Hi Reader!
Lost in Product Sense interviews? One of the most straight forward ways to stand out, especially at L6+, is to think deeply about the problem space, because most of the candidates are following traditional frameworks blindly without focusing on deeper thinking.
And that is what we worked on in yesterday's community roundtable!
While standardized frameworks have their place, relying on them alone doesn't actually demonstrate Product Sense.
Product Sense is about more than just identifying user pain points, segmenting, and listing features.
At their core, Product Sense uncovers the deeper emotional and psychological drivers that shape user behavior and product strategy.
Yesterday in our community roundtable, I shared a structured yet creative approach that goes beyond the typical frameworks.
It starts with truly defining the problem space and user personas - not just their functional and surface-level needs, but the emotions and desires that are at the root of their experience.
From there, I work to identify a guiding "anchor" that shapes the entire solution, rooted in those user insights.
The examples from our roundtable are:
1️⃣ Improving the post-booking experience for DoorDash:
The core issue wasn't just getting the food delivered and/or refunding them, it was resolving the user's "hangry" state 😡
When you focus on resolving the emotional "hangry" state, it would lead to more creative solutions.
2️⃣ Airbnb's 65+ segment:
The emotional anchor for this segment, the Baby Boomers, is that they've been looking forward to this day since they were 18!
When you tap into their lifelong anticipation for retirement adventures, your solutions will naturally be more memorable than simply listing features around making it easier for them to filter/search for options.
This approach of empathy, creativity, and a deeper exploration of psychology has helped my clients stand out and land L6+ offers in Big Tech and smaller companies where the interviewers come from Big Tech.
Instead of approaching Product Sense by blindly applying frameworks and sounding robotic, they are able to demonstrate a deeper level of strategic thinking and user empathy that actually demonstrate Product Sense. 👍
Most people can see the difference between identifying the root emotional problem vs staying surface level.
But what happens next is that they don’t know HOW to apply it to other case questions. 😐
Often times it feels foreign to do because the techniques shared here requires deep thinking and strategic thinking, which is different from the education that is widely available today.
I believe that anyone CAN do this... but they might take twice as long, and have detours and dead ends if they don't have the support along the way.
And this is one of the many reasons why I'm inviting you to join me and other Product leaders in acing L6+ PM interviews, and finish 2024 strong.
📌 Would you like to join us? Contact me here and I"ll be in touch!
