Part 0: A Step By Step Guide To The 8 hour Product Management Case Study

Guillermo Villegas
Sep 7, 2018 · 4 min read

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the last round in what I can only imagine has been a grueling process. You have read every top product management blog, 100% of all recommended PM interview books, and have practiced day-in and day-out to perfect your approach. And yet here you are, still looking for a recipe for creating great products. Luckily for you, I have created a step by step guide that highlights the key areas that interviewers are looking for, such as:

  1. Structured thought process
  2. Reinforced (data supported) decision making
  3. Designing with the CX (customer experience) in mind
  4. An understanding of business metrics and processes
  5. Reducing ambiguity into clarity

This is the first part of a (hopefully) 15 part series that outlines how to approach the 8-hour product manager interview. While not common, the 8-hour case study is used by a few companies. The process aims to mock a day in the life of a PM. Sometimes they’re collaborative, sometimes they’re not. This article assumes you are given no stakeholders, other than a mock-user.

While you may never have a whole day interview session centered around designing a product, understanding the concepts below will help you take a holistic approach to launching products.


Credit (Ironically): Kleon, Austin. Steal like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You about Being Creative. Workman, 2012.

This is typically where writers explain that there is no ‘one size fits all’ to all questions. I will spare you that lecture and allow you to copy my process verbatim. You will eventually blend leanings from your background. You will pick and choose what delivers value for your situation and what does not. My approach is rigid in theme but flexible in process.

You might be wondering, “Guillermo, how did you come up with this process?”

Answer: I didn’t come up with the process. I stole it.

I stole this process from a lifetime of failure, years of study, months of regurgitating frameworks, and weeks of wondering to myself “Am I ever going to make it?”.

Still haven’t made it, but I’ve learned a few things along the way.

Some notable frameworks I use in my process include Google’s Design Sprint, Devbridge’s Lean Requirement Gathering Process, The 4 P’s of Marketing, Asana’s Project Brief Approach, my own personal metrics framework compiled from the AARRR/HEART frameworks ATEMR (A Thing Everyone Makes Really Hard), and Product School’s GTM strategy.


A video highlighting steps 3–6 below. Note: Apologies for the ‘flashing’ that occurs throughout the film.

Scenario

You have been given a task to “Create product X.” You have all day to complete the assignment and can use any of your tools at your disposal.

Good luck.

Approach

Each article below is a ‘theme’. There is no negotiating themes. Each theme must be addressed and implemented. The underlying processes in how to tactically complete a theme, are completely open to your discretion. If you have a better way to ‘Explore the why’ or ‘Define success’ then have at it. But remember, you are in a time crunch and must choose the most appropriate methodology.

  1. Comprehend the situation
  2. Explore the why
  3. Define success
  4. Define the users
  5. Brainstorm and organize solutions
  6. Prioritize solutions
  7. Mock-up/sketch
  8. Create/reference product artifacts
  9. Operationalize your solution
  10. Test your assumptions
  11. Iterate on false assumptions
  12. Go-To-Market (Product Positioning)
  13. Future vision

Note: Each section will have its own article. Please follow for updates!

Whew. If the above list seems daunting and complex, it’s because it is. This job isn’t for the faint of heart! Hope I haven’t scared you away.

Note: my method expands upon the CIRCLES approach. The CIRCLES methodology is the go-to strategy for the ‘Design product X’ in a short period of time i.e. <1 hr. This article is for the 8-hour version of ‘Design product X’.


Helpful Tools

I carry around a set of tools in my backpack at all times. Yes, I am the 1% of maniacs who are prepared to break down a complex case study into its constituents at any moment. If you are like me, please join my weekly therapy group, “Reductionist’s Ready for Release’. Kidding.

Here is the list of items to have in your bag:

  1. Minimum 5 different colored sticky notes with a whole load of the plain yellow
  2. 3+ different colored sticky tabs
  3. Medium tip sharpies
  4. Nice leather-bound journal (or a cheap notebook but be aware, they tear easily)
  5. Laptop (software listed below)
  6. Mobile device

Here is the list of software you will be using or interacting with:

  1. Balsamiq (You may be wondering, ‘But Guillermo, I use Moqups/Sketch/PS.’ And my response is, ‘Great. Now use Balsamiq.’)
  2. PowerPoint (ew) or Google Slides
  3. App Store/Play Store

Guillermo Villegas

Written by

Techie - PM - Here to read and learn — "Two roads diverged..."

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