Product Interview Prep = Growth Strategy Exercise
TL;DR - The frameworks and exercises I coach are fundamentally the same concepts Growth PMs use to evaluate opportunities and tackle problems.
Discovered This Morning
I am constantly explaining to clients that while the product case interview appears to be distinctly different from their day-to-day, it is actually a compressed version of what they do at work. This morning Reforge provided me a reminder and evidence of that core hypothesis.
In an email, Reforge encouraged me to return to a Growth Strategy module and sharpen my skills by defining use cases. I instantly saw the heart of my S.U.S.S. Framework with a focus on The Five Key Elements of a Use Case:
Problem
Persona
Alternatives
Why
Frequency
The Details
Problem - What is the problem your product is solving, in your users’s words?
Persona - Who has the problem your product solves?
Alternatives - What are the alternative ways of solving the problem?
Why - What is the core reason users choose your product to solve their problem?
Frequency - How often do users experience the problem?
S.U.S.S. to Reforge Growth Strategy Tactics
Strategy
The S.U.S.S. Framework starts with a focus on the Strategic Situation and Users. The above framework from Reforge does the same.
In the Strategic evaluation in a product case question, we focus on the Problem and the Why and beginning to narrow down to a reasonable use case that is neither too big or too small to allow for ideation. We also acknowledge the Alternatives in the market, to avoid solving for an already solved probem.
Users
The heart of any product sense or product design case is identifying a use case and the people or personas we are considering solving for. We need to prioritize the Persona are we solving for. And after we flesh out their user journey and pain points, we consider frequency and serverity of problems to determine what our focus will be for the case.
In conclusion, this is just another example of where product best practices are tested in a compressed format within the product case interview.
