Lewis C. Lin - Decode and Conquer: Answers to Product Management Interviews

Over the years, my clients have asked me for sample answers for case interview questions for the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn and Microsoft. To my clients, youve inspired me to write that book. I hope you enjoy it.

This book focuses on sample answers. On the Internet, there is no shortage of tips and frameworks on how to answer these questions. But actual answer responses thats rare. Thats what youll get here.

This book also provides context without which you may not understand why a particular question would be asked or if your planned response is good or bad. I have provided some brief advice before each question type on how to approach a particular category of questions.

The product management case interview is tough. It combines interview questions that would otherwise appear for positions in disparate disciplines, including project management, product design, software engineering, management consulting and marketing.

The best way to prepare is to practice. This book will help you develop responses with the help of sample answers. You wont be caught off guard with unexpected interview questions. You will be able to analyze differences between responses and determine whats best for you. When the big interview day comes, with your new found awareness and knowledge, your responses will be convincing and penetrating.

The aim of the book is not to give you a script to read from during an interview, but to prepare you for whatever questions may come your way. By working with this book, your response will sound practiced, but not in the regurgitated way that interviewers can easily detect. In fact, the book will prepare you to answer unique employer-specific questions that arent in this book.

This book will prepare you for an interview both by helping you with your content and your delivery. For the sake of simplicity, I refer to hypothetical candidates as he and hypothetical interviewers as she.

There is no substitute for true, in-depth knowledge. That is the product managers burden. You have to be an expert in so many different fields. Over time, if you havent already, you should develop intellectual curiosity for all the product management disciplines from design to business to technical. Youll find that interview responses will come more naturally.

In addition to the content of your answers, delivery is equally important. Good product management candidates give answers that are impactful, influential, engaging and precise. Many ineffective candidates ramble at the same cadence as dull corporate jargon. Its important to be crisp in your responses and avoid boring answers.

Good luck with your interviews. By challenging yourself and practicing, you wont need it!

Any good design critique includes a scorecard. Its an objective way to determine if a product passes or fails based on predetermined criteria.

Dieter Rams is a famous industrial designer who has deeply influenced Apples design chief, Jony Ive. Rams has 10 design principles that governs his work. It serves as a good starting point to evaluate product or feature design.

Dieter Rams Ten Principles of Good Design

Good design is:

1. Innovative

2. Makes a product useful

3. Aesthetic

4. Understandable

5. Unobtrusive

6. Honest

7. Long-lasting
8. Thorough down to the last detail
9. Environmentally friendly
10. As little design as possible

Of his 10 design principles, Ive bolded the best ones to cite: innovation, utility, ease of use and sense of honesty.

Approach any product design critique by:

• Revealing your design criteria. Cap it to three principles.
• Explaining how the product may or may not meet your criteria.
• Being specific, offering evidence, and contrasting with similar products.
  

1. How do you like LinkedIns endorse feature?
2. Tell me about a product you like and use frequently. Why do you like it?
3. Tell me about a product that was designed poorly.
   

CANDIDATE: When I evaluate whether or not I like a feature, I think about three design principles:

• Is it innovative?
• Is it useful?
• Is it honest?

Ill use those principles to evaluate LinkedIns endorse feature.

Since I dont recall the feature details, I will start by reviewing how the feature works. The endorse feature appears on different parts of the site.

On your profile page

Theres a pop-up at the top of the page asking you to endorse skills of four people you know.

LinkedIn offers suggestions for endorsements. You can endorse each person individually, or you can easily endorse everyone by clicking a single button.

On someone elses profile page

Here we are at Matts profile page. It focuses on suggestions for Matt alone, not four different people. There are a few suggestions with the ability to add or subtract endorsement. Suggested endorsements could be added to Matts profile with a single click of the yellow Endorse button, provided that Matt accepts them.

All endorsements appear at the bottom of a users profile page. On the left, youll see how many have endorsed a particular skill. On the right, youll find photos for those who gave the endorsement.