C A S E

F R A M E W O R K S
AN INTRODUCTION
BY SYSTEMS AND
OPERATIONS SOCIETY
PM vs Consultants
• PMs are generalists and wear different
hats in order to connect the dots.
• A typical day as a PM may entail
discussing design decisions, weighing
pros and cons of various features to build
with engineering, or meeting with users
to better understand their needs.
• PMs live and breathe their product as
they work iteratively to improve the
experience for the end user.
• Consultants are in the business of
advising people in a specific field.
• Clients hire consultants when their
businesses require assistance
achieving a desired goal (eg.
implement an internal system to
save time and effort).
• Want to increase revenue by xx%?
There may be a consultant out there
who can help.
Typical PM Interview
Product Design

Product design questions may ask the interviewee to design an item for blind people.

Analytical

Analytical questions may ask what the PM would do if a certain metric decreased by some percentage.

Estimation

Estimation questions tend to be a little more rare nowadays, but may ask one to intelligently guess how
many golf balls can fit inside of a vehicle.

Behavorial

Behavioral questions test one's ability to clearly communicate his/her past experiences.
What are product
design questions?
Product design questions test your
product design ability. Interviewers are
assessing your ability to:

• Define an objective for the product

improvement
• Choose and identify the most appropriate
target customer
• Empathize with the target customer
• Articulate use cases (pain points)
• Prioritize those use cases
• Brainstorm creative ideas
• Make a logical recommendation
Comprehend the
Situation
You’re allowed to ask the
interviewer clarifying questions,
regarding the product. Here’s a list
of probable queries (5Ws and 1 H)
• What is it?
• Who is it for?
• Why do they need it?
• When is it required?
• Where should it available?
• How does it work?
 To propose an amazing product, not a
mediocre one, focus and empathize with a
few customer segments or persona.

By putting yourself in the customer’s shoes,

you will more likely design a solution that
resolves their specific needs. List down
potential customer personas.

Identify the Think in terms of user behavior, age,

geographies, user needs and goals!
Customer
 Report the Customer’s
Needs
• This refers to the user needs, user requirements,
or use cases. The use case format is a popular way
to capture user needs.
• A user story conveys what the end user wants to
do in normal everyday language. It does not
describe how the solution works. Here’s the user
story template:
As a <role>, I want <goal/desire> so that <benefit>
• Example: As a traveling blogger, I want to write
500 words a day so that I can publish my
memoir.
 Cut, Through
Prioritization
• The prioritization step mimics the real-world development
process. There's a big backlog of use cases, but one is
limited by constraints, like time, money, and labor.
• This is an opportunity to showcase your ability to prioritize,
assess tradeoffs and make decisions. Here is a sample
prioritization matrix:

Customer Ease of
User Story Revenue
Satisfaction Implementation
A 1 1 2
B 2 2 1
List the Solutions
Once the use cases or needs are
defined, finds ways to
provide consumers the right
experience. A few tips to avoid
designers' block:
• Reversal method - Think about the
exact pain point being addressed and
reverse engineer the solution
• Attribute method - Ponder over
product attributes and design an
appropriate solution
• Why Method - Challenge the status
quo.
Evaluate Tradeoffs
• Define your tradeoff criteria.
Criteria could include
customer satisfaction,
implementation difficulty,
and revenue potential. It’ll
keep your response
organized and easier to
follow.
• Analyzing the solution: A
pros and cons list
Summarize Your
Recommendation
Summarize with this three-step
approach:

• Tell the interviewer which

product or feature you’d
recommend.
• Recap on what it is and why it’s
beneficial to the user and/or
company.
• Explain why you preferred this
solution vs. others.
 The Pirate Framework AARRR
Acquisition: where / what channels do users come from?
(e.g. # of app downloads, click-through rate from pay-per-click ads)

Activation: what % of users have a “happy” initial experience?

(e.g. Sign-up rate, subscription rate)

Retention: do they come back over time?

(e.g. Monthly active users)

Referral: do they like it enough to tell their friends?

(e.g. # of new sign up through referral)

Revenue: can you monetize any of this behavior?

(e.g. Conversation rate)
 HEART framework
Happiness: How people feel about your product?
(E.g. Use the survey to track Satisfaction and Ease of use)

Engagement: How people are using your product?

(E.g. # of 7-day active users, # users starts a new search per day)

Adoption: New users

(E.g. # of accounts created in the last 7 days)

Retention: Existing users

(E.g. % of users who use the feature again)

Task Success: Complete actions

(E.g. # of users who can accomplish a task)
U S E
D E S I G N
T H I N K I N G
 • Conduct research in order to develop
knowledge about what your users do, say,
think, and feel.
• Imagine your goal is to improve an
onboarding experience for new users. In
this phase, you talk to a range of actual
users. Directly observe what they do, how
they think, and what they want, asking
yourself things like ‘what motivates or
discourages users?’ or ‘where do they
experience frustration?’ The goal is to

EMPATHISE
gather enough observations that you can
truly begin to empathize with your users
and their perspectives.
 • Combine all your research and observe
where your users’ problems exist. In
pinpointing your users’ needs, begin to
highlight opportunities for innovation.
• Consider the onboarding example again.
In the define phase, use the data gathered
in the empathize phase to glean insights.
Organize all your observations and draw
parallels across your users’ current
experiences. Is there a common pain point
Define across many different users? Identify
unmet user needs.
 • Brainstorm a range of crazy, creative
ideas that address the unmet user
needs identified in the define phase.
Give yourself and your team total
freedom; no idea is too far-
fetched, and quantity supersedes
quality.
• At this phase, bring your team
members together and sketch out
many different ideas. Then, have them
share ideas with one another, mixing
Ideate and remixing, building on others'
ideas.
 • Build real, tactile representations for a
subset of your ideas. The goal of this phase
is to understand what components of your
ideas work, and which do not. In this
phase you begin to weigh the impact vs.
feasibility of your ideas through feedback
on your prototypes.
• Make your ideas tactile. If it is a new
landing page, draw out a wireframe and
get feedback internally. Change it based
on feedback, then prototype it again in
quick and dirty code. Then, share it with
Prototype another group of people.
 • Return to your users for feedback. Ask
yourself ‘Does this solution meet users’
needs?’ and ‘Has it improved how they
feel, think, or do their tasks?’
• Put your prototype in front of real
customers and verify that it achieves
your goals. Has the users’ perspective
during onboarding improved?
Does the new landing page increase
time or money spent on your site?
As you are executing your vision,
Test continue to test along the way.
 • Put the vision into effect. Ensure that
your solution is materialized and
touches the lives of your end users.
• Design thinking does not free you from
the actual design doing. It’s not magic.
As impactful as design thinking can
be for an organization, it only leads to
true innovation if the vision is
executed.
• The success of design thinking lies in
Implement its ability to transform an aspect of the
end user’s life. This sixth step —
implement — is crucial.
 YOU ARE
USER'S
ADVOCATE
 Now that you have a fair idea,
here are a few questions:
• Design a customer application
for a bike sharing business
Sample • Design a web search engine
for children below 14 years of
Questions age
• Describe one feature that you
would like to improve in the
Amazon app
THANK YOU