Are you preparing for a job interview in the product management field but don’t know which questions to expect? Look no further as I’ve compiled a comprehensive list of product interview questions that cover a wide range of topics.

By practicing these questions repeatedly, I was able to secure several job offers during the layoff season. Preparing for these interviews and developing skills in answering them is crucial for any candidate seeking a product management or business analyst position. So, take some time to practice and be prepared for any question that may come your way in your next product management job interview.

On the list, we have questions regarding the following topics:

• General
• Product Management
• Leadership & Teamwork
• Behavioral
• Analytics & Case Study
• Technical

The below list is the Product Management Questions. These questions are about your knowledge in terms of Scrum, Agile, and the product management discipline. They are likely to be asked during the second interview with the Product team. You might also face them in the Screening call with HR.

How would you explain Product Management to a 5-year-old?

Simplify your language and use examples that they can relate to. Try saying something like “Imagine you wanted to make a toy. Product managers are like the ones who help figure out what kind of toy to make, how it should look, and how much it should cost. And then they make sure the toy gets made and sent to stores for kids to buy.”

Explain a sprint who are not familiar with product development

You could say something like “A sprint is like a race to finish a certain amount of work in a short amount of time. It’s a way for the team to focus on getting specific things done together, so that they can make the product better.”

How do you estimate the sprint backlog?

There are many techniques but for me, I would choose planning poker. This approach makes sure the team can independently estimate for each user story by assigning points, t-shirt sizes, or other such comparisons. You can then assess how much work the team can complete in the sprint based on the estimates and capacity.

What do you consider before estimating timelines for delivery?

Before estimating timelines for delivery, you need to consider things like:

• Team capacity/velocity – Based on empiricism
• Sick leave
• Public holiday
• Arising issue
• Risks
• Dependency

You may want to start with smaller and more accurate estimates and then refine as you gather more data and experience.

What should a good user story look like?

A good user story should be have the following chracteristics:

• Includes a description
• The Acceptance Criteria is clearly defined
• Can be delivered within a Sprint
• Has all UI deliverables available
• Has all dependencies and risks identified
• Has performance criteria defined
• Has tracking criteria defined
• Has success metrics
• Is estimated by the team

It should also follow the INVEST criteria that is Independent, Negotiable, Valuable, Estimable, Small, and Testable.

How do you decide what and what not to build?

You should prioritize the most critical and valuable features that align with the company’s strategy, goals, and vision. Additionally, you should consider the budget, resources, and time constraints, as well as feedback from customers and stakeholders. You may also want to use techniques like product roadmap, impact vs effort matrix, or other decision-making frameworks.

How do you prioritize tasks?

First, I would clarify the request/issue

• Make sure that it’s a valid issue/request. Is there any workaround?
• Why does the user need it? What are their pain points
• How are they going to use it (when, who, how, what,…)

Then I apply the Value vs. Complexity matrix:

• Vertical axis: Value
• Who request it? Are they power users?
• Will the feature be used by others?
• How much revenue will we make?
• How urgent is it to the customer?
• Is it aligned with the product roadmap?
• Horizontal axis: Complexity
• Efforts for researching and designing
• Story point (development cost)
• Customer training/education

We choose the one with HIGH value and LOW complexity to do first. Then we choose the HIGH value and HIGH complexity.

What are the success metrics of feature X?

The success metrics for a feature depend on the specifics of that feature and the goals of the company. You could aim to measure the user engagement, feedback, conversion rates, revenue, or customer satisfaction. It’s important to define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) metrics before launching the feature and regularly track and report on those metrics.

Metrics to measure Scrum team progress

To measure the Scrum team progress, you could use metrics like sprint velocity, burn-down or burn-up charts, cycle time, lead time, or cumulative flow diagrams. Additionally, you could assess the team’s sprint commitments, retrogames, and feedback loops, as well as team engagement, cohesion, and efficiency.

Should we release every sprint?

Releasing depends on the company needs and goals. If it’s required to have small, incremental improvements, then releasing every sprint might make sense. However, in some cases, it may be better to wait until a full feature or set of features is complete before releasing. This could provide a more complete and coherent experience for the users.

How to set a sprint goal

To set a sprint goal, you need to review the user stories in the sprint backlog and determine the most important and valuable work to be done in the sprint. You then create a goal that summarizes the primary focus and value of the sprint. A good sprint goal should be achievable, realistic, and help to guide the team toward the desired outcome.

What do you think can justify canceling a sprint?

Canceling a sprint is a significant decision and should only be done under certain circumstances by the Product Owner/Manager, such as when there is a risk of critical customer impact, team safety concern, or technical or infrastructure issues. It may also be necessary if there are significant changes in priorities or scope that require taking a step back to re-evaluate the sprint content and plan.

How did you build/develop a product roadmap?

A product roadmap is the overall plan for a product’s development. When asked about building/developing a product roadmap, be sure to mention that you start by identifying customer needs, prioritize features and create a timeline. Here are a few points to help you answer this question:

• Start with a clear understanding of the user problem and identify the user needs. You can look at
• Customer interview/feedback
• In-app tracking and analysis
• Talking to the Customer support team, Sales team
• Competitor research
• Personal ideas (need validation)
• Ensure that the roadmap aligns with the company’s overall business objectives and goals
• Prioritize the features based on their level of impact and feasibility
• Determine the timeline and milestones for key deliverables
• Highlight the uncertainty of the roadmap

How did you conduct user research?

User research is a key part of product development, and it helps you understand your customers better. To answer this question, you should highlight the following:

• Explain the research methodology: Whether it was interviews (qualitative), surveys (quantitative), usability testing, or other methods, make sure you outline the steps you took to conduct the research.
• Discuss how you used the insights you gathered: Make sure you highlight how you applied the insights gained from your research to make decisions about the product.
• Highlight any tools you used: Mention any research tools that you might have used, such as user personas, user journey maps, or customer feedback reports.

How to find Problem-Solution Fit (PSF)

The first stage of a successful startup begins with finding a Problem-Solution Fit. This stage is generally very early and often in the seed or pre-seed stage. This is when the founders discovered a deep customer problem in an underserved market. To find Problem-Solution Fit, you can start small by working closely with a small set of “early-evangelists”. Here are some tips to help you identify Problem-Solution Fit:

• Define your target market: Be very clear on who your target customers are and what their problems are.
• Identify the key problem(s): Map out customer pain points to create a comprehensive picture of their needs.
• Brainstorm solutions: Brainstorm multiple solutions to the customer’s problem(s), evaluate each proposed solution, and determine which one addresses the problem best.
• Test and refine your hypothesis: Start small by testing your hypothesis with early adopters, then refine your approach based on feedback.

Once you have established Problem-Solution Fit, you move on to Product/Market Fit, where the startup has found a way to sign up customers, retain them, and get healthy revenue in a large enough market.

How to find Product Market Fit (PMF)

Product-Market Fit (PMF) is a measure of how well the product fits the needs and wants of the target market. To answer this question, you should highlight the following:

• Identify target customer segments and narrow their needs down to a specific set of features.
• Test and refine product features: Perform user testing with a target user group to understand how well your product meets their needs.
• Measure product-market fit: Look for metrics like user retention, customer lifetime value, and net promoter scores which will provide insights into customer satisfaction, loyalty and product-market fit.

How to build a Go-to-market strategy

A Go-to-market strategy refers to the plan to bring your product to the target market through the right channels. To build a Go-to-market strategy, you should consider the following:

• Define your target customer: Ensure that your target customer segments are very clear and specific, with a defined size. Identify the key pain point(s) the product/feature is solving and use it to guide your marketing approach.
• Clarify your value proposition: Clearly define why the target market should purchase the product, highlighting how it solves their problems and the unique benefits.
• Define pricing: Identify the target customer’s current spending and consider industry standards when establishing a pricing strategy.
• Determine the marketing channels: Outline the different channels you can use to reach the target audience and position the product, like social media, email marketing, advertising, influencer marketing and content marketing.
• Plan the promotion campaign: Map out the promotional campaign that will take place through each channel.
• Establish budget: Define the budget and allocate the funds for each promotion campaign appropriately.

How to Growth hacking

Growth hacking is a strategy for achieving massive growth in a short time on small budgets. The goal is to acquire as many users as possible while spending as little as possible. To achieve this, growth hackers often focus on the “pirate funnel,” which includes the following key steps:

• Awareness: Making potential users aware of the product’s existence.
• Acquisition: Acquiring new users through downloads or sign-ups.
• Activation: Encouraging users to engage with the product in some way.
• Retention: Encouraging users to continue using the product.
• Revenue: Monetizing users through various methods.
• Referral: Encouraging users to refer others to the product.

Here are some strategies that can be used to trigger rapid growth:

• Referral-Invitation: You can encourage users to refer friends to the product through incentives like discounts on subscription fees, free trials etc. Dropbox famously used this strategy to acquire new users.
• Make it rare: Use the scarcity principle to make the product more desirable. For example, invite only products like Stepn and Clubhouse have leveraged this approach successfully.
• Gamification: Reinforce user engagement by using game-like mechanics to keep them engaged with the product. For example, Duolingo and Headspace are known for implementing gamification effectively.
• Cross-sale: Encourage users to opt-in for or try out other company products. For example, Amazon’s “Customers who bought this also bought” section.

What makes a well-design product?

A well-designed product should meet the needs of the target audience par excellence. While answering this question, make sure you highlight the following:

• Superior usability : It is essential that your product can be used intuitively and with ease.
• Adequate features: Make sure to offer features that will meet the needs of the user and anything extra that could make the product stand out
• Exceptional user experience: The product should create an exceptional experience that keeps users coming back.
• Attractive design and branding : Consumers today expect and appreciate product designs that stand out and align with their demographic and/or personal style.

An example that you use Data Analytics to make decision

When asked about using data analytics to drive decisions in product management, ensure you provide a clear example:

• Describe a specific project or initiative that you worked on where data analytics played a critical role.
• Highlight the specific metrics and KPIs that were used to track performance.
• Discuss how the data influenced the decision-making process and what impactful changes were made as a result.

Who are your stakeholders? Who is the most important one?

Stakeholders are individuals or groups who have an interest in the success of a particular product. When answering this question you could highlight:

• A variety of stakeholders, such as customers, investors, developers, product owners, sales staff, and marketing teams.
• Discuss the importance of each stakeholder, explaining how each one contributes to the success of the product.
• For me, I would say that each stakeholder have their own value and contribution to the product. Hence, all of them are equally important.

Structure of a Product Requirement Document (PRD)

A Product Requirement Document (PRD) is a document that outlines the product requirements, features, and specifications. Usually, I would include the following parts in my PRD:

• Objectives: Clearly defined goals that the development team will deliver.
• Target Users: The intended users of the product.
• Assumptions and background: The assumptions about the target users and the market, and relevant background information.
• Release Plan: The timeline for delivering product increments while continuously incorporating feedback.
• Success Metrics: Clearly defined metrics to measure product success.
• Backlogs: A list of features that the development team will deliver.
• Workflow: The development process and methodology for implementing backlogs.
• User stories: Specific functionality requirements based on user needs and feedback.
• Use cases: Detailed scenarios of user interactions with the product.
• Detailed description and design: Detailed descriptions of how the product will work, including UI/UX design, functionality, and technical requirements.

How did you collaborate with the UI designer?

Working with designers is an essential part of product management. Here are a few points to help answer this question:

• Emphasise the importance of communication and collaboration between the product manager and the UI designer.
• Make sure to provide clear and concise specifications, such as user stories, to the designer.
• Offer and accept feedback from the designer to ensure the product’s implementation is both effective and innovative.

You should also show your clear understanding when it comes to PM and Designer scope of work

What aspects of product management do you find the least interesting?

While answering this question, you could mention an area like budgeting, reporting, or performance reviews, while still highlighting the importance of each to the success of the product management team. For me, I would mention the Bug fixes and/or Paying technical Debts.

How do you manage risk in a project?

Risk management is critical in any project management role. Here are a few points to help answer this question:

• Identify the possible roadblocks during the Sprint Grooming and Planning
• Develop contingency plans for areas of possible risk, including necessary changes to the plan and potential consequences.
• Document the risks and align with related stakeholders so everyone is aware.
• Make risk mitigation a part of regular project management meetings and/or reporting.

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