What is your favorite product?

2014 Apr 29, by David Kim



Well, it's almost a text-book opening move, isn't it? In your path to a PM role, whether a junior role or a senior role, someone is going to ask you “What is your favorite product?”

How do you answer that question? If you are unprepared, you will scratch your head and look like this.

Gorilla

photo credit: namsan.craftworkstaphouse.com

And like that beast, I just want to punch the person who asks me that question in the face. I usually BS something.

I love the command line, because of its simplicity and efficiency; the tool is pure form fitted to the function.

That's a horrible answer. You should not make the same mistake I do. So, let's break it down and talk about this question. Here is a rough outline of what we will consider:

  1. Breaking down the question
  2. Knowing your audience
  3. Knowing the buyer's cycle

What are they asking?

To answer this question, let's first analyze what is being asked. I found this highly upvoted Quora answer by Drew Dillon. Dillon notes that what he cares about is the why (hence the product you choose is secondary). What he wants to hear are - here in block quote:

  • Intention: this product solves this problem.
  • Understanding Tradeoffs: this product is better than this other product because it does … The other product is better at …, but that doesn’t matter because …
  • Engagement: how often do you go there? Why is that?
  • Growth: how did that product hook you? Have they gotten you to bring more customers to them?
  • Strategy: what feature is the product missing? How would this feature fit into the points above? How would you measure the success of that feature?

A PM at Yammer added that one might consider discussing a new product, rather than an old one. The reason is that being up to date is a stronger indicator of your general interest in products, and will give you a better chance to impress the PM than using a well known product. (She may know a lot more than you about that product and she will tear you apart - so use some mental judo here.)

Resources

For the purpose of being up to date, I think Ryan and Nate's ProductHunt.co would be a great resource for all product lovers. You can see the latest and the greatest voted by other product people. Impress away!

Of course, books like Cracking the PM Interview: How to Land a PM Job in Tech certainly delve deeper into these and other interview questions and techniques, and help you decipher what is being asked.

Cracking PM Interview

(Many of you have already read this book. If you have something to add, please feel free to comment to this post.)

From the School of Sales

The other point I want to convey comes from the pages of sales: 1, know your audience, and 2, consider the buying cycle.

First, if you are answering this question during a screening call with a recruiter, you should prepare a concise answer that demonstrates your understanding of intention and engagement or some other attribute important to the company (do they care about virality?). A 30-second elevator pitch version might be ideal.

If you are sitting at an interview or talking to the hiring PM, then by all means dig deeper and outline the elements shared above in the Quora answer. A 2-minute time frame would be a good limit to set. You don't want to ramble.

And as you are “selling,” talk confidently, and practice other competence cues:

  • Maintain eye contact
  • Speak confidently from your knowledge (practice helps)
  • Support your statements with clear reasoning

Second, consider the buying cycle (interview cycle). Just as recruiting response is different from the conversation with PM, so is your answer to this question during happy hour different from an interview. Or for that matter, first stage versus second stage. The point is, just be aware of where you are, and empathize accordingly (there is no magic right or wrong answer).

Take charge

More can be said, but let's apply the 80/20 rule here. Practice these and you should move onto the next set of prepations, like reading up on frameworks so you can be well-informed and knock people's socks off with your ability to think and break down a product rigorously.

With that, next time someon asks you “What is your favorite product,” the only head scratching you'll do is this kind!

Kitty

photo credit: www.care2.com

Aww.


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