your ability to think outside the box by thinking about original ideas and innovative ways of meeting the prioritized user needs. When it is appropriate and the problem, you are solving for allows it, I suggest you list at least two ideas that use new technologies that are trending (e.g. AI, Blockchain, AR, etc)
Step 6 (HOW)Evaluate your solutions and choose one
Your next step is to present your evaluation and execution skills by evaluating your solutions with different sets of criteria such as the impact on the customer experience, the frequency of usage, the impact on the business, implementation costs, and time to develop each solution
Step 7 (HOW)Paint a picture of how you will build (describe your product)
After prioritizing your solutions, describe in more detail how you are going to build your product and its features. This is your chance to showcase your ability to execute and ship a useful and usable product.
Step 8 (HOW)Summarize your answer
Wrap up your answer by briefly reviewing the goal of your product design, the user needs you focused on, and the solution you are recommending with some explanation on why your solution is good. This should not take longer than 1 minute
Watch the video here
Product Improvement
The product problem is usually about an existing product that is usually performing very well and how to add a new feature that may be tailored to a new user group that is underdressed or underperforming in their usage. There are 9 steps that you can follow to solve this type of problem.
Framing/Goal Setting (WHAT/WHO/WHY)
Step 1 (WHAT)Describe the product and what it does
Is my understanding correct?
Step 2 (WHAT)Clarify the scope of the question
What do you mean by improving? Usage, users, revenue?
Step 3 (WHY)Choose a goal(s)
- Business Goals
- User Goals
Step 4 (WHO)List the user groups and select yours.
- Power User: Checks their inbox multiple times during the day. Efficient, productive.
- Casual User: Checks their email once or twice a day. Does not send or receive many emails.
- Occasional Users: checks their email once every few days. Usually an elderly person and someone who is less tech-savvy.
Step 5 (WHO)List and prioritize the use cases/pain points
Empathize the user you are solving for.
Features/Solutions (HOW)
Step 6 (HOW)List out your solutions
List your prioritized use cases, it is time to start brainstorming solutions that solve the pain points you have discussed. Think of a hypothetical product.
Step 7 (HOW)Evaluate solutions
Evaluate your solutions with different sets of criteria such as the impact on the customer experience, the frequency of usage, the impact on the business, implementation costs, and time to develop each solution.
Step 8 (HOW):Define metrics for measuring performance (Optional)
One primary metric and two secondary metrics to measure success
Step 9 (HOW)Summarize your answer
First, highlight the goal of the improvement. Then briefly mention what user group and use cases you are focusing on. Then discuss the solutions you are proposing to achieve your goal and finally, explain the metrics you will use to measure the impact of your suggested improvements.
Watch the video here
Product Execution or Metrics
Often the hardest part of the interview. The product problem is usually about an existing product that is underperforming in a certain area and how to measure its success. Any product goes through these different stages (development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline). Each stage has its own metrics that can help you answer one question.
With metrics, it is always tricky since they may look easy, but the cost of measuring versus the value is a quite common problem that a good product manager can solve with prioritization frameworks like RICH, MoSCoW, or Kano. Though, for the sake of time, often you will use your own logic to prioritize on the fly and should be prepared to defend your answers.
On occasions, a mature product starts declining and you have to return it from the dead by using decline metrics, or by introducing a new feature you may need to measure introduction metrics for a mature product. Choosing the right metric to solve a product problem is half what Product Managers are made of. Else, you would be just building stuff without knowing if they can withstand the test of time or not. You will be assessed based on the following:
• Goals: Being mindful of how the goals (especially quantitative goals) can be gamed or how they can sometimes be counter indicative of progress.
• Metrics: What would you use to measure if the product is healthy? Which one would you prioritize? What happens if one is decreasing and the other is increasing?
• Navigating a complex tradeoff: 'A' or 'B' option—how do you know what to show to which communities of users?
• Debugging: Say you notice a specific metric dropping week after week. You might be asked to present a problem statement. You should ask questions to describe how you would approach this challenge and determine what is causing this metric to drop.
What are those metrics?
Awareness: Are you aware of it?
Discoverability. Every interaction before you know who the person is (Product Phase: Development, Introduction)
Acquisition. Are you interested in it?
Growth. Lead Capture to Activation (Product Phase: Introduction, Growth)
Tips and Tricks
Any Product problem goes through two major stages. The top of the funnel is concerned with Framing/Goal Setting and it focuses on WHAT, WHO, and WHY. While the narrow bottom part of the funnel is focused on Features/Solutions or rather the HOW. Steps may vary from one problem type to another, but they are generally quite common.
User Groups
Defining user groups is an integral step of the Framing/Goal Setting stage. For two good reasons. First, you cannot form a solution in 45 minutes for all user groups. Second, if you do not whom you are solving for, your solution may lack logical horsepower or may bring undefendable questions by the interviewer. Assuming Gmail situation, those are the type of users of any product:
- Power User: Checks their inbox multiple times during the day. Efficient, productive.
- Casual User: Checks their email once or twice a day. Does not send or receive many emails.
- Occasional Users: checks their email once every few days. Usually an elderly person and someone who is less tech-savvy.
How to ace your interview?
Usually, you will start with the big picture before breaking down the problem area into smaller components. To build a product solution or identify a KPI/metric, you will need to prioritize some elements (e.g. a specific user group or user problem). When you do that, always consider what will have the biggest impact on the product/users. You will be assessed based on the following:
• Structure: Using a framework of your choice to solve the problem methodically.
• Ability to discuss tradeoffs: Using a prioritization framework of your choice to assess more complex scenarios, such as evaluating the pros and cons of two possible solutions to choose the best one to implement.
• User empathy and ability to think about different user segments: In the Product Execution or Metrics, you are expected to identify and track relevant metrics based on the specific user segment and product stage (development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline)
• Creativity and innovation: Particularly important in product sense interviews, the creativity or uniqueness of the solution and how you connect the dots is as important as the process you go through in devising it.
• Relating your solution to company mission: The cherry on the top is relating your solution to the broader mission of the business and/or relating to other existing product features that could complement and help your solution to maintain its growth – whenever asked. It reflects your deep knowledge of the company mission and its product portfolio.
Product Sense
Product problem is usually about a new line of product that could be either a product of its own or be added to an existing product. There are 8 steps that you can follow to solve this problem.
Framing/Goal Setting (WHAT/WHO/WHY)
Product Management For Dummies Resources
Step 1 (WHAT)Clarify the scope of the question.
Describe the product and what it does. What is the product vision? Understand the product landscape.
Step 2 (WHO)List the user groups and chose the one you are focusing on.
- Power User: Checks their inbox multiple times during the day. Efficient, productive.
- Casual User: Checks their email once or twice a day. Does not send or receive many emails.
- Occasional Users: checks their email once every few days. Usually an elderly person and someone who is less tech-savvy.
You want to choose user groups that are distinct from each other and have unique needs. Explain the characteristics of each user group and what makes them unique briefly. After listing out the user groups, chose the one user group that you will be designing your product for and explain your reasoning behind it.
Step 3 (WHY)List the user needs for your user group (pain points)
A common mistake among PM candidates in step 3 is to start mixing user needs with solutions. It is especially important to only cover user needs and not solutions at this step of your answer.
Step 4 (WHY)Prioritize user needs (pain points)
Once you have a list of user needs, you will want to prioritize them based on some meaningful attributes. Some examples are the impact on the user, revenue potential, and the level of effort to address that need.
You can go as far as creating a table that helps you evaluate each user's need based on the criteria you have come up with. Summarize your evaluation and explain the reasoning behind choosing the 2-3 user needs you have selected.
Features/Solutions (HOW)
Step 5 (HOW)List your solutions (product ideas)
Your opportunity to present your creativity and your ability to think outside the box by thinking about original ideas and innovative ways of meeting the prioritized user needs. When it is appropriate and the problem, you are solving for allows it, I suggest you list at least two ideas that use new technologies that are trending (e.g. AI, Blockchain, AR, etc)
Step 6 (HOW)Evaluate your solutions and choose one
Your next step is to present your evaluation and execution skills by evaluating your solutions with different sets of criteria such as the impact on the customer experience, the frequency of usage, the impact on the business, implementation costs, and time to develop each solution
Step 7 (HOW)Paint a picture of how you will build (describe your product)
After prioritizing your solutions, describe in more detail how you are going to build your product and its features. This is your chance to showcase your ability to execute and ship a useful and usable product.
Step 8 (HOW)Summarize your answer
Wrap up your answer by briefly reviewing the goal of your product design, the user needs you focused on, and the solution you are recommending with some explanation on why your solution is good. This should not take longer than 1 minute
Watch the video here
Product Improvement
The product problem is usually about an existing product that is usually performing very well and how to add a new feature that may be tailored to a new user group that is underdressed or underperforming in their usage. There are 9 steps that you can follow to solve this type of problem.
Framing/Goal Setting (WHAT/WHO/WHY)
Step 1 (WHAT)Describe the product and what it does
Is my understanding correct?
Step 2 (WHAT)Clarify the scope of the question
What do you mean by improving? Usage, users, revenue?
Step 3 (WHY)Choose a goal(s)
- Business Goals
- User Goals
Step 4 (WHO)List the user groups and select yours.
- Power User: Checks their inbox multiple times during the day. Efficient, productive.
- Casual User: Checks their email once or twice a day. Does not send or receive many emails.
- Occasional Users: checks their email once every few days. Usually an elderly person and someone who is less tech-savvy.
Step 5 (WHO)List and prioritize the use cases/pain points
Empathize the user you are solving for.
Features/Solutions (HOW)
Step 6 (HOW)List out your solutions
List your prioritized use cases, it is time to start brainstorming solutions that solve the pain points you have discussed. Think of a hypothetical product.
Step 7 (HOW)Evaluate solutions
Evaluate your solutions with different sets of criteria such as the impact on the customer experience, the frequency of usage, the impact on the business, implementation costs, and time to develop each solution.
Step 8 (HOW):Define metrics for measuring performance (Optional)
One primary metric and two secondary metrics to measure success
Step 9 (HOW)Summarize your answer
First, highlight the goal of the improvement. Then briefly mention what user group and use cases you are focusing on. Then discuss the solutions you are proposing to achieve your goal and finally, explain the metrics you will use to measure the impact of your suggested improvements.
Watch the video here
Product Execution or Metrics
Often the hardest part of the interview. The product problem is usually about an existing product that is underperforming in a certain area and how to measure its success. Any product goes through these different stages (development, introduction, growth, maturity, and decline). Each stage has its own metrics that can help you answer one question.
With metrics, it is always tricky since they may look easy, but the cost of measuring versus the value is a quite common problem that a good product manager can solve with prioritization frameworks like RICH, MoSCoW, or Kano. Though, for the sake of time, often you will use your own logic to prioritize on the fly and should be prepared to defend your answers.
On occasions, a mature product starts declining and you have to return it from the dead by using decline metrics, or by introducing a new feature you may need to measure introduction metrics for a mature product. Choosing the right metric to solve a product problem is half what Product Managers are made of. Else, you would be just building stuff without knowing if they can withstand the test of time or not. You will be assessed based on the following:
• Goals: Being mindful of how the goals (especially quantitative goals) can be gamed or how they can sometimes be counter indicative of progress.
• Metrics: What would you use to measure if the product is healthy? Which one would you prioritize? What happens if one is decreasing and the other is increasing?
• Navigating a complex tradeoff: 'A' or 'B' option—how do you know what to show to which communities of users?
• Debugging: Say you notice a specific metric dropping week after week. You might be asked to present a problem statement. You should ask questions to describe how you would approach this challenge and determine what is causing this metric to drop.
What are those metrics?
Awareness: Are you aware of it?
Discoverability. Every interaction before you know who the person is (Product Phase: Development, Introduction)
Acquisition. Are you interested in it?
Growth. Lead Capture to Activation (Product Phase: Introduction, Growth)
Activation. Did you use it?
Product Management For Dummies Torrent
Adoption. Sign-up to paying or non-paying customer; onboarding (Product Phase: Growth)
Engagement. Do you keep using it?
Customer level of interest in the product. In most cases, Engagement and Retention are mixed within one category (Product Phase: Maturity)
Retention. Are you coming back to use it every month?
Customer using the same service over time (Product Phase: Maturity, Decline)
Revenue. Are you paying for it?
Activation to paying customer (Product Phase: Growth, Maturity, Decline)
Referral. Are you referring others to it?
Customer directly or indirectly referring your business (Product Phase: Growth, Maturity, Decline)
Framing/Goal Setting (WHAT/WHO/WHY)
Step 1 (WHAT)Describe the feature
Step 2 (WHY)Choose a goal(s)
- Business Goals
- User Goals
Step 3 (WHO)Walk through the customer journey
- Power User: Checks their inbox multiple times during the day. Efficient, productive.
- Casual User: Checks their email once or twice a day. Does not send or receive many emails.
- Occasional Users: checks their email once every few days. Usually an elderly person and someone who is less tech-savvy.
Features/Solutions (HOW)
Step 4 (HOW)Map and quantify (through metrics) user behaviors in the customer journey
- Awareness: Are you aware of it?
- Acquisition: Are you interested in it?
- Activation: Did you use it?
- Revenue: Are you paying for it?
- Retention: Are you coming back to use it every month?
- Referral: Are you referring others to it?
Step 5 (HOW)Evaluate your metrics based on some meaningful criteria (optional)
You can use any of those prioritization frameworks to weigh your options (RICH, MoSCoW, Kano).
Step 6 (HOW) Prioritize your metrics
Though, for the sake of time, often you will use your own logic to prioritize on the fly and should be prepared to defend your answers.
Watch the video here
Further learning:
• Download the summarized excel sheet for the above frameworks here.
• I have created Agile Roles & Responsibilities Playbook about the 12 Principles of Agile Manifesto.
• If you are an aspiring Product Manager and enjoy self-learning, use this entry-level course on Udemy Become a Product Manager.
• If you're a relatively new Product Manager, learn more about Advanced Product Management: Vision, Strategy & Metrics on Udemy.
Overview
Your one-stop guide to becoming a product management prodigyProduct management plays a pivotal role in organizations. In fact, it's now considered the fourth most important title in corporate America—yet only a tiny fraction of product managers have been trained for this vital position. If you're one of the hundreds of thousands of people who hold this essential job—or simply aspire to break into a new role—Product Management For Dummies gives you the tools to increase your skill level and manage products like a pro.
From defining what product management is—and isn't—to exploring the rising importance of product management in the corporate world, this friendly and accessible guide quickly gets you up to speed on everything it takes to thrive in this growing field. It offers plain-English explanations of the product life cycle, market research, competitive analysis, market and pricing strategy, product roadmaps, the people skills it takes to effectively influence and negotiate, and so much more.
- Create a winning strategy for your product
- Gather and analyze customer and market feedback
- Prioritize and convey requirements to engineering teams effectively
- Maximize revenues and profitability
Product managers are responsible for so much more than meets the eye—and this friendly, authoritative guide lifts the curtain on what it takes to succeed.
