One of the most common product management interview questions is “Assume you are the PM for X product. How would you measure success?”

I address how to answer the questions in other locations. In today’s article, I want to discuss common mistakes according to the three most important parts of the interview.

1. Product

• Over-explaining what the product does or how it works. Remember: Keep it simple.

• Taking up too much time showing your strategic chops and thus not leaving yourself enough time for the core part of the case.

• Assuming it is the only question you will get, sometimes yes but not always.

Goals

• Confusing User Focus & Business Focus of your goals. It is good to state both.

• Writing a S.M.A.R.T. goal you can’t measure in a case.

• Confusing goals and metrics. A goal is a simple English description of what the users wants/needs.

• Not addressing the needs of both sides of a marketplace.

Metrics

• Listing too many metrics

• Not having three parts to a metric

  • most common error is forgetting the time period

  • almost as common is not saying count vs average, etc.

• Using percentages as North Star

• Using too many percentages

• Trying to show off and creating overly complex metrics. (this used to be my Achilles heel.)

• Stating MAU without explaining want is ‘Active’

• Confusing Counter metrics vs. guardrail metrics.

• Calling engagement a metric, it is a category, and you need more details.