Metrics-Focused Product Managers
“I know I am metrics focused, I talked about metrics, but the feedback was I am not metrics-focused. I don’t understand what is going on.”
Have you ever felt that way? I had a client last week who couldn’t understand where the disconnect was between her answers and the hiring manager’s feedback. TL;DR - This client was describing a metric in 3 or 4 sentences filled with words but not one count.
When you are told the hiring manager is looking for metrics-focused PM, you need to speak in metrics first, detailed explanation second.
Still confused? Compare these 2 responses. Which one is metrics-driven? Which PM would you hire if you needed them to drive a product against behavioral analytics?
Prompt: Tell me about a time you made a decision using data.
Answer #1: I want to tell you about the time my team made a huge impact on the user experience. We were revamping the search experience for the multiple vertical and we added new features that helped improve the user experience increasing click through rates and reducing frustration.
Answer #2: When I worked at Acme e-commerce company, I improved the effectiveness and efficiency of the search and browse process by adding filters that increased click through rate from 2% to 25% in 6 months. This lead to a 10% increase in items added to carts per session. Ultimately, we were able to attribute an increase in sales of $1M per quarter to this filter options change just within the electronics vertical. Let me walk you through how I identified the opporutnity by analyzing behavioral analytics as well as qualitative surveys and ultimately helped the team impliment the UX and algorithm changes that brought an improved experience to our customers.
You should see:
Answer 1 has NO metrics. In their mind, they know they had to look at metics to make it happen but that isn’t how they talk about their experience.
Answer 1 uses filler words, not numbers.
Answer 2 not only uses numbers, it puts those numbers in context and shows command of the user funnel. Search leads to items put in cart which ultimately leads to revenue.
Metrics driven PMs talk in numbers naturally. They don’t use filler words when they can use numbers. They know metrics include: counts, actions/behaviors and time periods. They speak in numbers and measures. They know how to take a basic concept or step in a user funnel and measure it. They remember core metrics from their product even years later. They may not remember each metric perfectly but if you remember building a metric, you know the data you looked at to create it. You know your user funnels and the metrics partner teams used to question the effectiveness of your experiments.
To sound metrics driven, you need to bring all of these elements into your stories.
