product case study framework

Top 7 case interview frameworks (and how to create your own)

Today we're going to cover the top case interview frameworks, as well as how you can create your own custom frameworks that you can use in your interview no matter which type of case interview problem you're given. 

Understanding frameworks has always been critical for the 8,000+ candidates who we've helped with consulting interview preparation. 

And one of the first things you'll want to know is that you should AVOID using pre-made frameworks, like those recommended in Case in Point and in Victor Cheng's LOMS programme. But more on that later. 

Let's start with the list of top frameworks.

• 1. Profitability
• 3. Porter's 5-forces
• 5. Market entry
• 7. Merger and acquisition

Don't reuse pre-existing frameworks

How to create custom frameworks, click here to practise 1-on-1 with mbb ex-interviewers, top 7 frameworks for case interviews, 1. profitability framework.

The   profitability framework   is the most basic framework in business analysis. It simply breaks down profit into its basic revenue and cost components and is commonly used to identify the root cause of profitability issues.

• Revenue   can simply be broken down into the Number of Units Sold x Price Per Unit.
• Costs   can be broken down into Variable and Fixed Costs. And Variable Costs can be further broken down into the Number of Units Produced x Cost Per Unit.

2. The 4Ps framework

The   4Ps framework   is widely used by company executives to design their marketing strategy. There are different variations of this framework, which is also sometimes referred to as the “Marketing mix” framework, but the 4Ps is the most common one.

This framework is commonly used when launching a new product or when reviewing the positioning of an existing product.

• Product : What are the key characteristics of the product sold? Key elements of the product definition could include: customer need fulfilled by product, product usage (E.g. who, where, how, etc.), good vs. service, product lifecycle (new vs. established), competing products and substitutes, etc.
• Price : At what price should the product be sold? Different considerations need to be taken into account here: the customer perceived value of the product, the price of competitive products, the customer price sensitivity, the cost of producing the product, etc.
• Promotion : Which promotion strategies should be used to sell the product? Key elements to consider include: promotion messages, media type (E.g. TV, social media, radio, etc.), best time to promote, competitors’ strategies, etc.
• Place : Through which channels should the product be distributed? Key elements to consider include: possible channels to distribute the product (E.g. in store, web, mail-to-order, etc.), customer expectations in terms of channel, requirement of a sales team or not, competitors’ strategies, etc.

3. Porter's 5 forces

Porter’s 5 forces  is a framework commonly used by CEOs to explore the competitive dynamics of industries. Indeed not all industries are structured the same way.

Some industries are really hard to get into (E.g. banking) while others have very low barriers to entry (E.g. newspapers).

Suppliers have strong bargaining power in some industries (E.g. high-end medical equipment) but little power in others (E.g. small milk producer), etc.

Understanding these dynamics is extremely important when you're considering entering a new industry or when assessing the competitive dynamics of the industry a company is already in.

• Bargaining power of customers : How much bargaining power do customers have? If there is only one buyer but multiple suppliers, then that buyer will be at a strong advantage. Key elements to consider here include: customer concentration (percentage of industry revenues from Top 3 buyers), customer price sensitivity, customer information availability, etc.
• Bargaining power of suppliers : How much bargaining power do suppliers have? Similarly to the previous point, if there is only one supplier but multiple buyers, then that supplier will be at a strong advantage. Key elements to consider include: concentration of suppliers (percentage of industry revenues to Top 3 suppliers), difficulty of switching from one supplier to another, differentiation between suppliers, etc.
• Threat of substitutes : What are the substitutes for the product and are they increasingly popular? As a reminder, water is a substitute for Coke while Pepsi is a competitive product for Coke. Key elements to consider here include: potential new substitutes, ease of substitution, evolution of customer propensity to substitute, etc.
• Threat of new entrants : How difficult is it to enter the industry for potential new players? Key elements to consider here include: regulation authorisations, capital requirements, economies of scale, network effects, etc.
• Existing rivals : How competitive are existing rivals in the industry? Key elements to consider include: number of competitors and their market shares, similarity between their products and products of the firm analysed, financial health of competitors, etc.

4. 3Cs framework

The   3Cs framework   is also commonly used to put together strategies for companies. As you will notice below, a lot of its components overlap with the Porter’s 5 forces.

• Customers : Who is the customer? Key elements to consider include: customer demographics (E.g. age, sex, income, etc.), customer needs, customer segments' size and growth rates, customer willingness to pay and price sensitivity, etc.
• Competition : What are the competitive dynamics? Key elements to consider include: competitors’ value proposition and brand, competitors’ market share and growth, competitors’ financial health, etc.
• Company : What defines the company? Key elements to consider include: product offering, profitability, core competencies, unique selling point, financial performance and resources, etc.

5. Market entry framework

The   market entry framework   is commonly used to make decisions on whether a company should enter a new market or not.

For instance, you could use it to decide if Starbucks should enter the Chinese market, or if Nike should enter the sports broadcasting business.

• Market : What are the characteristics of the market we are trying to enter? Key elements to consider include:   market size  and profitability, products already available in the market, intensity of the competition, heaviness of the regulation, etc.
• Client capabilities : Does the client have the right capabilities to enter that new market? Key elements to consider include: differences between the client's current market and the new one they are now targeting, number of times client has entered new markets and achieved success, other companies already in the new market, etc.
• Financials : Does it make financial sense to enter the new market? Key elements to consider include: current financial situation of the client, cost to enter the new market, ongoing costs once the market is entered, expected revenues and return on investment, etc.
• Entry strategy : How should the client go about entering the new market? Key elements to consider include: timing of market entry (now vs. delay), speed of market entry (test region vs. whole country), opportunity to buy competitor or do a JV, management approach (control from HQ vs. decentralise), etc.

6. Pricing case framework

Companies always face a difficult issue when launching a new product or service. What should its price be? The   pricing framework   is extremely helpful for answering that question.

• Cost-based : What price do we need to set to cover all our costs? Key elements to consider include: fixed costs and their allocation across products, variable costs and number of units produced / sold, profitability targeted, etc.
• Value-based : How much are customers willing to pay for our product? Key elements to consider include: price of the next best alternative to our product, features that make our product better than the next best alternative, value of these features, etc.
• Competitor-based : What is the competition charging for similar products? Key elements to consider include: available substitute products from the competition, price of these substitute products, value of our product vs. substitutes, etc.
• Overall strategy : Given the elements above, what should our pricing strategy be? Key elements to consider include: objective of the pricing strategy (E.g. high profitability or high market share), opportunities for upsell / cross-sell that should be taken into account (E.g. Kindle and ebooks), possibility to sell different versions of the same product (E.g. iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro), etc.

7. Merger and acquisition framework

Finally, the   merger and acquisition framework   is used when companies are looking to acquire or merge with competitors.

These situations are not very frequent in a CEO's life, but they are highly stressful, which is one reason why consultants are often asked to support such initiatives.

• The market : What are the characteristics of the target company's market? Key elements to consider include:   market size  and growth, market profitability and intensity of the competition, market regulation, etc.
• The target : How attractive is the target to be acquired? Key elements to consider include: current and future financial position of the target, important assets or capabilities owned by the target, quality of the target's management team, target / buyer culture fit, etc.
• The buyer : What's driving the buyer to make the acquisition? Key elements to consider include: acquisition rationale (E.g. target undervalued, etc.), acquisition financing, buyer's acquisition experience, acquisition timing, etc.
• Synergies and risks : What are the acquisition synergies and risks? Key elements to consider include: value of individual and combined entities, cost synergies, revenue synergies, biggest risks of failure, etc.

Once you are generally familiar with frameworks, the question becomes: how do you actually use frameworks in case interviews?

There are a lot of opinions about how you should do this on the Internet. But the two main schools of thought are   Marc Cosentino’s Case In Point   and   Victor Cheng’s LOMS .

But both of these methods share the same flaw: they try to force pre-defined frameworks onto cases. In our experience, this is bound to produce average results because all cases are unique.

Not convinced? Let's cover each of these two popular methods in more detail. 

Why NOT to use the Case In Point frameworks

In Case In Point, Marc Cosentino attempts to classify case interviews into 10+ categories and then suggests that candidates should memorise a specific framework for each of them.

This is an interesting exercise as it exposes you to a range of business problems and helps you think about them in different ways. However, in our experience, learning 10+ frameworks is difficult and time consuming.

More importantly, in live case interviews, trying to recognise one of the 10+ case categories and then remembering the associated framework is a real nightmare!

Instead of focusing on solving the problem at hand, you end up trying to remember a framework that will not even perfectly fit the case you are solving. In our experience, the best candidates avoid this strategy.

Why NOT to use Victor Cheng's LOMS frameworks

In his LOMS programme, Victor Cheng advocates for a much simpler method and suggests you should only learn two frameworks: the profit framework for profitability cases, and a general framework for all other cases (Product, Consumer, Company, Competition).

The benefit of this approach is its simplicity. It gives you a starting point that’s easy to remember when you are putting a framework together.

However, in our experience, this approach has a fatal drawback. In practice, there aren’t that many profitability cases, and you basically always end up using the general framework.

Even if you adapt this general framework, it won't be perfectly tailored to the case you are trying to solve. More importantly, your interviewer will quickly realise that you are using a pre-made framework and that will reflect negatively on you.

Why to create custom frameworks instead

A good framework is a bit like a tailor-made suit: it is adapted to the problem you are trying to solve, the company, the industry, and it is also as   MECE   as possible.

If you use pre-existing frameworks, you run the risk of missing important elements of the specific problem you are trying to solve. In real life, consultants rarely use pre-defined frameworks. They are familiar with them, but they do not directly re-use them as-is on projects.

Instead, they create a customised framework or   issue tree  that addresses the specific details of each case.  To do so, they rely on conversations with their client as well as past experiences.

This might sound intimidating, but the good news is that creating custom frameworks is actually much simpler than you might think. 

Now, let's turn our attention to HOW you can create your own custom frameworks during case interviews. 

Here's a brief summary of the steps you'll need to take:

Summary - IGotAnOffer method (framework development questions)

• Step 1: Ask for time to gather your thoughts
• Extract the main elements from the case question
• Break down the main elements into components

Spin your paper around

• Begin with an overview

Highlight 3-5 considerations for each branch

Summarise your points, prioritise next steps.

Now let's cover these steps in more detail. We'll also be digging into a real case example below, in order to illustrate the framework creation process.

1. Ask for time to gather your thoughts

Regardless of the case you get, you should always ask your interviewer for some time to gather your thoughts, before you begin to develop the framework. 

This is a normal part of the interview process. Your interviewers will expect you to ask, and they'll almost always give you this time. 

But don't get carried away! 

For reference, you should only take 30-60 seconds to quietly think-through your framework. We recommend that you also sketch out your framework on a piece of paper during this time, as that will help you to organise your thoughts more clearly. 

Without practise, it's really difficult to estimate how long 30-60 seconds actually is, so we highly recommend that you practice this process with a stopwatch. This exercise will help you get a clear idea of how much time you're actually using. 

2. Create the framework

During that 30-60 second time window, you'll need to do the real work of crafting your framework. 

The essence of framework creation is actually quite simple. A framework takes the business situation presented in the case, and breaks it into smaller "bite size" pieces. 

By isolating the various components of a case, you'll be able to better identify the root cause of an issue, or find the best opportunities for improving the underlying business. 

And the best way to develop your framework creation skills is with practice on realistic case problems, so let's walk through an example together. 

Star Production case example

In this case we need to analyse the short-term profitability of a movie production company. So, you would begin crafting your framework by thinking about the different factors that would contribute to the company's overall profits.

The first two components of this framework are fairly straightforward: revenues and costs. That's because the profitability of any company is determined by a combination of their revenues and costs.

Then, we can further deconstruct both revenues and costs based on our knowledge (or perhaps some assumptions) of the movie production business. And as you break down the components further, it's important to consider the concept of MECE, which stands for Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhaustive.

In simple terms, MECE means that you should aim to have a framework where the branches do NOT overlap with each other, and where the framework is comprehensive (i.e. no branches are missing). You can learn more about this in our separate   MECE guide . 

Now here's an example of what your draft framework might look like for the Star Production case: 

As you can see in the example above, we've broken down the revenues and costs into specific components that would make sense for a movie production business.

And we've used bullet points to highlight the information we would need in order to determine how each individual item contributes to the overall revenues or costs of the business.

For example, we would need to know the expected ticket sales, the average ticket price, and the share of the ticket revenue that Star Production would be entitled to, in order to calculate the total ticket revenue. 

Once you've drawn out a rough framework like the above example, your next task will be to explain your framework to your interviewer. 

3. Communicate the framework

Even if you created the world's best framework, it won't get you an offer if you're not able to explain it in a clear and structured way. 

Here's how we'd recommend you communicate your framework during your interviews:

Start by showing your interviewer the framework that you've drawn on paper. Having this visual structure will make it much easier to explain (and understand). 

Start with an overview

Before jumping into the details of your framework, you should start with an overview of the framework.

In our example above, you could simply explain that the profitability of Star Production will be determined by the expected revenues and costs of the business, which can be broken down into more specific categories. 

You should also tell your interviewer the order in which you plan to walk through each individual branch, so they'll know what to expect.  

Next, go through each branch of your framework and mention several considerations that came to mind while you were drafting the framework. 

For example, for the "upfront costs" branch of the Star Production case, you could explain that you'd want to find out what costs the company would incur before it can start releasing movies, like filming equipment, studio space, and post production expenses. 

And throughout your explanation of the framework, you should pause periodically to summarise your key points, and to check in with your interviewer. 

You're likely going to be covering a lot of ground in your framework, and you want to make sure that your logic doesn't get foggy in the details. 

For example, you could summarise the most important considerations that impact the revenues of Star Production, after you've walked through each individual sub-branch under revenues. 

Finally, after walking through your full framework, you should tell your interviewer the 2-3 next steps you would recommend, in priority order. 

There's a variety of ways you could rank next steps, but three good options would be based on importance, ease, or speed. 

Returning to the Star Production example, you could recommend the following next steps in priority order:

• Identify the biggest cost drivers.   Star Production's business model is focused on producing a high volume of low cost movies, so controlling costs will be essential to the profitability of the company. 
• Develop a production process that minimises costs.  Once the primary cost drivers are identified, we should develop a production process that keeps those costs as low as possible. 
• Look for opportunities to increase the hit rate.   Star Production is counting on a few box office hits to drive revenues. As a result, increasing the percentage of movies that succeed could be a big win.

Get MBB offers by mastering frameworks

To succeed in case interviews, you MUST be able to create and apply frameworks effectively. And i f you really want the best possible preparation for your case interview, you'll want to practise doing this in an interview situation, ideally with an expert consultant giving you feedback.

That's why we’ve created a coaching service where you can do mock case interviews 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from MBB firms . Start scheduling sessions today!

Related articles:

Hacking the Case Interview

Have an upcoming new product case interview and don’t know how to prepare? Don’t worry because we have you covered!

In this article, we’ll cover:

• What is a new product case interview?
• How to solve any new product case interview
• Essential new product case interview frameworks
• New product case interview example

If you’re looking for a step-by-step shortcut to learn case interviews quickly, enroll in our case interview course . These insider strategies from a former Bain interviewer helped 30,000+ land consulting offers while saving hundreds of hours of prep time.

What is a New Product Case Interview?

A new product case interview is a type of interview commonly used by consulting firms, particularly those that specialize in management consulting and strategy. This interview format assesses a candidate's ability to analyze and solve complex business problems related to the development and launch of a new product or service.

During a new product case interview, the candidate is presented with a hypothetical scenario involving a company that is considering introducing a new product or service to the market.

The candidate's task is to work through the case by asking relevant questions, gathering information, conducting analysis, and ultimately providing recommendations or solutions to the challenges posed in the case.

The interview is designed to evaluate several key skills and competencies:

Problem-solving: Candidates must demonstrate their ability to break down complex problems into manageable components and develop a structured approach to finding solutions.

• Business acumen : The interview assesses a candidate's understanding of business concepts, such as market analysis, competitive landscape, financial considerations, and customer needs
• Analytical thinking : Candidates are expected to analyze data and information to draw insights, identify trends, and make informed decisions
• Creativity and innovation : Since the case involves a new product or service, candidates are often required to think creatively and propose innovative ideas that can set the product apart in the market
• Communication skills : Effective communication is crucial as candidates need to explain their thought processes, assumptions, and conclusions clearly and succinctly to the interviewer
• Structured thinking : The interview evaluates how well candidates can structure their approach to problem-solving, often using frameworks to organize their analysis and recommendations

New product case interviews may cover a wide range of topics, including market research, pricing strategy, competitive analysis, distribution channels, financial projections, and risk assessment.

Candidates are encouraged to ask thoughtful questions to gather relevant information and make informed decisions.

How to Solve a New Product Case Interview

There are five steps to solve a new product case interview.

1. Understand the case

At the beginning of the case, thoroughly comprehend the details presented in the case prompt. You should be familiar with the context of the company, its industry, and the challenge it faces with the new product. 

Pay attention to any data, numbers, or specific information provided. This initial understanding will serve as the foundation for your analysis and recommendations. Jot down key points to ensure you remember crucial details as you progress.

2. Clarify the objectives

If any aspect of the case is ambiguous or unclear, seek clarification from the interviewer. Make sure you have a crystal-clear understanding of what the company aims to achieve with the new product launch.

This clarification is essential to focus your analysis and ensure you're addressing the right issues.

3. Structure your approach

Develop a well-organized framework to guide your analysis. 

Develop an appropriate framework that suits the case. Your chosen framework provides a structured roadmap that helps you break down the complexity of the case and ensures you cover all critical areas.

Some common elements that you may want to include in your framework are:

• Market : Who are the customers? How large is the market? How quickly is the market growing?
• Competition : What are competitors’ products? What are the strengths and weaknesses of competitors’ products?
• Product : What are the differentiating features of the product? 
• Pricing : How should the new product be priced? (e.g., what is the price point, subscription pricing, freemium model)
• Distribution channels : Through which channels should the new product be sold through? (e.g., online, retailers, direct-to-consumer)
• Promotion and marketing : How will you market the new product? (e.g., advertising, word of mouth, referrals)

For a complete guide on how to create tailored and unique frameworks for each case, check out our article on case interview frameworks .

4. Gather and analyze information

Begin by asking thoughtful and probing questions to gather essential information. Seek insights about the target audience, their needs and preferences, the market dynamics, and the competitive landscape. 

This information gathering phase is crucial, as the quality of your analysis depends on the data you collect.

In your new product case interview, you’ll likely cover a few of the topics below:

Analyze the market : Dive into a comprehensive analysis of the market. Examine its size, growth potential, and trends. Uncover data on customer behavior, preferences, and purchasing patterns. Assess how the new product aligns with these trends and whether there's a viable market for it.

Assess the competition : Conduct a thorough assessment of the competitive landscape. Identify key competitors in the market, their strengths, weaknesses, and market positioning. Analyze their product offerings, pricing strategies, and marketing tactics. This analysis will help you understand the competitive challenges the company might face and how the new product could differentiate itself.

Evaluate the product : Delve deeply into understanding the new product. Analyze its features, functionalities, and unique value proposition. Consider how it addresses customer pain points and stands out from existing solutions. This evaluation will help you determine the product's potential attractiveness to the target audience.

Develop a pricing strategy : Formulate a sound pricing strategy for the new product. Take into account production costs, competitor pricing, and perceived value by customers. Strive to find the optimal balance between affordability and the product's perceived worth.

Consider distribution channels : Devise a strategic approach to distribution. Determine which channels are best suited to reach the target customers effectively. Evaluate the pros and cons of options like direct sales, partnerships, online platforms, and retail outlets. Your choice of distribution channels should align with the company's resources and the preferences of your target audience.

Think through promotion and marketing : Craft a comprehensive marketing strategy that encompasses various tactics. Consider advertising, social media campaigns, influencer collaborations, and content marketing. Tailor your approach to create buzz, generate interest, and engage potential customers.

Project financials : Develop realistic financial projections for the new product. Estimate potential revenues based on market size and pricing, while considering associated costs such as production, marketing, and distribution. Calculate the expected return on investment (ROI) and determine when the product is likely to break even.

5. Propose a recommendation

Synthesize your analysis into clear and actionable recommendations. Based on your insights, propose strategies that address the challenges highlighted and leverage the opportunities identified. Your recommendations should align with the company's goals and be practical to implement.

Summarize the key takeaways from your analysis and recommendations. Emphasize the potential benefits of your proposed strategies and how they align with the company's objectives. Conclude by highlighting the value of your approach in successfully tackling the challenges of introducing the new product to the market.

In addition to new product case interviews, we also have additional step-by-step guides to: market entry case interviews , growth strategy case interviews , M&A case interviews , pricing case interviews , operations case interviews , and marketing case interviews .

Essential New Product Case Interview Frameworks

There are three new product case interview frameworks you should be familiar with. These are essential marketing concepts that go hand-in-hand with new product case interviews.

However, we do not recommend using these frameworks verbatim. You want to demonstrate to the interviewer that you can think critically for yourself instead of relying on memorized frameworks.

You should instead be creating your own unique and tailored framework for each new product case interview scenario.

Therefore, your framework may include parts and pieces of the frameworks below, but you should not just copy them.

The 5 C’s Framework

The 5 C's framework is a comprehensive approach used in strategic analysis and planning. It takes into account various internal and external factors that influence a company's success.

Here's a brief explanation of each of the 5 C's:

This refers to the internal assessment of the company itself. It involves analyzing the company's strengths, weaknesses, resources, capabilities, and overall strategic direction.

Understanding the company's core competencies and areas needing improvement is essential for effective strategic planning.

2. Collaborators (Partners)

Collaborators encompass the external entities that a company works with to achieve its goals. These can include suppliers, distributors, strategic partners, and other stakeholders.

Building strong relationships with collaborators can contribute to a company's competitive advantage by enhancing its capabilities and expanding its reach.

3. Customers

Understanding the needs, preferences, behaviors, and expectations of customers is crucial for success. Analyzing the customer segment, their demographics, psychographics, and buying patterns helps tailor products and services to their requirements.

A customer-focused approach ensures that offerings are relevant and appealing.

4. Competitors

Evaluating competitors involves understanding their strengths, weaknesses, strategies, and market positioning. A thorough analysis of the competitive landscape helps identify opportunities for differentiation and highlights potential threats.

By understanding competitors, a company can make informed decisions to gain a competitive edge.

5. Context:

Context refers to the broader external environment in which the company operates. This includes economic, political, social, technological, and legal factors that impact business operations.

A clear understanding of the context helps anticipate trends, opportunities, and challenges that could influence the company's success.

The STP Framework

The STP framework, which stands for Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning, is a strategic approach used by businesses to effectively identify and address the needs and preferences of specific customer segments in the market.

Here's a brief explanation of each component of the framework:

1. Segmentation

Segmentation involves dividing a heterogeneous market into smaller, more homogeneous groups called segments. These segments share common characteristics, needs, and behaviors.

By segmenting the market, companies can better understand the diversity of their customer base and tailor their marketing efforts to cater to the unique preferences of each segment. Market segmentation can be based on factors such as demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and geographic locations.

2. Targeting

Targeting is the process of selecting one or more segments from the segmented market to focus the company's marketing efforts on. Not all segments may be equally attractive or viable for a business to target.

Companies analyze the potential of each segment, considering factors such as size, growth potential, profitability, and alignment with the company's resources and capabilities.

Targeting enables companies to allocate resources more efficiently and create tailored marketing strategies for the chosen segments.

3. Positioning

Positioning involves defining how a company's product or service is perceived by the target customers in comparison to competitors' offerings. It's about creating a unique and compelling brand image in the minds of consumers.

Companies use positioning strategies to highlight their products' distinctive features, benefits, and value propositions that address the specific needs and preferences of the chosen target segments.

Effective positioning helps differentiate a company's offerings and establishes a competitive advantage in the market.

The Four P’s Framework

The 4 Ps, also known as the Marketing Mix, are a set of key elements that businesses use to formulate their marketing strategies. These elements represent different aspects of a product or service that a company offers.

Here's a brief explanation of each of the 4 Ps:

This refers to the tangible good or intangible service that a company offers to meet customer needs or wants. It includes features, design, quality, branding, and packaging.

Companies must carefully consider what features and benefits their product provides to differentiate it from competitors and address customer needs effectively.

Price refers to the amount of money customers need to pay to acquire the product or service.

Pricing strategies can vary widely, including options like cost-plus pricing, value-based pricing, and competitive pricing.

The price needs to align with the perceived value of the product, the target market's willingness to pay, and the company's overall financial goals.

3. Place (Distribution)

Place involves decisions related to how the product will be distributed and made available to customers. This includes selecting distribution channels such as direct sales, retail stores, online platforms, or partnerships with other businesses.

The goal is to ensure that the product reaches the target customers in the most efficient and convenient way.

4. Promotion

Promotion encompasses all the activities a company undertakes to communicate and market its product to the target audience. This includes advertising, public relations, sales promotions, social media marketing, and other promotional strategies.

The objective is to create awareness, generate interest, and persuade potential customers to choose the company's product over competitors'.

New Product Case Interview Example

Case Background

You are a consultant working with a leading technology company that is considering launching a new product – a smart fitness tracker.

The company believes there's a growing market for wearable fitness devices that can track health metrics and provide personalized insights. They want to assess the feasibility and potential success of this new product in the market.

How to Solve

Write down and summarize the major case details about launching a smart fitness tracker. The main point of the case is that the company wants to assess the feasibility of introducing this new product to the market.

Confirm your understanding with the interviewer. Make sure you're clear on what the company is looking to achieve with the smart fitness tracker launch.

Develop a framework. This will help you systematically analyze the situation.

A potential framework may look like the following:

What is the attractiveness of the smart fitness tracker market?

• What is the market size?
• What is the market growth rate?
• What are average profit margins in the market?

How strong is our product?

• How do customers like our product?
• Does our product solve a pain point for customers?
• What is our product’s differentiating features?

How does our product compare to competitors’ products?

• What are some competing products?
• What are the strengths and weaknesses of these competing products?

What are the financial implications?

• How much market share can we capture?
• What are expected revenues?
• What are expected costs?

4. Gather and analyze Information

Start by asking questions to gather information. This new product case interview may dive deeper into any of the following topics:

Analyze the market

• Determine the size and growth rate of the wearable fitness device market
• Identify trends, such as increasing interest in health monitoring
• Analyze demographics of potential users (age, fitness levels, etc.)

Assess the competition

• Identify existing players in the smart fitness tracker market
• Evaluate their strengths, weaknesses, and product offerings
• Determine if there's a gap in the market that the new product could fill

Evaluate the product

• Examine its features and capabilities
• Identify its unique selling points (water resistance, advanced tracking, etc.)
• Consider how these features address customer needs better than existing trackers

Set a pricing strategy

• Analyze the cost of production and technology
• Research the pricing of similar products in the market
• Decide on a pricing strategy that reflects the product's value proposition

Consider distribution channels

• Consider online sales, retail partnerships, and direct sales
• Assess which channels would reach the target audience most effectively

Think through promotion and marketing

• Identify potential channels for promotion (social media, health magazines, etc.)
• Create an advertising plan to highlight unique features
• Develop partnerships with fitness influencers for endorsements

Project financials

• Calculate potential revenue based on pricing and market size
• Factor in production costs, marketing expenses, and distribution expenses
• Calculate the expected return on investment and break-even point

Based on your analysis, summarize your findings and recommendations. Highlight how the proposed strategies leverage market trends, address customer needs, and differentiate the smart fitness tracker in a competitive market.

Another New Product Case Interview Example

Below is another new product case interview. This case focuses on pricing and comes from BCG.

For more practice, check out our article on 23 MBA consulting casebooks with 700+ free practice cases .

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• Comprehensive Case Interview Course (our #1 recommendation): The only resource you need. Whether you have no business background, rusty math skills, or are short on time, this step-by-step course will transform you into a top 1% caser that lands multiple consulting offers.
• Case Interview Coaching : Personalized, one-on-one coaching with a former Bain interviewer.
• Hacking the Case Interview Book   (available on Amazon): Perfect for beginners that are short on time. Transform yourself from a stressed-out case interview newbie to a confident intermediate in under a week. Some readers finish this book in a day and can already tackle tough cases.
• The Ultimate Case Interview Workbook (available on Amazon): Perfect for intermediates struggling with frameworks, case math, or generating business insights. No need to find a case partner – these drills, practice problems, and full-length cases can all be done by yourself.

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• Behavioral & Fit Interview Course : Be prepared for 98% of behavioral and fit questions in just a few hours. We'll teach you exactly how to draft answers that will impress your interviewer.

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A 6-Step Framework to Nail your Product Case Interview

Advice from a Sr. Product Manager

Book a coaching session today!

Don't leave your interview to chance.

We sat down with former Meta, Google, and Yahoo product manager Ridhima Kurana to get her tips and advice on product case interviews, a framework to prepare and the common mistakes to avoid. If you are someone who is a budding product manager and going in for an interview at a leading tech company, this article will take you through the steps to prepare for your interview

The following are the types of product case interviews that you can expect:

Product Design

These questions are usually asked to see if you can identify user persona and whether you can think extensively and innovatively. These questions look for inspiring solutions to categorizing and segmenting the audience. Questions could include: 

• Design Twitter for the blind
• Build a product podcast for Facebook
• Design a new elevator. 

The main point here is to define the user's needs and solutions

Product Strategy

Product strategy is your ability to understand and apply market dynamics, things happening worldwide, and industry trends. These questions are usually asked if you are interviewing for level 5 (at Meta) and above roles (not entry level), which are above associate product manager roles. 

These questions are open-ended and tend to be ambiguous problems. With questions like these, the world is your oyster; you can be as creative and particular as possible. These focus on your understanding of the world and your ability to apply concepts in a structured way. Examples of such questions are:

• Should Spotify increase its subscription cost?
• What should Zillow do next?

Product Improvement

These questions are about existing products and experiences, and the interviewer is looking for your take on how you can improve them. These focus on your ability to elevate the experience of people. The interviewer is looking for your ability to identify and prioritize user pain points, define creative solutions and measure success. Their primary focus is on your understanding of the metrics to consider while improving a product or experience. For instance, the interviewer might ask:

• How would you improve Google photos? 
• How would you improve your experience of finding a doctor on Google?

Product Growth

Product growth tests your business acumen, UX skills, and scrappiness. There are multiple ways to think about product growth. One way is to do conversion funnel optimization for an existing product to make it grow. The other is to diversify revenue streams, enter different markets, and partner upwards and downwards to get a broader market.

An interviewer might ask you:

• How would you grow a travel app without a marketing budget?
• How would you grow Twitter without ads?

A framework to answer Product case questions

Product design framework.

Ridhima shares the framework she developed after years of being a PM and coaching thousands of product managers. Let’s dive into her framework using an example. For instance, the interviewer asks you to design Twitter for the blind. To answer the question, here are the steps you can follow.

‍ Step 1: Clarify the Goals and assumptions

To identify the goals and assumptions, it’s essential to understand what the product is, how we use it today, and why we need it. For instance, Twitter is used in various aspects like a news medium, a medium to communicate, etc. You should also be able to identify if it ties into the company’s mission. For instance, if it is a product/service idea for an existing company, you might want to identify the company’s mission and whether or not your concept binds with the same.

Step 2: Identify Users:

TIP 1: Think beyond demographics into behavior and needs for user personas. It is crucial to go beyond demographic users and focus on psychographic segmentation. Try focusing on new mothers and people interested in music and writing. Doing psychographic profiles will ease the prioritization of needs. While thinking of user personas, go for psychographic sets.

TIP 2: To get real-world, “meaty” target groups, use a criterion to choose your target users.

Choose target users based on specific filters. For instance, on Twitter, you decide only to target celebrities. Remember, demographics come after psychographics for a better target filter.

Step 3: Report Needs: What are their needs and challenges?

After identifying a target segment, it will be easier for you to report the needs. Look at the customer journey to say requirements (user notices they are low on food, makes a list, chooses to go to the store or shop online, buys foods most suitable for a small household, samples new foods, checks out, chooses between paper and plastic bag, etc.) Take them through the user journey, and focus on the users' pain points. Prioritize the need you want to focus on and use the Five Whys to understand the needs more precisely.

Step 4: Summarize the goal and define Success Metrics:

To define success metrics, it is essential to prioritize the need. You can do need generation by going through the cycle of the condition or problem. Go back to the user persona, and identify where in the journey is the product requirement to summarize a success metric. It is crucial to define a counter metric to get a holistic picture of product success. For instance, you want to prioritize adoption by tracking daily active users with quality. Base your success metrics on facts and news. While giving out metrics, also give out counter metrics so that you can give a holistic picture and your metric is solid.

Your solutions will vary depending on the metric you align with the interviewer.

Step 5: Start brainstorming solutions and prioritize

Every time you are creating Twitter for the blind to post content, you know you are now going to trade off something. It is time to brainstorm solutions, directing towards your aligned metric, after you have finalized a graphic and problem statement. After prioritizing a solution, a trade-off is involved every time you decide.

Step 6: Summarize with an Imagine statement (something inspirational)

End your argument with an image statement. This will leave the interviewer inspired and make your interview memorable. Say you have developed a product solution for the blind; we will live in a world where everyone will have access to Twitter, and everyone will have a voice, and that is the sort of world you want to live in.

Product improvement framework

Following the same framework we used with the product designing, you just need to add another step: ‘what does improvement mean to you?’

After clarifying the goals and assumptions, identifying the users, and reporting the needs, you talk about what improvement means. Does improvement mean increasing the engagement of the product, the quality, or the revenue generation? Talking about progress will help you define your success metric in the case of product improvement. Talk about focusing on specific things in your improvement cycle. And just how you talk about design metrics, talk about your improvement metrics/success metrics.

Product strategy framework

To be able to answer these questions, you must have an understanding of the market trends and market dynamics, and the latest things in the industry. Questions like, ‘What should Zillow do next?’ Be prepared with these answers.

These are the following steps to follow while answering these questions.

• Identify the prompt , in this case, what is Zillow, and answer the whys and whats while dealing with these questions. Talk about the industry and market trends regarding the product or service. Further, discuss the company and the organization's mission, mentioning a few competitors.

Highlight the mission of the company. Spend the first 10-15 minutes clarifying the business goals, discussing the company's financier, business models, press releases, changing directives, etc. You should be aware of the valuations of big organizations.

These high-level points can lay a good base for your answer. Talk about the opportunities outside of the company’s boundaries. However, strengths and weaknesses should be more specific to the company. Product strategy questions focus on your understanding of the market dynamics.

The strategy can be as follows to determine what the company can do next.

• Diversify revenue sources
• Increase customers, enter a new market, customer stickiness
• Barrier to entry
• Being one-stop shop
• Low-cost leader
• Reduce reliance on essential buyer
• Test a new market

Present ideas refined, and ensure your ideas are strategic, not just minor feature enhancements.

Following similar steps to the product design framework, make sure to encapsulate your response and end it with an imagined statement. Choose this statement wisely to describe how you inspire leadership.

Product growth framework

The difference between product strategy and the product growth framework is the amount of time you spend on individual points. While responding to a product growth framework answer, spend time on how your ideas support and enhance the product strategy. For instance, if the interviewer says, out of all the users that end up on Shopify’s homepage, only 10% end up creating a store on the website, how can you improve the situation? In this example, the interviewer would want you to focus on conversion funnels, how to optimize the conversion funnel, and metrics to measure success. Additionally, you can talk about pricing and diversifying revenue streams.

How do you elevate your answers?

The premium skills lie in how you elevate your answers. 

Finally, here are a few tips to keep in mind while answering product case questions.

• Create a list of new technologies around you. For instance, AI, VR, ML. Read about these technologies and their current usage in various industries.
• Create a list of recent trends and changes in the market. For instance, the impact of the war, inflation, pandemic, supply chain issues, etc. These things highlight your capabilities as a product manager.
• Spend the time defining problems. Do not jump to the solutions. Defining the problem is 80% of the work done. Ensure that you direct the right situation.
• Ask questions and make the interview interactive. Do not treat it as an interrogation; make it flow like a conversation.
• The imagined statements are industry-kept secrets. A good PM will anchor your mission towards the problem. Using an imagined statement, highlight a point beyond your solution; this will elevate your answers.

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What Are Product Management Case Study Interviews?

Carlos González De Villaumbrosia

Updated: October 1, 2024 - 10 min read

What is a product management case study interview?

A case study interview, also known as a case interview, is a tool used by many companies to assess a candidate’s analytical, creative, and problem-solving skills. Similar to coding interviews for engineers, they allow the interviewers to simulate a situation that allows your skills to be put into practice.

Quite simply, you’ll be given a situation, and asked to make suggestions or come up with a hypothetical solution or improvement.

In product management, this can be about any number of things. The realm of product managers is vast, and covers many different aspects of product development. As product managers sit at the intersection of business, technology, and design, you could be asked case questions under these umbrellas.

This means that you could be given a case question based on product design, monetization, market research, user segmentation, trends, data, technical development, go-to-market , prioritization…pretty much anything product managers are into!

Example case study interview questions

What’s your favorite product? How would you improve its design?

Which company do you think we should acquire next?

How would you go about launching our product in an emerging market, say, India?

What new feature would you build for Instagram?

How to ace a case study interview

The product design case interview

No, the interview isn't going to hand you a Wacom tablet and ask you to mock up an entire product on the spot! Instead, you’ll be asked to think through some solutions to pretty common design problems. Things like:

How would you improve our in-app messenger?

If we tasked you with making our user interface more inclusive of those with disabilities, how would you approach that?

How would you redesign our homepage to make it more appealing for X demographic?

We’re finding that X number of users don’t make it through the entire onboarding process. What would you do/design to fix that?

The key when being asked a question about how you’d improve the company’s product is not to insult it too heavily. Remember, the people who built it are in the room with you, so if you come in hot with “well, for starters, your homescreen is absolutely hideous and needs a complete do-over”, you’re not going to endear yourself to them. A product manager is a diplomat, so be as diplomatic as possible.

Instead of focusing on how you’d fix what you see as glaring problems, try to come up with something that adds to the product. “I think a chatbot in your user onboarding process would help people to navigate through the process. Here’s where I’d implement it…”

How to ace it

Give your hypothesis: Because everything in product starts with why .

Lay out your approach : Briefly summarize what your approach would be, given your hypothesis. Include things like the research you would need to do, and the preparation the team would need to make.

Identify the user: Companies want user-driven product managers, so definitely make sure you know which user you’re building for.

Describe the solution : How would you actually build the solution? No need to get too technical if that’s not where your skills lie. If that’s the case, talk about how you’d lead the engineering teams to build the solution.

Suggest testing: If you’ve got 2 ideas and you’re not sure which one is better, describe both and talk about the test you’d run to discover which one to roll with.

Prioritize features : Show off your prioritization skills if you’re suggesting more than one feature.

Suggest features for an MVP and plans for a V1 launch:

Finish off by helping the interviewers to visualize what the finished MVP would be like, as well as the plans you’d have for a full release later down the line.

The business-thinking case interview

Business thinking is vital for product managers, as you’re the person that ties what’s being built to the needs of the business. This is why you may be presented with a business problem, so that the interviewer can assess your thought process, and how you approach product strategy.

Business case questions may include things like:

Management wants to build X because a competitor has launched something similar. How would you respond?

If we wanted to move more into the B2B market by launching X, what would you do first?

How would you increase customer adoption for the feature we released last month?

We want to become more product-led in our growth strategy. What recommendations would you make in terms of pricing structure/increasing customer adoption?

Establish market characteristics : This is especially important if your case question is a go-to-market question. If you’re not sure what the market characteristics are, talk about what you would find out before starting the work.

Layout your approach: Briefly summarize what your approach would be.

Prioritize your actions: If you’ve been asked for a step-by-step approach, talk about why you’re doing things in that order.

Provide analysis : Business decisions require a heavy amount of analysis, so be sure to include some competitor/customer/market analysis.

Make recommendations: Talk about the end result in a business sense. Instead of getting into the weeds of feature building etc, give a step-by-step approach of how you’d take a new feature to market, or make business-oriented improvements to a product.

Remember that a business-thinking case question requires an answer that would make C-suite happy. Try to think through your answer for the eyes of management. Think about what brings most business value, and tailor your answer around that.

The technical interview

Here, by technical interview, we don’t necessarily mean the tech interviews that engineers can expect to go through. It’s very rare for product managers to be asked technical questions in an interview, unless they’re specifically applying for a technical product manager role. You’ll usually get some warning in advance that your technical prowess will be tested, either by the recruiter or a hiring manager.

The chances of being given an in-depth technical case interview (aka, a coding interview) are rare, so you’re more likely to be asked a few general questions to gauge your technical ability.

Things like:

What’s your experience with X or Y technology?

Do you feel comfortable managing a team of engineers?

Can you explain the most technical project you’ve worked on?

These are questions that you should be able to answer in the room, because they’re based on your direct experience. So you don’t need to put any special level of preparation into their answers.

You may also be asked some technical questions that allow you to show off your technical knowledge, but are open-ended enough that you can still answer even if you’re not very techy. The goal is to gauge how much technical know-how you already have, not to embarrass you and put you on the spot for not having a computer science degree.

These questions might include:

What feature do you think we should build next? How should we approach building it?

Would you build X solution in-house, or would you outsource development elsewhere?

What partners do you think we should integrate with next? (eg. Slack, Trello)

These are questions that you can approach in your own way, from a technical perspective if you come from that background, or from a people-management/design/business perspective if you don’t.

Product managers and tech skills…what’s the deal?

It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be asked to go through a technical interview, as product managers aren’t the ones who physically build the product. They provide the direction and the insights, and the engineers provide the solutions and the finished product. So what’s gained by seeing how well you can code?

Well, some roles are more technical than others, so obviously in these roles you’d need either a computer science degree or a proven record of technical work, like an engineering background.

But for a regular product manager, you’re less likely to be given a technical case interview, and more likely to just be asked a few very general questions to gauge your knowledge.

1. Give yourself time to think

The worst thing you can do is panic, and rush in with an answer. It’s OK to give yourself time to think. An interview is not a first date, and silences don’t have to be awkward! So pause, and give yourself time to consider your answer before you start.

That’s much better than giving a sub-standard answer that you can’t take back. The interviewer will expect you to need a moment to gather your thoughts, so don’t stress.

2. Hack: The McKinsey case study

Now, you’re bound to go off and do plenty more research on case study interviews, wanting to find out everything you can. So let us give you this secret hack: check out materials for McKinsey case interviews .

“But I want to work at Facebook/Google/Amazon!” we hear you say. “Why would I prep for McKinsey?”

McKinsey is one of the most difficult interviewers out there. Reviews by some previous interviewees makes it seem like the process was designed to help choose the next ruler of Westeros. Their standards are incredibly high, and their case interviews are something that people prep weeks, even months in advance for.

This has a double result for you. One, there are swathes of resources out there specifically to prep for this behemoth of a case interview. Two, if you can give a McKinsey-standard answer to a case interview, you’ll outshine the competition easily!

3. Practice ahead of time

While you can’t be totally sure what you’ll be asked in a case interview, you can still prepare.

The smart thing to do is to practice case interview questions ahead of time. The way to do this is to pick apart the job posting you’re interviewing for, and identify what the main responsibilities are.

Case interview preparation is absolutely essential for acing product manager interviews, as you’re bound to be asked a hypothetical question sooner or later in the interview process.

4. Don’t feel pressured to give a perfect answer

Companies know how much time, research, and information goes into making informed product decisions. So if they’ve asked you to propose a new feature for their product as part of your interview, they’re not looking for something they can actually implement from you. They just want to see how you think, and what your analytical and problem-solving skills are. It’s also a test of your communication skills, seeing how you present yourself and your ideas.

So don’t pressure yourself into giving an answer that’s on par with the work their existing product managers do. That’s like beating yourself up for not running as fast a Usain Bolt when you do your first ever 5K.

Prepping for product manager interviews?

We’ve got you covered! Check out these great resources:

Master The Product Manager Interview Playlist : We’ve collected together our best talks on acing the Product Management interview, from a look behind the scenes of recruitment, to how to break into the industry. Check out the entire playlist here , or enjoy this sample from Google’s Product Manager…

The Ultimate List of Product Manager Interview Questions: Prepare yourself for every kind of question you could ever hope to be asked in a product manager interview!

Product School resources: If you really want to deep-dive into the best interview techniques, and become the master of any interview you walk into, you should check out the resources we have in our community. We’ve got cheat sheets, templates, and more!

Hired — How to Get a Great Product Job: Tailored guide-to-go for product manager positions in top tech companies. As this book will show you,  some of the most successful product transitions originated from people in music production or finance, with full-time jobs or with no prior experience. The collection of stories of Product Management transition will show you how it’s done.

Updated: October 1, 2024

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Product Manager Case Study Questions Explained

Product management case studies are an integral part of the interview process for aspiring product managers. They evaluate analytical thinking, problem-solving abilities, and strategic decision-making skills.

Understanding the Role of Case Studies in Product Management

Case studies assess how well a candidate can understand ambiguous business situations and provide data-driven recommendations. They test competencies like:

• Market analysis
• Competitive benchmarking
• Product positioning
• Go-to-market strategy

Recruiters use case studies to gauge if a product manager can structure nebulous problems and drive product direction strategically.

Product manager case study questions typically present real-world scenarios like new product development, feature prioritization, pricing strategy, etc.

The Goals of Product Management Case Studies

The goals behind case study evaluations are:

• Evaluate analytical abilities
• Assess problem-solving approach
• Test strategic thinking
• Benchmark communications skills
• Gauge leadership principles

The case study framework is designed to simulate the responsibilities and challenges faced by product managers daily.

Overview of the Product Management Case Study Framework

The standard product management case study framework follows this structure:

• Company background
• Product background
• Business challenge or opportunity
• Market dynamics
• Competitor benchmarking
• Questions on product strategy

The questions asked aim to assess the thought process and problem-solving skills of candidates. There are no definitively right or wrong answers.

Product Manager Case Study Presentation Essentials

An effective Product Manager case study presentation should clearly communicate:

• Findings from quantitative and qualitative analyses
• Fact-based recommendations
• Data-driven strategic plan
• Proposed success metrics

Focus on showcasing the analytical approach over final recommendations. Demonstrate how you structured the problem and aligned solutions to company goals.

How do you answer a case study question for a product manager?

When answering a case study question as a product manager candidate, it's important to demonstrate both your strategic thinking and your ability to execute tactically. Here are some tips:

Focus on achieving tangible outcomes

• Clearly define the goal or objective you are trying to achieve from the case study
• Outline 2-3 key metrics that would indicate success in meeting that goal
• Provide specific examples of tangible outcomes you would aim to deliver

Describe your step-by-step process

• Product management case study framework: Outline the framework or methodology you would follow to approach the problem
• Explain the step-by-step process you would take to understand the users, analyze data, ideate solutions, prioritize, etc.
• Product manager case study templates: You may reference or adapt standard PM frameworks like Opportunity Solution Tree or PRD templates

Demonstrate your PM skills

• Explain how you would apply essential PM skills like user research, market analysis, prioritization, roadmapping, etc.
• Provide examples of qualitative or quantitative analysis you might conduct
• Describe how you would collaborate with various functions like design, engineering, etc.

Structure your response

• Organize your answer clearly around goals, process, and skills/expertise
• Product Manager case study presentation: Use a simple structure of defining the objective, outlining your approach, and stating your deliverables

Following this kind of framework can demonstrate both strategic alignment and tactical planning abilities needed in product management. Referencing PM methodologies and showing your core competencies can further strengthen your case study performance.

What questions should I ask for a case study?

When preparing a case study as a product manager , it's important to ask the right questions to fully understand the client's needs and challenges. Here are some key questions to ask:

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS TO ASK THE CLIENT

• Can you give a brief description of your company? This provides context on the client's industry, size, goals, etc.
• How did you first hear about our service? This gives insight into what piqued their interest.
• What challenges/problems necessitated a change? This reveals the pain points they aimed to solve.
• What trends in your industry drove the need to use our product? This highlights external factors influencing their decision.
• What were you looking for in a solution? This clarifies the must-have capabilities they required.

Additional questions could cover budget constraints, decision makers involved, specific features needed, and measurable goals hoped to be achieved.

Asking thoughtful questions lays the groundwork for crafting a compelling case study showcasing how your product uniquely solved the client's problems. It also enables tailoring the content to resonate with prospects in similar situations.

What does a product manager case study look like?

A product management case study typically examines a specific product and analyzes how it was developed, launched, and iterated on over time. Case studies aim to uncover key learnings that can be applied to other products.

Here are some common elements of a PM case study:

Problem Definition

• Identifies the specific user need or business goal the product aimed to address
• Provides context on the target market, competition, and other environmental factors

Solution Approach

• Explains the product's core features and functionality
• Details the technology stack and architecture
• Describes the overall product strategy and positioning

Execution and Iteration

• Traces the product development timeline and process
• Analyzes how the product changed over time based on user feedback and data
• Examines pricing, promotion, and distribution strategies

Outcomes and Metrics

• Reviews usage metrics, conversion rates, revenue, etc.
• Discusses qualitative feedback from users and customers
• Determines if business and user goals were achieved

Key Takeaways

• Summarizes the main lessons learned and best practices
• Provides advice for other PMs working on similar products

By studying these elements, product managers can better understand what works well and what doesn't for a given product category or business model. Case studies are a valuable resource for continuous PM learning and improvement.

What is the best questions to ask a product manager?

When interviewing a product manager or trying to understand their role better, asking strategic questions can provide useful insights. Here are some recommended questions:

What is the strategic vision for this product?

This open-ended question allows the product manager to explain the long-term vision and goals for the product they manage. It gives insight into the product's purpose and intended value.

How do you develop your product roadmap?

By understanding their process for building product roadmaps, you learn how they prioritize features and initiatives. This sheds light on how they balance business goals, customer needs, and technical constraints.

How does product management work with executive leadership?

Learning about the relationship between product management and company executives shows how aligned product strategy is with broader business objectives. It also demonstrates the level of executive support and autonomy product has.

Product manager case study questions like these help assess strengths in strategic thinking, customer orientation, and cross-functional collaboration. Tailor additional questions to understand the context of their role and products better. The more you can learn about their real-world experiences, the better sense you have of their competencies.

Dissecting Product Management Case Study Questions

This section delves into the types of questions that surface in product management case studies, with a focus on product design and strategy.

Probing into Product Design Questions

Product design questions aim to assess a candidate's ability to design user-centric products while considering various constraints. Some examples include:

• How would you design an app for grocery delivery that provides the best user experience? Consider factors like ease of use, personalization, and order tracking.
• Design a ride sharing app while optimizing for driver supply, customer demand prediction, pricing strategy, and minimizing wait times.
• Suggest ways to improve the user onboarding flow for a food delivery app to drive higher user retention.

These questions evaluate how well you can empathize with users, identify pain points in existing solutions, and devise elegant yet practical product enhancements. Strong answers demonstrate user-centric thinking balanced with business objectives.

Strategizing with Product Strategy Questions

Product strategy questions test your ability to make decisions from a broader business context. Some examples:

• As a PM for an e-commerce company, would you build a mobile app or focus on improving the mobile web experience? Consider factors like development costs, user engagement, and revenue goals.
• A music streaming startup is struggling with customer churn. How would you identify reasons for churn and formulate strategies to improve retention?
• A grocery delivery provider is looking to expand into a new city. Outline your market entry strategy while considering competition, operational costs, targeting customer segments etc.

These questions expect you to flex your analytical and strategic thinking muscles. Great answers weigh tradeoffs between multiple factors and craft a sound overarching strategy.

Navigating Product Roadmap Challenges

You may also encounter questions that deal with prioritizing features and planning effective roadmaps:

• As a PM for a budgeting app, outline how you would prioritize building features like transaction tagging, debt management, investing tools etc. Consider factors like customer requests, development effort, and business impact.
• A software company wants to expand from only web-based products to also building mobile apps. How would you structure the product roadmap to support this transition?
• Construct an 18 month roadmap for a media subscription service, outlining key initiatives across content licensing, personalization, payments etc. How would you sequence priorities?

Strong responses demonstrate the ability to make tough product tradeoffs, sequence priorities, and craft realistic roadmaps to achieve business goals.

Mastering Product Launch Scenario Questions

Finally, some case studies present scenarios around planning and executing a successful product launch:

• You are launching a new crypto exchange product. Outline the launch strategy and post-launch metrics you would track to measure success.
• A startup is preparing to unveil a smart assistant device for the home. Construct a pre-launch plan covering marketing campaigns, partnerships, distribution channels and launch events.
• An insurer is introducing an app to allow customers to manage policies and file claims. Design a rollout plan highlighting early access users, press outreach, and customer onboarding flows.

Expect questions probing your understanding of launch best practices across marketing, partnerships, tech readiness and adoption measurement.

Exploring Product Manager Case Study Templates

Product management case studies are an integral part of the interview process for product manager roles. They assess a candidate's ability to analyze data, prioritize features, and develop product strategies. Having a structured framework when approaching case studies can help candidates demonstrate their skills more effectively.

This section introduces templates that can guide product managers through various types of case studies.

Market Analysis and Entry Strategy Template

When entering a new market, it's critical to deeply understand customer needs, competitive landscape, market trends and dynamics. This template provides a methodical approach:

• Customer analysis: Map target customer segments and develop buyer personas. Identify their needs, pain points and jobs-to-be-done. Quantify market size of each segment.
• Competitive analysis: Identify direct and indirect competitors. Analyze their product offerings, business models and go-to-market strategies. Pinpoint competitive advantages and disadvantages.
• Market analysis: Evaluate market trends, growth drivers, industry lifecycle stage, regulations and other dynamics. Determine market accessibility and expansion potential.
• Entry strategy: Define market entry plan based on above analyses - ideal customer segment(s) to target initially, product positioning and MVP feature set, pricing models, distribution channels and partnership opportunities. Outline expansion strategy.

Following this standardized template ensures thorough evaluation of the market opportunity and development of a tailored entry approach.

Product manager case study questions around new market entry often focus on quantifying the market, analyzing the competitive landscape, identifying the beachhead segment, and formulating the initial go-to-market strategy.

Product Roadmap Prioritization Framework

Determining what initiatives and features to build next is crucial for product success. This framework helps structure the prioritization process:

• Gather inputs: Compile inputs from customer research, user interviews, support tickets, sales requests, market analysis and internal stakeholders.
• Define evaluation criteria: Identify criteria like business value, user value, level of effort, dependencies and risks. Assign weights to each.
• Score roadmap items: Tally scores for each initiative based on the defined criteria to allow comparison.
• High-level sequencing: Group scored items into broader themes and high-level releases. Order these releases based on overarching priorities.
• Granular prioritization: Prioritize individual features within each release based on scores. Consider dependencies.

This data-driven approach brings rigor to product manager case study questions around roadmap prioritization. It's more defensible than gut feel and can facilitate alignment across the organization.

Comprehensive Product Launch Plan Template

Successfully launching a new product requires coordinating many complex, interdependent activities across teams. This template can help structure an effective, detailed launch plan:

• Pre-launch: Finalize positioning and messaging, create launch assets, drive buzz through influencer campaigns, optimize conversion funnels.
• Launch: Unveil product on launch date, drive traffic to website/app through advertising and PR, activate referral programs.
• Post-launch: Closely monitor KPIs like activations, retention, engagement, satisfaction. Address issues immediately through rapid iteration. Develop customer success processes.
• Expansion: Plan for incremental feature releases to expand value proposition. Pursue additional customer segments, partnerships and geographies. Ramp up marketing and sales.

Thoughtfully outlining all launch activities makes product introduction smooth and impactful. Product Manager case study presentation questions on new product launches evaluate this level of planning rigor.

Innovation and Pivot Strategy Framework

When products fail to achieve product-market fit, product managers may need to rethink strategy. This framework can help determine next steps:

• Diagnosis: Thoroughly analyze customer segments, their engagement, feedback and market success indicators. Identify issues.
• Ideate solutions: Brainstorm innovative ideas and pivots to address problems through new technologies, business models or market approaches.
• Market analysis: Gauge market demand for proposed solutions. Evaluate technical and business feasibility.
• Decision: Determine whether to persevere with small tweaks, make minor pivots in current product or business model, or perform major reworks or re-launches.

This structure brings strategic clarity to questions on Product Strategy and innovation during Product Management Case Studies.

Following standardized frameworks and templates allows showcasing analytical abilities and structured thinking - critical skills assessed in product manager case study interviews through open-ended Sample Questions. With practice, these templates can be adapted to various case contexts.

Real-World Product Management Case Studies with Sample Questions

Product management case studies aim to simulate real-world scenarios a PM may face. Reviewing examples helps prepare for interviews and day-to-day work. Here are some common case study prompts with analysis.

Sample Question: Entering the Rideshare Market

A case study may present a scenario like:

"A startup called DriveFast wants to enter the competitive rideshare market with a differentiated offering. As the PM, put together a strategic plan, including challenges, solutions, key metrics, and a rollout timeline."

This requires developing a comprehensive go-to-market strategy. Considerations may include:

• Understanding rider and driver needs to identify gaps in existing offerings
• Brainstorming features like scheduling, vehicle types, loyalty programs
• Analyzing market data to forecast demand and growth
• Evaluating operational costs and pricing models
• Setting targets for key metrics like ride volume, customer acquisition cost
• Building marketing and incentive campaigns to attract early adopters

The response should showcase analytical thinking and strategic planning skills relevant for product leadership roles.

Sample Question: Prioritizing a Social Media Platform's Features

A sample case could be:

"A new social media site for teens is gaining traction but has limited engineering bandwidth. As the PM, prioritize these potential features: stories, events, profiles, messaging, analytics."

This tests the ability to make data-driven decisions about feature development and sequencing. The PM would likely:

• Consider metrics showing current site usage and growth trends
• Weigh differentiators compared to competitive sites teenagers use
• Map out user workflows and identify friction points
• Talk to teen users directly to validate needs
• Develop evaluation criteria like engagement, retention, and sharing
• Use techniques like weighted scoring to prioritize feature roadmap

The process demonstrates user empathy, analytical thinking, and product strategy skills.

Sample Question: Launching a Wearable Tech Product

A wearable tech case study may ask:

"Your startup is preparing to launch a new fitness wearable called FitNow. Develop a go-to-market strategy including positioning, pricing, promotion and distribution."

This evaluates bringing an early-stage hardware product to market. The strategy may cover:

• Conducting user studies to validate product-market fit
• Identifying customer segments and use cases to focus positioning
• Competitive analysis against similar wearables
• Developing pricing tiers and discounts for early buyers
• Securing retail partnerships for distribution
• Creating a targeted launch campaign with influencers

Success depends on understanding user needs, evaluating market dynamics, and planning effective commercialization.

Sample Question: Developing a Product Innovation Strategy

Some cases challenge developing new solutions, like:

"Your building products company wants to rapidly innovate and stay ahead of commoditization trends in the market. How would you maintain differentiation?"

This aims to assess strategic thinking and creativity. The PM may propose ideas like:

• Exploring adjacent spaces like IoT-connected buildings
• Launching industry or region specific product lines
• Leveraging data and analytics to offer insights as a service
• Building a modular platform for rapid customization
• Creating sustainable construction products
• Implementing an innovation lab for ongoing R&D

Top candidates can connect innovation to business impact and articulate a compelling vision.

These examples illustrate common scenarios and considerations evaluated in PM case studies, helping prepare for interviews. Tailoring responses using actual product experience can showcase leadership potential.

Preparing for the Product Manager Case Study Interview

Adopting a product management case study framework.

When preparing for a product manager case study interview, it is important to have a structured framework to approach the business case or product design challenge. A framework provides guidance on the key areas to cover and helps ensure a comprehensive analysis.

Some popular frameworks include:

• Opportunity Assessment : Evaluates market size, competition, customer needs and product positioning.
• MECE (Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive) : Breaks down a problem into distinct components that cover all aspects.
• RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) : Prioritizes potential solutions based on key factors.
• AARRR (Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, Revenue) : Focuses on core funnel metrics.

I would recommend developing experience with 2-3 frameworks so you have different lenses to evaluate product problems. Practice applying the frameworks to sample case studies to get comfortable. Having a reliable framework reduces anxiety and builds structure into your analysis.

Effective Communication of Your Strategic Approach

How you present your case study analysis is as important as the substance itself. Interviewers want to understand your thought process and strategic rationale.

• Verbalize your framework out loud so the interviewer follows your thinking
• Use whiteboarding to map out key factors and relationships
• Present 2-3 options with pros/cons instead of just one solution
• Tailor communication to audience - emphasize business impact
• Practice explaining analysis clearly and concisely

The goal is to showcase your structured problem-solving approach and ability to translate analysis into compelling recommendations.

Time Management Techniques for Case Study Success

With case study interviews often lasting 45 minutes or less, time management is critical. Avoid getting bogged down analyzing market research or financials.

Some strategies:

• Agree on problem framing upfront
• Set a timer on your phone to pace yourself
• Spend more time on strategy and solutions vs. data analysis
• Practice case studies with a timer to improve efficiency

If you have extra time, highlight additional analyses you would conduct given more time or propose experiments to validate assumptions. Proactively managing pace demonstrates preparedness.

Practice with Realistic Product Manager Case Study Templates

The best preparation for case study interviews is to practice with examples that resemble real PM case studies. Overly simplistic or unrealistic cases have limited training value.

Look for practice cases that provide:

• Relevant customer and market context
• Data on adoption, usage, churn
• Competitor profiles and benchmarking
• Open-ended strategic questions

Practice presenting analyses and recommendations out loud. Refine based on feedback. Quality practice with realistic templates builds muscle memory for the actual case study interview.

Conclusion: Mastering Product Management Case Studies

Recap of product manager case study essentials.

Preparing for product management case study interviews requires understanding the fundamentals. Here are some key things to keep in mind:

• Know the product manager frameworks : Frameworks like Opportunity Assessment, PRD, and others provide structure for analyzing case studies systematically. Familiarize yourself with a few core frameworks.
• Practice case studies extensively : Solving diverse case studies is the best preparation. Look for case studies online or get help building a library to practice with. Review solutions to refine your approach.
• Structure your thinking : Outline the key issues, product goals, user needs - before diving into solutions. Structured thinking clarifies the problem space.
• Show your working : Explain your step-by-step thought process while solving the case. The interviewer wants insights into your analytical abilities.
• Back up ideas with data : Use market research, user data, or financial projections to validate ideas. Concrete data lends credibility.

With practice, these core strategies will help tackle case study questions confidently.

Final Thoughts on Utilizing Product Management Case Study Frameworks

Frameworks provide the scaffolding to methodically break down and solve case study problems. They enable structured thinking about product opportunities, tradeoffs, and decisions.

While no framework fits every case, having a few committed to memory - like Opportunity Assessment, PRD, and Growth - equips you with analytical tools for common product scenarios.

Rather than relying on generic frameworks, adapt them to the case context for optimal relevance. Customize frameworks to the product stage, user needs, and goals highlighted in the case prompt.

As important as frameworks are, avoid plugging in ideas mechanically without explaining the underlying reasoning. Illustrate your thought process with the frameworks as guides, not rigid templates.

With an adaptable, customized approach, product management case study frameworks unlock strategic thinking to drive impactful solutions.

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This article will explore how product management side projects can catalyze professional development by allowing you to experiment with new methodologies and enhance your skillset.

This comprehensive guide promises to equip you with a structured approach to tackling product case studies. You'll gain frameworks to methodically analyze prompts and craft insightful solutions.

Through real-world application, valuable feedback, and community engagement with groups like The Product Folks, PMs can significantly accelerate their skill development and expertise in the dynamic field of product management.

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Table of contents, how to solve a product manager case study in 4 simple steps.

• August 12, 2020

Richard Chen

We cannot emphasize the importance of Product Manager case studies in interviews enough. Companies rely heavily on this step to assess your critical thinking and problem-solving skills as it closely mirrors the day-to-day activities. However, you don’t have to be a Product Manager with years of experience to come up with impressive case studies that will get you hired. Like the job itself, a Product Manager case study should be situational and contextual—getting it right is about tailoring your answer to the company you are interviewing for and the context behind the question. 

So, how do you make sure you hit the nail on the head? There are four steps to solving the Product Manager case study. Our case study instructors recommend the following: 

• Evaluate the need 
• Validate the need 
• Set a goal for the feature
• Decision making

From startup case studies to whiteboarding questions, this guide will take you through everything you need to know about tackling the notorious product management case study using these simple steps. Practice this approach with the various examples we provide and you should be ready to ace your next Product Manager case study interview .

How to Approach the Product Manager Case Study 

Let’s say that an e-commerce furniture company wants to implement a feature: free returns. Take a minute to think about this case study question . How would you go about implementing this? What is your first step?

If there’s one thing we know from working with thousands of aspiring Product Managers, it’s that more than 90% of the candidates fail the product manager case study interview one way or another. And not because the candidates lacked the required skills! Like we mentioned above, a successful case study is tailored to the situation and context. 

Before we dive in, here are some pointers you should remember to get you into the right frame of mind as you tackle the case study assignment you are given. 

Ask Questions 

This is where to start: Always approach a case study assignment with the assumption that you know nothing. Never dive into solving the problem with little to no information on it. Don’t be afraid to ask your interviewer everything you need to: 

• Determine the user of the product 
• Narrow down and identify which problem to solve 
• Find out the specifics of the question to establish your edge cases 

Making assumptions could lead you down the wrong path, but on the other hand, remember that being a Product Manager involves solving ambiguous real-life issues. Keep calm and creatively and strategically acquire more information for clarity of the situation. You’ll be one step ahead of fellow candidates.

Prepare for Anything 

Many novice candidates believe that the case study round always involves a take-home assignment, which would allow them to do extensive research on the question at hand. But while take-home assignments do come up often enough, unfortunately, that’s not always the case. Prepare for your case study interview to involve on-the-go questions. You should also expect to whiteboard and solve problems on the fly during the interview. When that’s the case you’ll have only seconds — or minutes if you’re lucky — instead of days to tackle the problem.

There Is More Than One Correct Answer

The Product Manager case study interview is a way for companies to evaluate your problem-solving skills. They want to see how you identify product users, measure product performance, navigate technical aspects, and so on. You can demonstrate these competencies with a variety of answers.

Don’t Spend More Time Than You Need To

The take-home Product Manager case study can be especially time-consuming and you might spend all your time working on these assignments if you don’t have support . Remember that job hunting is a numbers game and allocate your time and effort accordingly.

Need more time to prepare for your next case study interview? Take your prep to the next level with this video by Product Gym co-founder Cody Chang:

How to Solve Any Product Manager Case Study in 4 Simple Steps

Without further ado, here are the four steps you need to follow to solve your Product Manager case study:

Step 1: Evaluate the Need

To understand the need in the Product Manager case study, you need to ask a series of questions. Here are a few of them to get you started:

• How did the company come up with this feature?
• Was it suggested by executives, or by customers?
• Is the goal of this feature to drive revenue or increase loyalty?
• Are we assuming that leadership has already signed on board to this feature?
• Or are we assuming that this is just a small product that we have been given to test?

Essentially, you need to figure out the bounds and constraints of this question.

You may not be an industry expert on the business that your interviewer is in, or you may lack that domain knowledge. So in order to create an informed answer, you have to know what your answer is not .

Step 2: Validate the Need

You have to start on the pre-question. Let’s take the example of a furniture e-commerce company.

Some of the questions you would ask yourself are: 

• What are your assumptions, knowns and unknowns, and where is the data? 
• Do we have data on this, and is the data right? 
• On free returns, do we know how many people already trying to return?
• Are there specific types of products that we know customers return? 
• Are there some parts of the world where customers expect free returns? Do we have data on that? (The company isn’t going to necessarily know that from the data because customers might not provide that feedback.)
• What do we not know? 

When you focus on these unknowns, what you’re really focusing on is time and resources. This gets into the business side of asking questions. If you are not a domain expert in furniture e-commerce or are not familiar with their business model to give a nuanced response, what are these Product Managers looking for in your answer?

The company you are interviewing with is likely operating in another domain that you are not familiar with. That’s okay. As long as you can lay out the roadmap for your product with sound reasoning, you’ll be good to go.

Step 3: Set a Goal for the Feature

In this specific example, you want to focus on time and resources, which is money. This means explicitly profitability . What are all the areas that might factor into profitability? Here are some questions to consider:

• How much is it going to cost, and how do you evaluate that cost?
• Will priorities in regards to other features change?
• Would we have to focus on other resources?
• Would we have to deal with interstate laws based on shipping?
• How about shipping internationally or shipping interstate? Will it be taxed?

Check out these guides to help you determine the essential metrics for your company’s business and the product you are developing:

• 16 Startup Metrics by Adresseen Horowitz
• Startup Metrics You Need to Monitor
• Facebook Metrics: Key Benchmarks for PM Interviews

Step 4: Decision-Making

Based on the business requirements, how do you want to evaluate these unknowns? The rabbit hole of questions can go on and on. You may need to spend these resources and push back the engineering deadline. Is the company okay with that?

It also depends on how you communicate “Yes” or “No” answers. If you say, “Yes, I want to prioritize this feature,” then know your reasons:

• The manager has signed off on the strategy .
• I know who the customers are.
• I have the data to back it up.
• I have the stakeholder consensus to do it.
• I have a timeline that I feel confident executing on.

Or, if you say “No,” have your reasons why to address the same areas:

• No, I don’t have a clear strategy from management.
• No, the manager wants me to validate this before we spend extra resources on it.
• No, we don’t have enough engineers or resources for this.
• No, we have to use the sales cycle for another feature — if we try to implement this now, we will lose the seasonal sales cycle.

These are all moving parts that you want to evaluate and then communicate to the PM interviewing you in the Product Manager case study. The best thing to do when you ask these questions is to get specific. Use examples of times when you had to make these decisions yourself based on these factors.

Remember to communicate competency on how you evaluate whether or not you implement a feature. Ask questions to create constraints and boundaries to the case study, and control its scope. Once you have this information, you will know how to best approach the questions based on the Product Management knowledge you possess.

BONUS Step: Get Your Case Study Presentation Reviewed by a Professional

You’ve worked through the case study and put your solution into a slide deck to present to a panel of interviewers: congratulations! But if you want to go above and beyond to impress the hiring team, take some time to get your case study solution reviewed by a professional.

A fresh set of eyes may catch typos and grammar errors, but will also be able to point out the areas where you can improve the solution overall. A Product Manager who’s gone through multiple case study interview rounds is going to be able to assess your solution from the perspective of the interviewer and use their experience to help you polish it.

At Product Gym, our interview coaches routinely check over members’ case study presentations, offering insight, constructive criticism, and tips on how to make their technical interview round a success. Solving case studies isn’t just a good practice for acing your interview — it’s also an excellent way to develop applicable Product Manager skills. That’s why we include classes on case studies in our program. Our case study curriculum was developed and continues to be taught by Senior Product Manager for Atlassian, Roman Kolosovskiy .

Because we’ve been working with Product Manager job hunters for the past five years, we’ve had ample opportunity to test and perfect the case study strategy we teach our members. We’ve even compiled a bank of case study prompts that aspiring Product Managers have received in their interviews so that members can exclusively access to hone their problem-solving and storytelling skills.

What to Expect from a Product Manager Case Study at a Startup 

The type of company you are interviewing for is a key consideration when determining the context for your case study. It’s highly likely that you will interview for a Product Manager position at a startup—there were 30.7 million startups in the US in 2019, and the numbers will only keep growing.

No doubt, the expectations, and responsibilities differ immensely in a startup role as compared to being an enterprise PM.

Here’s what you should keep in mind when interviewing for a PM position with a startup: 

• Product Managers are expected to wear multiple hats : Startups, especially early-stage ones, don’t have all the resources they need. Because of this, your responsibilities may include roles away from the standard PM job description. It’s also likely that you will be responsible for more than one product.
• Be ready for some confusion : Many of these companies don’t have a recruiting team or a full-fledged HR strategy, and therefore chances are they are also exploring interviewing as they go. 
• Prepare for niche markets : If the startup operates in a niche market, you might have little to no knowledge and resources for understanding the competitive landscape and creating a useful product. Our case study prep guide can help you sound like a seasoned expert no matter your background in such cases. 

So how do you show your interviewer that you are ready to take on the challenge?

1. Demonstrate Fast Execution

First and foremost, you should show that you are quick when making decisions and taking action. Unlike established companies, you will not have many tools or practices to help you make decisions and organize your and your team’s tasks. You should be comfortable with communicating decisions and last-minute action items with the rest of your team.

2. Be Ready to Take Risks

Executing decisions takes a sense of responsibility and ownership, which brings us to our second point. As a Product Manager, you should be a leader who isn’t afraid of taking risks. When needed, you should be ready to take the driver’s seat. There is no doubt that your responsibility will exceed a single product, and you will soon be expected to come up with ideas that will impact the whole company.

3. Prove You Can Multitask

Limited resources mean you may find yourself wearing different hats. For example, you might not have a UX designer and end up designing the wireframes yourself. Regardless of the situation, get ready to prove to them that you can multitask. How do you show this skill in your Product Manager case study? 

• By thinking about how this company can make money — or in Product Gym terms, by becoming a wartime Product Manager. Think about how the product in question will contribute to the company’s short-term and long-term goals. 
• Many startups are still in the funding stage, so any work you design should generate revenue with minimal costs. 
• Think about all the ways you can create a product that the market currently needs and lacks. 
• Include wireframes in your case study presentation to show them that you already thought about how the product should look. 
• In your documentation and presentation, describe the resources you will need and how you budget this product.

4. Learn About the Company

A case study assignment is a simulation of the real job, especially in startup interviews. Leverage it to learn as much about the company as possible. Assess how they treat you and try to figure out how the company culture is.

Are they ignoring your emails and acting like you don’t exist? Or are they making a genuine effort to make the interview work for you despite the lack of resources? Are you expected to solve a complex case study on the go during an interview?

Answering these questions can give you a good feel of your possible future employer.

5. Prioritize, Prioritize, and Prioritize

As we mentioned, startup companies operate with minimal resources and are under a lot of stress. So, remember to focus on the essential features needed to create a fully functional MVP ready for the market in the least amount of time.

Make some realistic estimations and come up with numbers to help your interviewers with the budget, resources, and time you need to create this product. Roadmap the steps required to get to the MVP and clearly define everybody’s responsibilities to build it.

How to Solve Whiteboarding Case Study Questions in 4 Steps

Along with the commonly assigned take-home assignment and the presentation that follows, the product management case study is notorious for its technical and whiteboarding interview questions. Here are four simple steps our instructors developed to help you master the dreaded whiteboarding interview questions in your case study round.

Step 1: Keep Calm and Embrace the Fact that You Know Nothing

Most aspiring PMs fail the Product Manager case study not because they do not have experience, but because they panic over a lack of information. 

In practice, Product Managers rarely have enough information about the problem they were asked to solve. Having seen many candidates interview, we can confirm that interviewees often disqualify themselves by showing the interviewer that they are not ready to tackle ambiguous real-life issues.

So, remember to keep calm and accept the fact that you have insufficient information about the problem that’s thrown at you.

Step 2: Try to Understand What the Question Wants You to Achieve

Companies ask whiteboarding interview questions to see if you can create or improve a product that can accomplish a specific goal. When you take on any product management case study question, start by taking a step back. Think about what the question wants you to accomplish.

In most cases, you should be able to divine the purpose of the question from how the interviewer forms it. Our case study instructors have identified four specific purposes: 

• Prioritization
• Product Design
• Target Market Identification
• Product Launch 

Determining the purpose behind vague questions and finding the right approach to address them requires a lot of focused practice with real case study questions.

Step 3: Nar row Down the Question as Much as Possible

You need to narrow down the case study questions as much as possible to come up with some real and data-driven conclusions. Given that you have little to no resources available to you, you have to make some realistic estimations. Accurate estimations are only possible if you get to the heart of the question.

Think it through and ask as many questions as you need.

Step 4: Keep the Conversation Alive

Communication is an essential part of the case study interview: you should keep your interviewer informed about every aspect of your thought process. After you identify the whiteboarding question’s purpose, clearly inform your interviewer what direction you want to take and your reasoning.

Check your reasoning with your interviewer by asking them if this is something on their mind or if this is something they would consider. In most cases, they would either have an answer key or a direction on their mind and would be able to help you.

Once you agree on the direction you take, ask more specific questions to extract as much information as possible and get a confidence vote from the interviewer that you are on the right track.

Last but not least, make your interviewer’s life easier by suggesting options and giving details while asking questions. See how we used these four steps to work through a Facebook Product Manager Case Study question: Should Facebook enter the dating market?

Product Manager Case Study Presentation Best Practices

You have worked hard and finally finished your Product Manager case study assignment, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax—your case study presentation is as vital as solving the question.

Not only is it the time to demonstrate your excellent communication skills, but a good presentation shows your interviewers how you collaborate. Here’s a breakdown of how to give a winning presentation:

• Design and Brand Your Presentation Materials: The best way to prove that you are a big fan of the company and have the spirit to join the team is to use company colors, logos, and any media related to them. A good design always draws attention, and you want to grab as much attention as you can.
• Have the Right Amount of Content: Have just enough content to ensure that people know enough about your product to be convinced that it has potential. Include all the relevant details about the fundamental aspects of the product. But, leave them curious about the finer details. This will keep them engaged throughout the presentation.
• Include Visuals and Media to Spark Feedback from the Audience: Activating the brain’s visual cortex will keep your interviewers engaged throughout your presentation. The best way to ensure that everybody understands your product is to include wireframes and preliminary designs in your presentation.
• Make Sure Everyone Has a Positive Experience With Your Presentation: A good rule of thumb is to make sure you can explain your product to a five-year-old and a Ph.D. simultaneously. Start simple and allow the audience to ask questions as you progress. Allocate a considerable amount of time to go over your designs and ask the interviewer for feedback: Ask them questions, see what they think, and learn about the things they would have done differently. 
• Paint a Clear Picture of the Product With Your Wireframes: When you are sketching wireframes for your product management case study, be sure to include anything you can explain in terms of functionality. Given that many of the products are digital, it’s crucial to explain the transitions between one screen to another. For example, you should explain what happens when a user clicks on something and which screen comes next. If the next screen is an integral part of the feature, you should include it in your case study deliverables.

List of Product Manager Case Study Question Examples

Before we dive into the most common examples of Product Manager case study interview questions , let’s solve one together. Check out how our Case Study Instructor, Roman Kolosovski, tackles the popular FAANG case study question “How would you build a product for pet owners?”:

1. Product Design Case Study Questions

These are the most common types of questions. They range from designing a product from scratch to improving an existing product. Some questions will explicitly tell you to focus on a specific OKR, while others will leave everything ambiguous to challenge you to think more.

Product Design Question Examples

• Design a product to help users find doctors on Facebook . 
• How would you improve Google Maps? 
• You’re a part of the Google Search webspam team: How would you detect duplicate websites? 
• Name any product you love and any product you despise and explain your reasoning for both cases. ( Amazon )
• You’re the Product Manager of a team that focuses on financial products for our Uber drivers. You’re tasked with designing a financial product (or suite of products) that addresses our drivers’ needs in Brazil.

2. Product Strategy Questions 

Unlike product design questions, strategy questions require you to think about the bigger picture. You’ll either be asked to find ways to make a product better—and hence define success for the product, or to complete the overall organization more successfully. 

To solve these questions, you need to be well informed about the company and its products or services. Consider the company’s business model, competitors, and the recent developments in that industry. The essential skill you need to demonstrate here is analytical thinking.

Product Strategy Question Examples

• If you were Google’s CEO, would you be concerned about Microsoft? 
• How would you improve Google Maps? (Google)
• How would you set goals and measure success for Facebook notifications? 
• How would you monetize Facebook messenger? 
• How would you determine the right price and method to promote product XYZ, and why? (Amazon)

3. Estimation and Analysis Questions 

These are used by interviewers to measure how comfortable you are making decisions with limited data, so show them how you use data to derive the KPIs you need for your product. These questions are mostly asked during the interview. To solve them without internet access is only possible by learning the fundamental values of the company beforehand. This includes the revenue it makes or the approximate number of users it has. You should also be able to calculate their critical KPIs.

Estimation and Analysis Case Study Question Examples

• How many queries per second does Gmail get? 
• As the Product Manager for Google Glass ‘Enterprise Edition’, which metrics would you track? How do you know if the product is successful? 
• How much revenue does YouTube make per day?
• How would you go about estimating the number of gas stations in the USA? 
• How would you track user engagement in an app, and what KPIs would you use to improve it?

4. Scheduling/Operational Questions 

These types of case study interview questions are few and far between. Interviewers ask these questions to assess the candidates’ ability to turn ideas into deliverable tasks. Note that for most operational Product Manager case study questions, the interviewer will require you to write a detailed delivery schedule and write user stories and tasks.

Scheduling/Operational Case Study Question Examples

• Write the Jira ticket(s) for engineering for the idea you want to execute. (Upwork)
• Outline a brief (1-2 page) launch plan that would cover the activities and tasks needed to launch the feature successfully. Be sure to touch on both internal and external stakeholders, and include potential launch goals. (Stitch Data)

Product Manager Case Study FAQs

The short answer is yes. You should always have a couple of screen designs ready for your case study interview. Why? It’s probably the best way to spark any reaction from the interviewing committee. Plus, it’s also way more comfortable for your audience to understand what your product looks like with a solid prototype. 

Given that it’s not your job to develop the actual design, low fidelity seems more appropriate. That being said, the bar for low fidelity designs has been relatively high over the past couple of years. So, low fidelity designs are more than pen and paper sketches: they are expected to be digital.

Detail the solution you came up with a presentation that states:  Here is what the solution is. Here is what the solution looks like. Here is how a user would go through the process within this solution.

There are four common types of Product Manager case study questions:  Product design questions  Product strategy questions  Estimation and analysis questions Scheduling/operational questions

Unlike larger companies, startups do not have as many tools and resources at their disposal. This means that not many will have a recruiting team or a full-fledged HR strategy and are interviewing as they go. Many Product Gym members that have taken the startup route have noted how disorganized the Product Manager interview process can get at a startup, so prepare for some confusion. No matter the size of the company, be sure to assess how they treat you and try to figure out how the company culture is in the process.

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Top 10 Product Management Case Studies from Leading Global Companies

• August 25, 2023
• product management

Product management, a dynamic blend of creativity and strategy, shapes groundbreaking innovations from abstract ideas. There’s no better way to comprehend this intricate dance than by diving into real-world case studies. In this blog, we emba rk on a journey through ten illuminating case studies, dissecting each phase and challenge that architects product management triumphs. From monumental missteps to resounding victories, each case study forms a mosaic of insights, demonstrating the path from ideation to market supremacy. These insights are further enriched as we link them to frameworks rooted in product management, product marketing , and strategic innovation.

These case studies illuminate the intricate art and strategic science of product management. Each story narrates a journey through innovation, iteration, user-centricity, and strategic adaptability, underpinned by frameworks integral to product management, product marketing, and strategic innovation. From empathetic design to responsive data-driven decisions , these studies form a compendium of strategies that drive product success . Whether in the realm of technology, travel, or consumer goods, the essence of product management resonates across diverse landscapes. As we navigate through these case studies in simple steps, we glean insights that guide both budding enthusiasts and seasoned professionals through the labyrinthine corridors of innovation, igniting the spark for the next wave of transformative products.

Key Takeaways:

• Understanding customer needs drives innovation, evident in Apple’s iPhone and Airbnb’s personalized experiences.
• Strategic frameworks like Lean Startup (Tesla’s Model 3) and Blue Ocean Strategy (Airbnb) guide successful evolution.
• User feedback refines products, seen in Facebook’s News Feed redesign and Uber’s pricing strategy.
• Balancing innovation with familiarity propels mass adoption, exemplified by Tesla’s Model 3.
• Data shapes effective strategies, illustrated by Google’s algorithms, Netflix’s personalization, and Uber’s pricing approaches.

Case Study 1: Apple's iPhone - Orchestrating Innovation

Step 1:  Market Gap Analysis and Opportunity Identification (Problem-Solution Fit)

Apple’s iPhone journey began by identifying a yawning market gap: consumers desired an all-in-one device. This echoes the Problem-Solution Fit framework, encapsulating the essence of understanding customer pain points and providing tailor-made solutions.

Step 2:  Design Thinking and Iterative Prototyping (Design and Development)

Apple’s iterative approach to iPhone design embodies Design Thinking. By empathizing with user needs, ideating features, and rapidly prototyping, they ensured a product that resonated with real-world usage.

Step 3:  Agile Development and Rapid Testing (Agile Methodology)

Agile development was pivotal in iPhone’s realization. Frequent feedback loops, incremental development, and rapid testing aligned with Agile’s core principles, allowing Apple to pivot based on real-time insights.

Step 4:  Branding and Storytelling (Product Marketing)

Apple’s iconic iPhone launch wasn’t just about a product; it was a masterclass in storytelling. Their branding prowess and emotive narratives exemplify Product Marketing’s essence – conveying a product’s value through relatable stories.

Step 5:  Continuous Enhancement and User-Centric Iteration (Lean Startup)

Post-launch, Apple’s commitment to user-centricity mirrored the Lean Startup approach. Regular updates, user feedback incorporation, and iterative refinements transformed the iPhone into a product that evolved in tandem with user needs.

Case Study 2: Netflix's Content Personalization - Algorithms in Action

Step 1:  Data-Driven Insights and Customer Segmentation (Market Segmentation)

Netflix’s content personalization was sparked by data-driven insights, forming the foundation of effective market segmentation. The case study aligns with the principle of understanding diverse user segments and tailoring experiences accordingly.

Step 2:  Machine Learning and AI Integration (AI and Machine Learning)

Netflix’s predictive algorithms personify the integration of AI and Machine Learning. These algorithms, fueled by user data, offer personalized content recommendations at scale, showcasing the power of AI-driven personalization.

Step 3:  User-Centric Interface and Gamification (User Experience Design)

By designing a user-centric interface and incorporating gamification elements, Netflix amplified the User Experience Design philosophy. Their approach resonates with making interactions intuitive, engaging, and aligned with user preferences.

Step 4:  Feedback Loops and Agile Improvement (Agile Framework)

Netflix’s iterative enhancement process is an embodiment of the Agile framework. By encouraging user feedback, promptly adapting based on insights, and iteratively enhancing the platform, they embraced Agile’s ethos of flexibility.

Case Study 3: Tesla's Model 3 - From Vision to Mass Market

Step 1:  Disruptive Innovation and Blue Ocean Strategy (Disruptive Innovation)

Tesla’s Model 3 journey echoes the Disruptive Innovation framework. By creating an affordable electric vehicle for the mass market, they disrupted the automotive industry and ventured into a blue ocean of opportunity.

Step 2:  Lean Production and Minimum Viable Product (Lean Production)

Tesla’s lean production tactics mirror the Lean Production framework. By emphasizing efficiency, minimizing waste, and focusing on a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), they streamlined their manufacturing process.

Step 3:  Scalability and Operations Excellence (Operational Excellence)

Tesla’s emphasis on scalability and operational excellence aligns with the Operational Excellence framework. By refining processes, optimizing supply chains, and maintaining stringent quality control, they ensured seamless growth.

Step 4:  Innovation Ecosystem and Open Innovation (Open Innovation)

Tesla’s approach to autopilot features exemplifies Open Innovation. By tapping into external expertise and welcoming user inputs, they expanded their innovation ecosystem beyond internal boundaries.

Step 5:  Sustainable Growth and Value Chain Analysis (Value Chain Analysis)

Tesla’s journey from disruption to sustainable growth aligns with Value Chain Analysis. By optimizing each value-adding activity, they established a competitive edge while sustaining long-term growth.

Case Study 4: Airbnb's Platform Evolution - Cultivating Experiences

Step 1:  Customer Journey Mapping and Pain Point Identification (Customer Journey Mapping)

Airbnb’s evolution stemmed from mapping customer journeys and pinpointing pain points. By understanding user frustrations with traditional accommodations, they crafted a solution that resonated.

Step 2:  Rapid Prototyping and MVP Development (Minimum Viable Product)

Airbnb’s iterative evolution echoes the Minimum Viable Product approach. Rapid prototyping, embracing feedback, and building on the MVP allowed them to evolve the platform effectively.

Step 3:  Trust Building and Reputation Management (Reputation Management)

Airbnb’s focus on building trust among users aligns with Reputation Management principles. By nurturing a positive brand perception and managing user reviews, they established credibility and loyalty.

Step 4:  Global Expansion and Market Entry Strategy (Market Entry Strategy)

Airbnb’s global expansion reflects a well-executed Market Entry Strategy. Adapting to local cultures while preserving core offerings exemplifies the importance of understanding diverse markets.

Step 5:  Community Building and Network Effects (Network Effects)

Airbnb’s success thrived on harnessing Network Effects. Their initiatives for fostering community engagement created a positive feedback loop, amplifying user engagement and the platform’s value.

Case Study 5: Google's Search Engine - Algorithmic Prowess

Step 1:  Competitive Analysis and Market Positioning (Competitive Analysis)

Google’s journey commenced with competitive analysis, establishing a unique market  positioning . This strategic move underscores the importance of differentiating oneself in a crowded landscape.

Step 2:  Algorithmic Design and Innovation Framework (Innovation Framework)

Google’s introduction of the PageRank algorithm epitomizes  innovation frameworks . By introducing a groundbreaking approach to ranking web pages, they reshaped the landscape through innovative thinking.

Step 3:  Continuous Improvement and Kaizen Philosophy (Kaizen Philosophy)

Google’s iterative evolution embodies the Kaizen philosophy. By focusing on continuous improvement, incremental changes, and user-centricity, they sustained a competitive edge.

Step 4:  Monetization Strategies and Business Model Canvas (Business Model Canvas)

Google’s monetization through AdWords aligns with the Business Model Canvas. Identifying partners, customer segments, and revenue streams exemplifies crafting a holistic monetization strategy.

Case Study 6: Amazon's Prime Membership - Enriching Ecosystems

Step 1:  Customer Persona Development and Empathy Mapping (Empathy Mapping)

Amazon’s Prime journey initiated with crafting customer personas and empathy mapping. Stepping into users’ shoes, they devised an offering that catered to their desires and expectations.

Step 2:  Ecosystem Expansion and Blue Ocean Strategy (Blue Ocean Strategy)

Amazon’s expansion of Prime reflects Blue Ocean Strategy. By tapping into uncharted territories like streaming and e-books, they enriched their ecosystem, creating unprecedented value.

Step 3:  Data-Driven Decision-Making and KPI Measurement (KPI Measurement)

Amazon’s data-driven approach aligns with KPI measurement. Tracking key performance indicators , analyzing user behavior, and adapting offerings underscored the power of  data-driven decision-making .

Step 4:  Innovation and Disruptive Business Models (Disruptive Business Models)

Amazon’s introduction of Prime Day and Whole Foods discounts mirrors disruptive business models. By redefining industry norms, they sustained innovation and customer engagement.

Case Study 7: Coca-Cola's "New Coke" Fiasco - A Lesson in Perception Management

Step 1:  Market Research and Customer Surveys (Customer Surveys)

Coca-Cola’s reformulation of “New Coke” stemmed from extensive market research and surveys. This phase underscores the significance of gathering  consumer insights  and sentiments.

Step 2:  Change Management and Stakeholder Alignment (Change Management)

The response to “New Coke” highlighted the importance of change management. Ensuring alignment among internal stakeholders and managing transitions smoothly was pivotal.

Step 3:  Crisis Management and Reputation Recovery (Crisis Management)

Coca-Cola’s swift reversion to the original formula showcases effective crisis management. Acknowledging mistakes and reverting to a familiar product salvaged their brand reputation.

Case Study 8: Facebook's News Feed Redesign - Sculpting User-Centric Experiences

Step 1:  User Persona Development and User-Centered Design (User-Centered Design)

Facebook’s redesign journey commenced with user persona development and user-centered design. Focusing on user needs and preferences resulted in an interface aligned with user expectations.

Step 2:  Iterative Prototyping and Rapid Testing (Iterative Prototyping)

Facebook’s iterative approach mirrors the iterative prototyping framework. Creating prototypes, incorporating feedback, and refining designs ensured a seamless and user-friendly interface.

Step 3:  Ethical Design and Human-Centered AI (Ethical Design)

As concerns about user well-being grew, Facebook’s ethical design approach emerged. This phase highlights the importance of crafting technology that respects human well-being.

Step 4:  Storytelling and Emotional Branding (Emotional Branding)

Facebook’s storytelling approach echoes emotional branding. By weaving narratives that evoke emotions, they deepened their connection with users and fostered engagement.

Case Study 9: Microsoft's Windows 8 - Balancing Innovation and Familiarity

Step 1:  Ideation and Blue Sky Thinking (Blue Sky Thinking)

Microsoft’s Windows 8 journey began with blue sky thinking – embracing innovative ideas. This phase underscores the significance of bold thinking to reshape industries.

Step 2:  User Testing and Usability Iteration (Usability Iteration)

User testing and usability iteration exemplify Microsoft’s approach. Incorporating user feedback and iterating based on insights ensured a product that met user expectations.

Step 3:  Change Management and Internal Buy-In (Internal Buy-In)

The Windows 8 case highlights the importance of internal buy-in during change management. Gaining stakeholder support and managing transitions are vital for successful innovation.

Step 4:  Learning from Failure and Agile Mindset (Agile Mindset)

Microsoft’s response to user feedback reflects an agile mindset. Embracing failures as learning opportunities and adapting swiftly aligns with the principles of agility.

Case Study 10: Uber's Surge Pricing Strategy - Navigating Economics and User Perception

Step 1:  Demand-Supply Analysis and Pricing Optimization (Pricing Optimization)

Uber’s surge pricing strategy began with analyzing demand and supply dynamics. This phase emphasizes the importance of pricing optimization to balance economic viability and user sentiment.

Step 2:  Communication Strategy and Transparent Messaging (Communication Strategy)

Uber’s enhancement of their communication strategy was prompted by user confusion. Transparent messaging is vital for managing user expectations and preventing negative perceptions.

Step 3:  Ethical Pricing and Value Proposition (Ethical Pricing)

Uber’s approach to balancing profitability and ethics aligns with the Ethical Pricing framework. Maintaining a compelling value proposition even during surge pricing showcases a customer-first mindset.

Step 4:  Data-Driven Decision-Making and Continuous Improvement (Data-Driven Decision-Making)

Uber’s responsiveness to user behavior and feedback reflects data-driven decision-making. Analyzing user patterns and continuously adapting pricing strategies aligns with data-centric approaches.

Frequently Asked Questions

2024 estimate: Considering the current trajectory and projected growth, we can speculate that the average product manager salary in India for 2024 could be somewhere between ₹15 lakhs and ₹35 lakhs per year.

Product Manager salaries tend to increase with higher seniority levels. For instance, an Assistant Product Manager might earn ₹12.9 Lakhs, while a Chief Product Officer can command a salary of ₹1.2 Crores.

Some of the leading tech companies in India, such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta, offer competitive Product Manager salaries, with figures exceeding ₹50 Lakhs per annum.

Location plays a significant role in determining Product Manager salaries. Cities with a thriving tech ecosystem like Bangalore and Hyderabad tend to offer higher salaries.

Specialized skills, such as Agile Software Development, Product Strategy, and Go-to-Market Strategy, are highly rewarded in the field of Product Management.

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Career in Consulting

11 must-know case interview frameworks

This is a complete guide to case interview frameworks.

In this in-depth guide, you’ll learn:

• 11 must-know consulting frameworks to ace your case interviews
• How to use these frameworks in your case interviews
• And how to create custom frameworks

So, if you want to land an offer from a top consulting firm, this guide is for you.

Let’s dive right in.

Table of Contents

Get the latest data about salaries in consulting, what are case interview frameworks.

A case interview framework is a structured way to approach how to solve a problem .

In other words:

Case interview frameworks help Consultants (and aspiring Consultants) brainstorm and organize their ideas to solve complex problems.

For example, a case interview framework is the profitability framework.

Let’s imagine this business problem:

Your client is manufacturing cars. And, for the past 2 years, they have been experiencing declining profits. They hire us to determine the root causes of this business problem.

And to help this company, you should explore the two main profit drivers: revenues and costs.

And explore if revenues decreased (one cause of declining profits).

Or explore if costs increased (another cause of declining profits).

Well… this (simple) example is a business framework.

Related articles

Check also these articles to ace your case interviews:

16 case interview tips

16 case interview mistakes

Ace market sizing questions (incl. 3 market sizing frameworks) 

Case interview preparation

280 case interview examples

Let’s detail the 11 common case interview frameworks you must know to ace your case interviews .

And let’s start with Porter’s five forces.

Case interview framework 1: Porter’s Five Forces

Let’s start with an analysis of external factors.

And one of the most well-known business frameworks is Michael Porter’s Five Forces model.

And it can be found in the book Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors .

Michael Porter’s Five Forces model says the following:

Competitive advantage in an industry is dependent on five primary forces :

• The threat of new entrants
• How much bargaining power do buyers have
• The bargaining power of suppliers
• Threat of substitute products
• Rivalry with competitors

The degree of these threats determines the attractiveness of the market:

• An intense competition allows minimal profit margins.
• Mild competition allows wider profit margins.

Therefore, the goal is to assess whether a company should enter/exit the industry or find a position to defend itself against these forces best or influence them in its favor .

For instance, your market entry framework should include the components of Porter’s Five Forces. 

The threat of new entrants (barriers to entry)

Several factors determine the degree of difficulty in entering an industry:

• Economies of scale

Product differentiation

• Capital requirements vs. switching costs
• Access to distribution channels
• Cost advantages independent of scale
• Proprietary product technology
• Favorable access to raw materials
• Favorable location
• Government subsidies
• Learning curve
• Government policy

Relationship with buyers (buyer power)

• It is concentrated or large purchases volumes relative to the seller’s sales
• The products it purchases front the industry are standard or undifferentiated
• It faces few switching costs
• Buyers pose a credible threat of backward integration
• The industry’s product is unimportant to the quality of the buyer’s products or services
• The buyer has full information
• Purchasing potential
• Growth potential
• Structural position: intrinsic bargaining power and propensity to use it
• Cost of servicing

Relationship with suppliers (supplier power)

A supplier group is powerful if:

• It is not obliged to contend with other substitute products for sales in the industry
• The industry is not an important customer of the supplier group
• The supplier group is an important input to the buyer’s business
• The supplier group’s products are differentiated, or it has built up switching costs
• The supplier group poses a credible threat to forward integration

Key issues in purchasing strategy from a structural standpoint are as follows:

• Stability and competitiveness of the supplier pool
• An optimal degree of vertical integration
• Allocation of purchases among qualified suppliers
• The threat of backward integration

Substitute products

Substitute products that deserve the most attention are those that:

• Compete in price with the industry’s products
• Are produced by industries earning high profits

Rivalry among competitors (competitive analysis)

Now, let’s analyze the competitive landscape.

Rivalry among existing competitors increases if:

• Numerous or equally balanced competitors exist
• Industry growth is slow
• Fixed costs are high
• There is a lack of differentiation (commodity market)
• There are low switching costs
• Production capacity is augmented in large increments

To end this first section about Porter’s Five Forces, you can watch this video made by the channel Business To You.

Case interview framework 2: the 4 P’s

The 4Ps are:

And it’s often seen as a Marketing framework.

The 4Ps framework can help you in your case interviews in one of the following situations :

• A market entry strategy or a product launch strategy
• To understand why sales (or market shares) have decreased

Now, let’s look at the different elements of the 4P framework.

In examining the competitiveness of a company’s product, whether it is a new product being introduced on the market or an existing product manufactured by the company, one must examine the product itself.

The following are some of the questions you might find helpful in assessing a product’s competitiveness :

• Does the product serve a particular market segment? Is it a mass market or a niche product
• Is it differentiated enough to stand out against the competition? If yes, how? If not, what can be done to improve its value perception?
• What features can be added to the product that would add to the perception of value to the consumer?
• What are some of the packaging issues that might present an opportunity or impediment to increased sales?
• Does my packaging reflect the positioning of the product?
• Does the product have patent protection?
• What financial role is the product playing (i.e., cash cow, long-term profit potential, etc.)?
• Are there any other products that can act as substitutes?

Getting the right price for a product is extremely important for the company’s success.

Unfortunately, sometimes the right price is not easy to determine.

Depending on the price elasticity of the product, a 1% increase in price has anywhere from a -20% reduction to a 25% increase in net income.

The most important factor that drives price is the customer’s perceived “value” of the product .

This is also known as the customer’s willingness to pay.

For example, if a company produces shirts with a unit cost of $10, but the market perceives the product as fashionable or has the right brand name, the shirt can be priced to capture any consumer surplus at $50 or even $80 per shirt.

The same manufacturer introduces another shirt at the same cost the following season.

This time, however, the shirt is no longer considered in vogue and thus has little “value.”

This time, the shirt would be priced at $25.

Other factors determining a product’s price are:

• The Cost to Produce COGS : maintain low costs to capture a bigger profit margin.
• The price paid previously – the expected price: if consumers are used to paying a certain price for a product, it is challenging to convince them to pay a $20 premium for the same product. However, if their perceived product value is higher than what they paid in the past, there’s room to capture some consumer surplus.
• The price of substitutes : the price of a product is driven down if the product can be easily substituted by another that serves the same function.

After assessing the product positioning and understanding who your customers are, you need to develop a strategy around which distribution channel to use and where to sell your product .

The distribution channel can be through a third party or an in-house sales force.

And the distribution channel is responsible for transmitting the company’s product to the customer (wholesaler, retailer, end-user).

The selected distribution channel and the outlets at which the product is sold MUST be aligned with the product’s positioning and focused customer segment.

There are many issues to consider when examining the place/channel distribution.

Below are some thoughts to formulate a strategy for delivering the product to market :

• What are the customer preferences regarding distribution?
• Which channels most closely align with the company’s strategy?
• Does the company need to build new channels or eliminate existing ones?
• Does it make more sense to go direct to the end-user or deliver the product through intermediaries?
• What are the economics of the channel?
• What would be the relationship of the company’s sales force in this arrangement?
• How would the company address any potential shifts in power to the channel?
• How do competitors distribute their products?

Promoting and developing a specific brand for the product has many benefits :

It develops a certain perception of the product in consumers’ eyes.

The product’s success will depend on the message conveyed to the consumer and what that consumer ultimately believes about the product.

To maintain a certain perception of exclusivity, traditional advertising (mass or niche), refraining from advertising, word-of-mouth marketing, direct mail, etc., can all be included in promotion and branding.

Here is a list of issues worth analyzing in case interviews:

• How is the marketing strategy different from the competition?
• What message are we trying to communicate? What is the objective?
• Where are we advertising our product (newspapers, TV, radio, Internet, etc.)?
• Pull strategy: (direct at end-user) use of advertising, direct mail, telemarketing, word of mouth, and consumer promotions.
• Push strategy: trade promotions, sales aids, and sales training programs
• How much money is allocated to marketing?
• How are competitors marketing their products?

Ace market sizing questions

Case interview framework 3: the 3 C’s

Knowing the 3C framework and the details upon which the framework is based is crucial to cracking the case .

For instance, the 3C framework is often used to assess the business landscape.

Or by simply defining a growth strategy.

For instance, your market entry framework should include the 3C’s. 

By analyzing the three elements, Consultants can identify the key success factors and create a viable marketing strategy.

DO NOT attempt to tackle a case during the interview by saying, “I would like to use the 3Cs framework…”

Before you even finish your sentence, the interviewer will have decided to reject you.

This point will be emphasized many times during this guide.

A good first step in assessing the business landscape is to examine the customer, the people whose problems the industry is trying to solve.

Below are eight factors to consider when examining the customer.

#1: Customer Identification

Who is the customer?

In trying to identify the customer, remember that the person who makes the purchase decision, the person who pays (the customer), and the end user (the consumer) may all be different people.

For example, a doctor may prescribe medicine that will be paid for by an insurance company (the customer) and ultimately used by a patient (the consumer).

#2: Customer Segmentation

Is it possible to group customers into distinct segments?

Customer segmentation can make it easier to understand customer needs and preferences, the size and growth rate of different revenue streams, and to identify trends.

It may make sense to segment customers by: 1. Age group 2. Gender 3. Income level 4. Employment status 5. Distribution channel 6. Region 7. Product preference 8. Willingness to pay 9. New versus existing customers 10. Large versus small customers.

How big is the market?

How big is each customer segment?

How many customers are there in each segment, and what is the dollar value of those customers?

How fast is the market growing?

What is the growth rate of each customer segment?

#5: Customer Preferences

What do customers want?

Do different customer segments want different things?

Are the needs and preferences of customers changing over time?

#6: Willingness to Pay

How much is each customer segment willing to pay?

How price sensitive is each customer segment?

For example, students will normally be very price sensitive, which means that offering student discounts can increase units sold by enough to increase total revenue.

#7: Bargaining Power

What is the concentration of customers in the market relative to the concentration of firms?

If there is a small number of powerful customers who control the market?

Then it may be necessary to either play by their rules or search for a more favorable market.

Do customers face high switching costs?

If customers face high switching costs, this will reduce their bargaining power and allow firms to charge higher prices than would otherwise be possible.

#8: Distribution

What is the best way to reach customers?

Does each customer segment have a preferred distribution channel?

Get 4 Complete Case Interview Courses For Free

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Competitors

It is also important to understand the business landscape to understand the competition .

Competition can come from firms within an industry offering similar solutions to the same group of customers (for example, Pepsi and Coca-Cola).

But, competition can also come from firms in other industries who produce substitutes .

Substitutes may have quite different characteristics (for example, petroleum and natural gas).

Still, they represent a form of indirect competition because consumers can use them in place of one another (at least in some circumstances).

For example, petroleum and natural gas might produce heat and energy.

Below are ten factors to consider when examining the competition.

#1: Competitor Identification

Who are the company’s major competitors?

Taking Cadbury as an example, some of its major competitors might include Lindt, Ferrero, Nestlé, Hershey’s, and Mars.

What products and services does the competition offer?

#2: Substitutes

Who are the company’s indirect competitors? That is, which firms are producing substitutes?

Identifying indirect competitors helps to take a broader view of what the company offers.

For example, Cadbury sells chocolate.

But it might be considered a snack food company.

So indirect competitors might include companies like Lays, Cheetos, and Doritos.

#3: Competitor Segmentation

Is it possible to segment competitors in a meaningful way?

The competition might be grouped by distribution channel, region, product line, or customer segment.

#4: Size and Concentration

What are the revenues and market shares of major competitors?

What is the concentration of competitors in the industry?

Are there many small competitors (a low-concentration industry) or a few dominant players (a high-concentration industry)?

Examples of high-concentration industries include oil, tobacco, and soft drinks.

Examples of low-concentration industries include wheat and corn.

#5: Performance

What is the historical performance of the competition?

Relevant performance can be profit margins, net income, and return on investment.

#6: Industry Lifecycle

Where is the industry’s lifecycle (early stage, growth, maturity, or decline)?

#7: Industry Drivers

What drives the industry: brand, product quality, the scale of operations, or technology?

#8: Competitive Advantages

What is the competition good at?

How sustainable are these advantages?

What are the competition’s weaknesses? How easily can these weaknesses be exploited?

#9: Competitive Strategy

What strategy is the competition pursuing?

Is the competition producing products that are low-cost or differentiated?

What customer segments is the competition targeting?

What are the competition’s pricing and distribution strategies?

What is the competition’s growth strategy?

Are they seeking growth by focusing on customer retention, increased sales volume, entering new markets, or launching new products?

#10: Barriers to entry

Key barriers to entry include capital requirements, economies of scale, network effects, product differentiation, proprietary product, technology, government policy, access to suppliers, access to distribution channels, and switching costs. (see Porter’s five forces model).

In assessing the business landscape, it is not enough to understand the customer and the competition.

Understanding the firm from whose perspective you are analyzing the industry is also important .

Below are ten factors to consider when examining the company.

#1: Performance

What is the historical performance of the company?

What is its market share?

If profits are falling, what is the cause of the issue?

#2: Competitive Advantage

What resources and capabilities does the company possess?

Consider tangible assets (property, plant, equipment, inventory, and employees) and intangible assets (brand, patents, copyrights, and specialized knowledge).

How sustainable are the company’s advantages? What are the company’s weaknesses, and can they be remedied?

#3: Competitive Strategy

What is the company’s competitive strategy?

Is the company producing products that are low-cost or differentiated?

Which customer segments does the company target? What are the company’s pricing, distribution, and growth strategies?

#4: Products

What does the company offer, and how does it benefit consumers?

Does the product have any downsides or side effects?

Is the product differentiated?

How does the company’s product offering compare with the competition?

Are there substitutes available?

#5: Finances

If the company is considering a particular course of action, does it have sufficient funds available?

Financing may be secured from various sources, including internal cash reserves, bank loans, shareholder loans, bond issues, or the sale of shares.

How many units will the company need to sell to cover the cost of the project?

Is there sufficient market demand?

#6: Cost Structure

To understand a company’s cost structure, it helps to break each business unit down into the collection of activities performed to produce value for customers.

How each activity is performed, and its economics will determine a firm’s relative cost structure within its industry.

Are costs predominantly fixed or variable?

How does this compare with the competition?

#7: Organisational Cohesiveness

Understanding a firm’s inner workings is important since competitive strategies can fail if they conflict with its culture, systems, and general business.

The organizational aspects of a firm can be examined using the McKinsey 7 S Model.

#8: Marketing

How do customers perceive the company and its products?

How does the company communicate with customers?

#9: Distribution Channels

What distribution channels does the company use to reach customers?

Are there other channels that are more cost-effective or preferred by customers?

#10: Customer Service

Does the company have a customer loyalty program?

How does the company interact with customers and support its customers post-sale?

Are employees empowered to solve problems and delight customers?

Case interview framework 4: PESTEL (or PESTLE)

PESTEL is an acronym for five factors – Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental – that can influence a company’s performance or strategic decisions.

A PESTEL analysis examines these external forces that can have strategic implications for the company .

And conducting a PESTEL analysis can be helpful for three reasons:

Understanding the facts : Understanding the big picture can help a business make informed decisions and avoid incorrect assumptions based on past experience.

Anticipating change : Understanding the macro environment can help a business identify trends and anticipate change, allowing it to take advantage of opportunities and manage potential threats.

Avoiding failure : Understanding the macro environment can help a business (and its investors) to identify projects that are likely to fail due to unfavorable conditions.

Below is a list of some of the general issues the interviewee should consider:

Political forces

• Are there any legal or political restrictions, such as new legislation, that would impede the product’s sale?
• What regulations must be addressed before introducing the product (health regulations/antitrust, etc.)?

Economic factors

• Has the economy’s overall performance impacted the sale of my product? Interest rate? Unemployment figures? Exchange rates? Balance of Payments? Free-Trade Agreements?

Socio-cultural forces

• What norms/cultural practices should be considered when entering a new market?
• Are there any trends in religious practices/traditions/rituals that should be considered?

Technological factors

• What are some of the technological trends in the market that could help/diminish the sale of the product (e.g., paper-based media vs. internet)?
• What R&D advancements were made by the market that would have a long-term impact on the very survival of the company (e.g., pay-per-view video vs. video stores)?

Environmental factors

• How does the business affect the environment?

Legal factors

Finally, the folks from the YT channel Business To You have made a great video about the PESTLE model:

Case interview framework 5: Profitability framework

There’s a good chance that the cases discussed during the interview will often touch on issues of declining profitability .

This framework is very helpful in organizing your thoughts and methodically approaching profitability problems.

According to the Profitability Framework’s opening statement, profit is a function of revenue and costs.

A company’s profitability declines when revenue has dropped, costs have risen, or both.

The goal is to identify the component of the equation that is reducing profitability and determine the best course of action for fixing it.

A quick note:

Variable costs are costs that vary with the units sold.

Fixed costs are costs that do not vary with the units sold.

Case interview framework 6: Unit contribution

The following is a framework you can use to help you understand the economics of the product’s contribution.

This framework is critical when forecasting the overall success of the product .

Case interview framework 7: Break Even

A break-even analysis tells you how many units of a product must be sold to cover the fixed and variable production costs.

For instance, this is important when deciding whether to launch a new product.

Also, a break-even analysis concerns a product’s contribution margin (selling price minus variable costs per unit; see the previous section).

So, the contribution margin is the excess between the selling price of the product and the total variable costs .

For example, if an item sells for $100, the total fixed costs are $25 per unit, and the total variable costs are $60 per unit, the product’s contribution margin is $40 ($100 – $60).

This $40 reflects the revenue collected to cover the remaining fixed costs, which are excluded when figuring the contribution margin.

Case interview framework 8: ROI

ROI is an acronym for Return On Investment.

The ROI is a performance measure that a company can use to evaluate the return from an investment or to compare the returns of several different investments .

For example, if you spent $10,000 and made $15,000, your ROI would be 50%.

[ ( $15,000 – $10,000 ) / $10,000 ] x 100% = 50%

Case interview framework 9: Payback

A payback period is the time needed to recover the cost of an investment.

Simply put, it is the time an investment reaches a breakeven point .

For example, if a company invests $300,000 in a new production line, and the production line then produces a positive cash flow of $100,000 per year, then the payback period is 3 years.

Another example:

You are offered to invest in the project $120K.

The project will bring on average $30K a year in net profit.

Using the payback formula, we get a payback period for capital invested of four years (we divided 120,000 by 30,000).

Case interview framework 10: Value Chain

A Value Chain Analysis is a concept first described and popularised by Michael Porter in his 1985 book, Competitive Advantage .

Value Chain Analysis involves identifying all the important business activities and determining which ones give the company a competitive advantage .

Also, a value chain analysis can be performed to identify potential root causes of a business problem.

For instance, a Value Chain Analysis can be undertaken by following three steps:

• Break down a company into its key activities under each heading in the model.
• Identify activities that contribute to the firm’s competitive advantage by giving it a cost advantage or creating product differentiation.
• Develop strategies around the activities that provide a sustainable competitive advantage.

Cost advantage

A business can achieve a cost advantage over its competitors by understanding the costs associated with each activity.

And then organizing each activity so that it is as efficient as possible.

Porter identified ten cost drivers related to each activity in the value chain : 1. Economies of Scale 2. Learning 3. Capacity utilization 4. Linkages among activities 5. Interrelationships among business units 6. Degree of vertical integration 7. Timing of market entry 8. Firm’s policy on targeting cost or product differentiation 9. Geographic location 10. Institutional factors (regulation, union activity, taxes, etc.)

A firm can develop a cost advantage by controlling these ten cost drivers better than its competitors.

A firm can achieve product differentiation by focusing on its core competencies to perform them better than its competitors .

Product differentiation can be achieved through any part of the value chain.

For example, procurement of unique inputs and not widely available to competitors, providing high levels of product support services, or designing innovative and aesthetically attractive products.

Case interview framework 11: Ansoff Matrix

The Product/Market Expansion Matrix (or “Ansoff Matrix” as it is sometimes called) was developed by a Russian-American mathematician named Igor Ansoff.

And it was first explained in his 1957 Harvard Business Review article entitled Strategies for Diversification.

The Product/Market Expansion Matrix can help a firm define a product-market growth strategy by focusing on four growth alternatives :

1. Market Penetration; 2. Market Development; 3. Product Development; and 4. Diversification.

The four alternative growth strategies are:

Market Penetration : A strategy to increase sales without departing from the original product-market strategy. This involves increasing sales to existing customers and finding new customers for existing products.

Market Development : A strategy to sell existing products to new markets (normally with some modifications). Ansoff described this as a strategy “to adapt [the] present product line … to new missions.” For example, Boeing might adapt a passenger aircraft model for cargo transportation.

Product Development : A strategy to sell new products, with new or altered features, to existing markets. Ansoff described this as a strategy to develop products with “new and different characteristics such as will improve the performance of the [existing] mission.” For example, Boeing might develop a new aircraft design with improved fuel economy.

Diversification : A strategy to develop new products for new markets, which can be related to the current business (e.g., vertical integration or horizontal diversification) or unrelated (e.g., conglomerate diversification).

Learn how to create custom case interview frameworks

The question then becomes, “How do you use business frameworks in consulting interviews?”.

On the Internet, numerous suggestions exist for how you ought to proceed.

However, the two main schools of thought are Victor Cheng’s frameworks and Marc Cosentino’s Case In Point.

However, these two approaches have one thing in common: they both attempt to impose pre defined frameworks on cases .

For instance:

For a market entry case, those resources tell you the market entry framework you should use.

And for an M&A case, those resources tell you exactly the merger and acquisition framework you should use.

They push you to adapt the problem to your tools .

Since every case is different, this will inevitably result in average outcomes and rejections.

For instance, 10 different M&A cases should have 10 different merger and acquisition frameworks. 

Another example: 10 different market entry cases should have 10 different market entry frameworks. 

So, you have to learn how to create custom case interview frameworks.

You must create your own unique frameworks using First Principle Thinking .

Those case interview frameworks must be MECE .

To do so, I’ve created free training to help you in that journey .

You can sign up for free with the link below.

Case interview frameworks: Final words

I hope you enjoyed this updated guide to business frameworks.

Those consulting frameworks will help you join a top consulting firm.

Now, I’d like to hear from you:

Which frameworks from today’s guide do you use the most?

Or which frameworks are new to you?

Has this guide helped you develop your business acumen?

Let me know by leaving a quick comment below right now.

To your success,

P.S. Need help with your case interview preparation?

Check whether our coaching program is a good fit. 

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Top 10 Case Interview Frameworks: Beginner Mistakes

“Which framework to use?” is probably among the most common questions popping up in a candidate’s mind when confronting a case.

This definitive guide will not only answer that question by introducing a few common frameworks, but also tell you HOW to use those frameworks more effectively during case interviews , and what pitfalls you should be aware of.

Table of Contents

Case interview frameworks – Overview

What are case interview frameworks.

Case interview frameworks are templates used to break down and solve business problems in case interviews. A framework can be off-the-shelf or highly customized for specific cases; it can also be tailored for certain functions/industries, or versatile enough for general problem-solving.

Common case interview frameworks include:

• Profitability Framework
• Business Situation Framework
• McKinsey M&A Framework
• 4P and 7P Frameworks
• Porter Five Forces Model

External vs Internal

Qualitative vs quantitative.

• Cost vs Benefits
• 2×2 Matrix (e.g.: BCG Growth-Share Matrix)

SWOT Analysis

All of these frameworks will be discussed later in this article.

During a case interview, you use consulting frameworks to break down the problem into smaller pieces through an issue tree and test each branch to see if the root-cause is in there. If a branch indeed contains the root-cause, you break it down further. Rinse and repeat until the root-cause is identified.

The big part of problem solving is about breaking down the problem in almost every step of the case.

What should I keep in mind when using consulting frameworks?

Templates should be treated as guidelines, and not strict rules . The same applies to case interview frameworks.

In the past, case interviews were much more predictable, and frameworks were more applicable. However, nowadays, case interviews are more similar to real business problems, where frameworks need a lot of customizations (you’ll see this word repeated a lot in this article) to be useful.

In fact, the whole consulting industry exists on the basis that consultants can customize theory to real, difficult business situations and produce positive results; nobody pays hundreds of thousands of dollars for them to recite a textbook – any college freshman can do as much.

That’s why in my Case Interview End-to-End Secrets Program , I don’t teach candidates to use frameworks – instead, the focus in on the fundamentals of case interview (problem-solving and business intuition) as well as the tips and techniques for instant performance improvement.

How can I use consulting frameworks effectively?

Here’s a problem with case interview beginners – they tend to go straight for the frameworks, before even knowing the basic mechanisms and principles of case interviews.

If you are one of those beginners, you must first grasp the basics of case interviews – the fundamentals of case interview problem-solving, the issue tree, and the MECE principle. I have written extensive, separate guides on these topics, but for starters, I advice you to read this Case Interview 101 comprehensive guide. 

Busting case interview framework myths

Myth 1: “the more frameworks i know, the better”.

Before we proceed with the popular frameworks in consulting and case interviews, here are four huge myths about frameworks you should steer clear of.

Spend your time learning to draw customized frameworks/ issue trees instead. Case interviews are getting progressively more realistic and less conforming to specific frameworks, so trying to memorize dozens of frameworks is of no use.

Additionally, you should attend to the qualitative side of things, to deeply absorb each framework and its use; skimming the surface will come back to bite you later.

Myth 2: “There must be a framework out there that fits this case”

Ready-made frameworks CANNOT cover all kinds of situations. Even regarding the ones covered, existing frameworks are often “okay-fit”, but not perfectly fit.

Just create a framework/issue tree yourself. Nobody deducts your points for not using a ready-made tool, they even give you points if you can customize it.

Myth 3: “The fancier the framework, the more impressed the interviewer”

You are definitely not wooing anyone by being fancy-schmancy here. Nobody cares about your shiny frame if it does not fit with the picture.

Consultants are very practical and result-oriented people ; what impresses them are candidates who really know what they are talking about, and actually produce good results.

What’s worse is that you also run the risk of appearing superficial; it’s not difficult for consultants with years of experience in the field to fully expose your bluffing. If that happens you may as well say goodbye to your chance of getting hired.

Myth 4: “Knowledge of frameworks is irrelevant in interviewer-led cases”

The assumption underlying this myth is that in interviewer-led cases , the candidate is not the driver of the case, so he or she does not need to actively break down the problem.

This cannot be further from the truth. Many questions in interviewer-led cases are about frameworks/issue trees (“What factors would you consider to solve this problem?”).

Even with other question types you still need to structure answers like a mini-case. Appropriate knowledge of frameworks, as such, is still a MUST.

Five common case interview frameworks

Profitability framework.

Profitability is the most common problem type in case interviews – that means the Profitability Framework is the first one to master for every prospective consultant. You have to absolutely nail it every time, there’s no way around it.

In case interviews, the Profitability Framework is used to mathematically break down the problem, before switching to more qualitative frameworks to devise solutions.

Most of the time, the framework looks like this:

What’s so good about it?

• Firstly, the Profitability Framework is a surefire way to draw a structured issue tree , as the framework is fundamentally MECE.
• Secondly, this framework is grounded in a simple mathematical basis – there’s no confusing qualitative concept to get lost in; heck, “revenues minus costs equal profits” is common sense. That’s why the Profitability Framework may as well be the easiest framework ever devised by humankind (or consultant-kind).

Are there any shortcomings I should be aware of?

• The Profitability Framework is generic; it may not reflect the nuances within the business enough to draw insightful conclusions. In businesses with wide price ranges, for example, just the total sales volume and average unit price do not tell you much.
• To extract more insightful information, either drill down quantitatively by introducing revenue/cost components not expressed in the basic framework (e.g.: revenue by product), or combine it with a qualitative framework.

Business situation framework

This is an extremely versatile template you can use in nearly every case, so make sure to learn it well. It’s not even a “should”, but a “must”.

In my video , I referred to the Business Situation Framework by the more tell-tale “3C & P”, based on it being derived from the famous 3C Framework. These four letters stand for “Company, Customers, Competitors, Products” – areas that the framework analyzes to yield solutions.

• The one big advantage of the Business Situation Framework is its comprehensiveness – covering four crucial internal and external factors in business strategy.
• This framework is quite flexible – you can use it as a template to draw customized issue trees for all kinds of cases. In our video, I demonstrated this by applying it to solve an HR problem.
• The very same comprehensiveness making the Business Situation Framework flexible, also makes it generic, hence the need for extensive modifications; in many cases (the one in our video, for example), not all four components are relevant.
• It is not a beginner-friendly framework – it does not explicitly state which factors to consider under each main branch; newbies often end up in awkward situations, not knowing what to do next and thinking in a bottom-up manner.

How do you avoid that situation then? I’m inclined to say “practice”, but that much is obvious. A less obvious solution is to equip yourself with some “ninja tips” by learning how each C and P is usually segmented, although again I have to emphasize that it’s vital to maintain a flexible mindset.

McKinsey M&A framework

I absolutely love this one because it works in almost every single M&A case.

There isn’t an official name for this framework, but since it is used by McKinsey consultants when confronting an M&A issue, I’d just call it the “McKinsey M&A Framework”.

The framework assesses a proposed M&A on three dimensions: the stand-alone value of each involving companies (values, strengths, weaknesses, etc.); their synergy, i.e. will the two companies combined be greater than the sum of its parts; and other factors, such as feasibility, culture, legal issues, etc.

• Firstly, the segmentation of stand-alone values and synergy is intrinsically MECE , helping the candidate cover all possibilities – every value of each company must fall into one of these categories.
• Secondly, the framework prompts the user to actively look for “Other factors”, increasing its suitability in unique circumstances.

Are there any shortcomings I should be aware of? 

• The framework does not tell you what to look for in each branch, especially in the “Other factors” branch; this ambiguity shouldn’t be too much of an issue for experienced consultants, but might prove troublesome for candidates.
• Again, as with the previous Business Situation Framework, having a few ninja tricks up your sleeves should help you avoid getting stuck, just don’t rely on them too much.

4P / 7P Marketing Mix

This one is perhaps the single most popular framework in marketing. In case interviews , the 4P/7P Framework is used to formulate and implement marketing strategies for the supposed client, such as in competitive situation or market entry cases.

The original Marketing Mix covers four aspects – Product, Price, Place, and Promotion – thus, “4P”; note that “Place” does not pertain to any physical location, but the channel used by the company to deliver its products to its customers.

When services are involved, the mix becomes 7P; the new additions are: People – those performing the services; Process – how those services are delivered to the customers; and Physical Evidence – the visible, physical clues about the services (think of decorations inside a restaurant).

• The best thing about this framework is its sole focus on marketing, making it very efficient for situations where marketing is the primary/only concern.
• Both the 4P and 7P variants are inherently narrow in scope; candidates must always be mindful that they are not covering the big picture with this framework. Only use them to develop marketing solutions.
• The 4P Marketing Mix, specifically, is not even comprehensive enough for some tangible products, such as high-end fashion, where People, Process and Physical Evidence make huge differences.

Porter’s five forces model

Porter’s Five Forces Model is best used when candidates ask for the case context surrounding the client company; this framework helps them know what to ask.

Michael Porter’s model analyzes how a company’s Competitors, Suppliers, Customers interact with it, as well as how New Entrants and Substitute Products might threaten its place in the industry; it produces a snapshot of the relative power the business holds over its industry environment.

• The model’s coverage of the industry landscape is extensive, giving the candidate a vivid picture of the industry surrounding and interacting with the client in the case.
• This framework doesn’t give a clear answer as to what to do – that is its primary drawback; Porter’s model is not “deep” enough to answer such questions.
• The framework is not comprehensive enough for certain industries where political and legal issues, as well as complementary products, are major factors.
• Another thing to keep in mind: Don’t ever analyze a company with the Five Forces Model – the Five Forces Model describes the industry around that business, not the business itself.

Five mini-frameworks – All-purpose tools

These powerful mini-frameworks are probably the most under-appreciated problem-solving tools ever existed.

Mini-frameworks, like the larger frameworks, are also templates to break down information in a top-down, organized fashion.

Unlike their big cousins, however, these are almost never a primary or upper-most component of an issue tree. Furthermore, while common case interview frameworks are, to varying degrees, business-oriented, mini-frameworks are universal.

In this section, I’ll introduce you to five mini-frameworks I find most helpful in consulting case interviews. They feature prominently as supplements for larger frameworks in candidate-led cases , or stand-alone templates to answer questions in interviewer-led cases.

This is a quick and easy method to segment information about a particular entity. The internal branch concerns the inside of the said entity, such as functions within a company; the external branch describes anything outside that entity.

Here’s an example of this mini-framework as an adjunct to the Profitability Framework:

South Sea – a company specializing in bottled sauces – has found its profits going down badly for the past few years. They want you to find out what’s causing the problem.

You split their profits into revenues and costs; from the data provided, it seems like a revenue problem so you’re going into that branch first. How do you proceed?

Here, a quick check can be performed by splitting the factors causing the decline into two groups – external and internal, then ask the interview if the declining profits are also experienced by other American airlines; “yes” suggests an external root cause while “no” suggests an internal one.

This method of segmentation is primarily used in evaluations. By dividing items into two MECE groups, it reduces confusion and minimizes the risk of missing an important item.

For illustration, we again look at the packaged food company in the previous example:

Turns out, South Sea has quite a few internal problems, in both their production and sales functions. Coincidentally, Wilhelm International is looking to acquire South Sea. Wilhelm controls an extensive distribution network, so the South Sea management is quite interested in the deal.

It’s your task to assess whether South Sea should accept Wilhelm’s offer of acquisition or not.

For this task, I recommend using the McKinsey M&A Framework to break down the analysis into three branches: (1) South Sea’s stand-alone value, (2) its possible synergy with Wilhelm International, and of course (3) there must be an “Other factors” branch as well.

Within each branch, it’s possible to group items into quantitative (profits, growth rates) and qualitative (brand name, capabilities). This combination makes the analysis more MECE , and easier to work with.

Costs vs Benefits

This decision-making tool is pretty straightforward – if the benefits outweigh the costs, you go with that option. Otherwise, you’d be better off keeping your money under the mattress.

The Costs-and-Benefits analysis is a somewhat-business-centric twist of the omnipotent Pros-and-Cons. Both of these approaches work even better with weights attached to each evaluating criterion to reflect its impact.

Now, let’s check up on South Sea:

The acquisition is proven to be beneficial for both sides. With the sales problem solved, South Sea turns its attention to the production issue. The management considers replacing some technologies to improve product quality, but they are not sure if the investment will pay off.

How do you know if the investment is worthwhile?

A simple Costs-and-Benefits breakdown would suffice.

For benefits you have the financial gains to consider, as well as non-financial benefits such as improved brand image (because surprisingly, people love good food!).

2×2 Matrix

The 2×2 Matrix is a decision-making tool where options are examined using two criteria, each of which forms an axis of the matrix.

How do you apply this matrix in South Sea’s case, then?

Wilhelm International, after acquiring South Sea, is looking to push the sales of South Sea’s products using its distribution chain. However, South Sea’s product portfolio is quite large, and each product line differs greatly in terms of sales, branding, and market growth rate.

You must select which product lines to focus on.

The 2×2 matrix most famous in the business world, and also suitable for this case, is BCG’s Growth-Share Matrix, which uses market growth rate and market share as decision-making criteria. The position of a business on this matrix suggests whether to invest in, maintain, or discard that business.

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

This mini-framework is seldom used in case interviews and consulting work because it’s very generic; however, for a quick and easy evaluation of a company’s positioning within the industry context, the SWOT analysis works just fine.

In most case interviews, this is where you usually turn to the Marketing Mix or the Business Situation frameworks, but even a SWOT analysis may yield some insights.

Other case interview frameworks

Besides the ones we have covered, there are some other case interview frameworks and mini-frameworks worth looking into:

• Six Forces Model: a variant of Porter’s Five Forces, introducing “Complementary Products” into the analysis.
• Lauterborn’s 4C Framework: a more consumer-oriented variant of the 4Ps, designed for niche marketing.
• McKinsey 7S Framework: a framework used in McKinsey for analyzing organizational effectiveness.
• Ansoff Matrix (Product-Market Grid): a 2×2 matrix, designed for product-market strategizing.

Applying frameworks in case interviews

Here are my five rules to effectively implement frameworks in case interviews; if you follow these rules closely, you will absolutely nail the case.

Of these five rules, the first three are about getting the right framework, while the last two are about looking smart during interviews.

• Getting to know the case: “If you know your case and know your frameworks, you need not fear the result of a hundred case interviews” – always gather as much information as possible before and when you draw your issue tree .
• Bending the frameworks: don’t ever bend reality to your frameworks; bend your frameworks to reality; remove, add, or modify elements if necessary.
• Allying with the interviewer: ask the interviewer to help you break down the problem if you get stuck . How do you get him on your side then? By displaying overwhelming consulting traits .
• 13 Reasons why: “Why do you break down the problem that way?”, “Why do you want this piece of data?” – explain all your questions and decisions as if you stand before the US Congress, and before the interviewer asks you; consultants love accountable people.
• Frameworks-which-must-not-be-named: don’t ever explicitly say the names of the frameworks (“I’m going to use the McKinsey M&A Framework”); you would sound very rigid, bookish, or worse, arrogant; consultants don’t like big words without substance.

I’ll give you a brief case sample to see how these rules work in practice:

Interviewer: Our client today is a restaurant called BurgerQueen, located on US Highway 66. The restaurant has found its profits going down last year, your task is to find out the problem and give them a solution.

Candidate: Thank you for the very interesting case, I’m quite excited to solve it. Now, before we dive in,, I would like to playback the case to make sure that we perceive it the same way, ask a few questions for clarification, then announce my approach. Does that sound good to you?

Interviewer: Okay, carry on.

Candidate: Well, let’s see… Our client is a restaurant, on a highway, specifically, Route 66. Their profits have been going bad. I am to find the cause, and solve the problem. Am I getting it right?

Interviewer: Yes, you’re right.

Candidate: Thank you. Now I’d like to clarify the case, so I have 3 questions:

(1) I assume from the name that our client focuses on burgers, and probably other kinds of fast food. Am I right? (2) Does this restaurant have a specific target customer, like truck drivers? And (3) Is it part of a rest stop?

Interviewer: I’ll answer your questions: they sell burgers, but there are many other dishes as well – although mainly fast food; the restaurant does not have a specific target customer, their customers are drivers and travelers on the highway in general; they are part of a rest stop, but they do not own other facilities in the stop, just the restaurant.

Candidate: Great, thanks for the information. Now that we’re all on the same page, and the case has been clarified, I’d like to inform you of my approach. To eliminate this problem in the long run, I think it’s best to break down the problem using an issue tree, isolate the root cause in one of the branches, and gather information until we can draw an actionable solution. Is that approach okay to you?

Interviewer: That sounds good. Continue.

Candidate: To analyze this problem, I’m breaking it down into two sides: Revenues and Costs. Unless we have information pointing in the other direction, I’ll first hypothesize that the problem comes from the revenue side. May I have some data on the restaurant’s revenue during the past year, to prove this hypothesis?

Interviewer: Well, this year their revenue went down by about 40%, but the monthly revenues followed the same pattern as the previous year.

Candidate: Thank you for the data. It’s quite a sudden decrease. I think we can confirm that at least part of this problem comes from the revenue side; I’ll come back to check on the cost side later, now I’d like to go deeper into this revenue branch. Is that okay to you?

Interviewer: Okay, go on.

Candidate: Usually, revenue is divided into sales volume and unit price, but it wouldn’t make much sense for a restaurant with many different items on the menu. My limited knowledge of the food service industry is not exactly helpful, so to draw a more spot-on issue tree, may I ask how they segment the revenue in this restaurant?

Interviewer: Okay, here’s the answer: another way they segment the revenue in a restaurant is into “number of customers” and “average ticket size”, the latter being the purchase value per customer.

What are the key takeaways here?

You can see the candidate tried to gather information on the case through the playback and clarification steps; as a result, he correctly decided that the Profitability Framework is suitable for this case.

However, he quickly found out that the conventional “revenue = volume x price” isn’t too insightful, so he knew he needed to bend the framework.

Unable to find a good way to segment, he asked for help from the interviewer – note how he showed a relevant purpose for the request, and demonstrated that he at least made an effort – these are what we call “consulting traits”.

You should also notice that throughout this brief opening part, the candidate never explicitly mentioned the name of the Profitability Framework, and he always explained his choices before being asked.

Let's practice!

EXERCISE: Develop a 2-level issue tree for this case

The Megapolis City Council is looking to solve a major problem in the city’s traffic – for the last decade, the number of traffic accidents has been rising steadily.

Which factors would you look at, to tackle this problem?

This question apparently can not be answered using any aforementioned framework. In real life, consultants rarely use pre-defined frameworks to solve their client’s issues. Rather, they create unique frameworks based on the MECE principle specific to their problems.

There are few things you should bear in mind to shortcut the way to your own framework:

• Be as MECE or structural as possible.
• Use the issue tree to sketch your framework.
• Break down your problem in a top-down style.

Practice this step-by-step with any real-life issues.

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50 Product Management Case Studies

We often wonder what kind of process other product teams have created, planned, and most importantly, how they have implemented it. That is why we at Producter have compiled 50 different case studies for you.

2 years ago   •   4 min read

We often wonder what kind of process other product teams have created, planned, and most importantly, how they have implemented it.

That is why we at Producter have compiled 50 different case studies for you.

Brought to you by Roadmape

1- Rules of Flow for Product Management: an AirBnB Case Study

“Engagement” is a term that is so overused in product management that it has almost lost its meaning. So often I’ve heard from teams, “We’ll measure the success of this test with engagement,” which could mean anything from feature click-through to bounce to we-aren’t-really-sure-this-will-drive-conversion-so-we’re-hedging-our-bet. Underneath, the reason this term has been co-opted and jargonized is that genuine, productive engagement can be ramped toward long-term customer loyalty. And loyalty pays off: a loyalty increase of 7% can boost lifetime profits per customer by as much as 85%, and a loyalty increase of 3% can correlate to a 10% cost reduction ( Brand Keys ).

2- The Psychology of Clubhouse’s User Retention (...and churn)

3- Netflix Q1 ’21 Subscriber Growth Miss: Can We Avoid Another One?

As a data analyst supporting a mobile subscription business , Netflix’s Q1 ’21 subscriber growth miss is a classic example of when I would get called for recommendations to prevent a miss in the future. I thought this would make an interesting case study to discuss my approach to finding insights to drive subscriber growth. Sadly I’m not a Netflix employee and will be limited to publicly available data but the wealth of information on the Internet about Netflix is sufficient to generate insights for this case study.

4- Amazon Go Green

As part of the Design Challenge from productdesign.tips, our team came together to find ways for Amazon to encourage more sustainability on their e-commerce platform. As with any unsolicited design project, the challenge comes with a lack of access to application analytics and technical feasibilities. Nonetheless, the question remains: How might we design checkout screens for an e-commerce app to help people recycle the goods they buy?

5- Quora Case Study – The Wonderful World of Quora

Quora has become a substantive resource for millions of entrepreneurs and one of the best sources for Business to Business market. Majorly used by writers, scholars, bloggers, investors, consultants, students this Q/A site has much to offer in terms of knowledge sharing, connection building and information gathering.

6- Building a product without any full-time product managers

Jambb is an emerging social platform where creators grow their communities by recognizing and rewarding fans for their support. Currently, creators monetize fan engagement through advertisements, merchandise, and subscriptions, to name a few. However, this only represents 1% of fans, leaving the other 99% (who contribute in non-monetary ways) without the same content, access, and recognition that they deserve.

8- What if you can create Listening Sessions on Spotify

Summary: The project was done as a part of a user experience design challenge given to me by a company. I was given the brief by them to work on a feature of Spotify and I spent around 25–30 hours on the challenge in which I went through the entire process, from the research to testing.

9- Redesigned Apple Maps and replicated an Apple product launch for it

Quick-fire question; what is the single most important and widely used feature in a phone — asides from texting and instant messaging friends, coworkers and family? Maybe you guessed right, perhaps this feature is so integrated into your life that you didn’t even think about it — either way, it is your phone’s GPS. It is reasonable to say that GPS technology has changed society’s lives in ways we never could’ve imagined. Gone are the days of using physically printed maps and almanacks, when we now have smartphones with navigation apps. Since the launch of the iPhone and the App Store, consumers have been able to use different apps for their personal navigation needs. Everyone has a preference, and apps have come out to try and address every need.

10- Intuitive design and product-led growth

In 2018, Miro was hardly a blip on the radar in the Design world. Fast forward two years, and suddenly Miro is solidly the number one tool for brainstorming and ideation.

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7 Product Management Case Studies To Live and Learn By

Product strategy case study

Product manager interview case study examples, bonus: two more resources you didn’t know you needed.

You will have some successes and make some mistakes. That is ok. The point is to learn from your mistakes, adapt and continuously improve.

For any product manager working in an Agile environment, this philosophy works pretty well with the iterative approach that Scrum and its related methodologies encourage. But, it is also worth learning from others who have been ‘doing’ in environments similar to yours. 

Why make avoidable mistakes when you can learn from what’s worked well for other product managers?

To help out with that, we’ve put together a collection of product management case studies. 

Want to learn from other product managers with remote teams? Looking for tips on the best way to prioritize ? Then we have you covered.

Get started with product management templates

.css-uphcpb{position:absolute;left:0;top:-87px;} 7 product management case studies and examples of product management in action

Roadmaps and prioritization case studies.

Where better place to start than the holy grail of product management excellence, roadmaps and prioritization techniques?

Prioritization and roadmapping may be interdependent, but they still serve very different functions. Your roadmap is ‘when you will build’ and your prioritization list tends to be ‘what you will build’ within that time frame. These two product management case studies focus on how teams used airfocus to improve their processes and productivity.

Aligning your roadmap and agreeing to your prioritizations is a mission-critical component of successful product teams. Our client, Mirrorweb , is an archiving solution provider that assists its clients with compliance requirements — and is a fantastic case study of how roadmapping and prioritization can make a product team more effective. 

Jamie Hoyle, the VP of Product needed to achieve two key objectives:

Visualize project management trade-offs and effort.

Make quantitative product decisions collectively and collaboratively.

Jamie chose airfocus based on a few stand-out features:

Easy to update and share roadmaps . This was an improvement from their previous situation, where their roadmap was updated monthly. 

Scoring matrix. This ranks features by relative effort and customer value. Bonus: It works in real-time, and you can customize your settings based on feedback loops.

New features, technical debt and client requests can be attributed to the roadmap to easily measure impact.

With airfocus, the Mirrorweb team was able to work with greater clarity and communication, despite moving into a fully remote set-up.

Then there’s NAMOA Digital , an end-to-end process management software solutions provider. NAMOA Digital’s team faced similar challenges related to roadmaps and prioritization. André Cardoso and the rest of his business solutions team knew that they had to solve a few key issues, including:

Lack of a strategically structured and prioritized request list.

No process for deciding where to invest the team’s resources. 

Missing an efficient and collaborative prioritization process.

No easy method to share roadmap decisions or align the whole organization with an agreed product strategy .

Andre was using excel formulas to create his prioritization criteria and kanban boards for workflows. By switching to airfocus , he was able to simplify and optimize the product management process with these key features:

Consolidated roadmap and prioritization list in an easy-to-access tool.

Customizable prioritization. Set your own total priority calculation with adjustable criteria, making deciding what to build next a breeze. Teams can contribute to the business goals or criteria.

Ask any world-class PM , and they’ll tell you that product strategies are a framework , not a ‘vision’. Frameworks are more useful when they are tangible and that’s why your product strategy should work to inform your roadmap, objectives, key results ( OKR ) and ultimately your backlog too.

Tech travel company, Almundo, transformed into a product-driven company with product-led growth by defining its strategy first. Their Head of Product, Franco Fagioli, approached setting the product strategy in a pragmatic way by asking the right questions: 

What is our organization’s purpose?

Where is our playground? Think segment, vertical, and channels.

How will we succeed? Define your approach by picking your Porter strategy . Will lower cost, differentiation, or focus be more valuable for your product, for example?

What capabilities do we need now? What skills will be required to deliver against the strategy and who do you know you can provide them?

What systems do we need? Are you going with Slack or Teams? What will be your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system?

An insight for Almundo’s team was to recognize that the answers to these questions existed at different levels within their organization. Almundo's three levels needed to be merged into one framework. 

Corporate level

Strategic Group level

Individual Business level

Your team can tweak this approach according to the complexity of your set-up. In Almundo’s case, the team chose an iterative approach that combined the inputs into one roadmap. The roadmap covered their objectives, key results (OKR) and backlog.

So what does this product management case study teach us about product strategy?

Define your North Star . Start at the top and go through each level.

Prioritize and define . Keep OKRs minimal. A good guide is to stick to three objectives for the next quarter. Don’t add any KRs that you don't really need. Think like Mari Kondo.

Quarterly planning meetings . To start, these will cover future plans. Once you have the first quarter behind you, you can include learnings and results.

When you have a clear strategy in place, take a look at the elements related to delivering on that strategy . As you probably noticed, having good tools can make or break the creation and implementation of your strategic goals.

Cut through the clutter of PM Content with our bi-weekly digest

Remote product management case study.

Oriflame is a long-standing airfocus client . They are a remote-working beauty brand with a presence in 60 countries. Although this global spread can add value in some ways, Product Managing Director, Joakim Wissing, was struggling to communicate his product strategy across a business that was divided into silos.

By implementing airfocus, he solved his two key issues:

A lack of cohesion and inconsistent understanding of the product strategy .

A reactive approach to project prioritization.

airfocus offered Joakim and his team solutions they couldn't get from their existing software.

Setting business values. Leaders can compare the value and costs of projects.

Strategic remote collaboration. Teams can think ahead by planning the year’s priorities with remote games of Priority Poker . The results are integrated into one system that makes them easy to share, access and update.

Integration. airfocus has two-way Azure DevOps integration. This means that features, epics and stories are continuously synced and remotely accessible.

Increased transparency. Agile methodologies tend to function best in organizations that have a culture of transparency and good communication. Great tools will help your organization increase these critical components.

Product prototyping case study

Whether you are doing your first prototype to test market fit or using prototypes to test out new features, it is worth checking in on how other teams approach this phase.

For Agile teams, one of the best product management case studies is the prototyping method used by the team working on a prototype for the Barbican, a highly-regarded arts and culture center in London.

The team worked over one sprint of two weeks to produce a prototype that combined the Barbican’s scattered ecosystem of various event advertising apps and a booking website . Their objective was to solve existing problems by creating one native app/website with all event information and ticket booking.

While the team had no distinct role definitions, Emily Peta, a UX designer , managed the workflow and the process stages. With one sprint to work with, the team still made sure to follow a comprehensive process that covered a number of crucial stages:

Competitor analysis

First, Emily’s team explored existing solutions that they could adapt for quick wins.

Keep your product strategy in mind, however, and remember what your brand stands for.

Remember Instagram trying to be TikTok? That was not a good look (and it wasn’t well received).

Product and user definition

The team then conducted ten user interviews and screening surveys to get an understanding of what people wanted from an exhibition app. Their affinity diagram highlighted three distinct phases:

Before: Users want to look for interesting exhibitions and book to see them.

During: Everything users want to do once they arrive at the exhibition.

After: Users want to share photos and leave reviews.

Considering their time constraints, they wisely focused on the ‘during’ phase and chose to answer one question: ‘How can we improve the experience of the user during an exhibition?’

To start finding solutions to this question, Emily and her team created:

One user persona (and while this is a good start, depending on your audience, you will likely need more than one).

Outcome statement. A good outcome statement should provide answers to these loose categories:

Next up, the team mapped out the user flow for the persona. This is an important high-level flow, so don’t skip it out. This user flow was used to plan the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) features along with a few other inputs and prioritization games like Crazy Eights. The outcome here was a focused list of features to start prototyping.

Technical requirements

Before moving into prototyping, it helps to consider the technical requirements that might affect your product. In this case, to meet the Barbican’s ‘during’ requirements, the solution needed to use Bluetooth and GPS for people on the go, so the decision was made to build an app and not a website.

Speeding through this stage — or worse, not doing it at all — can quickly send the development process off course.

Prototyping and testing

Finally, Emily and her team were ready to create low-fidelity mockups, testing them with users and then iterating based on the feedback. This is not a purely linear process, so look at it as a feedback loop: iterate, iterate, iterate but know when to stop.

Once the team was satisfied that the lo-fi prototype was good to go as an MVP, they mocked it up in InVision as a high-fidelity, interactive prototype that could be used for further testing and briefing build teams.

This is probably one of the best times to embrace the ‘fail fast’ philosophy. Being precious about prototypes defeats the purpose. Be ready to make mistakes and improve based on your learnings.

Customer/user feedback case study

It’s never too early to start listening to customers and/or users, and there are a whole bunch of ways to do this at different stages. For any team that has a product in the market already, real-time user analytics is super important to feedback into your decision-making processes.

Gumtree, an established trading website, has a wide range of products and customers. They needed a robust, real-time reporting tool to help them understand the requirements of so many different user types.

Sax Cucvara, Gumtree’s analytics manager chose Qualaroo based on the tool's ability to provide:

Segmentation . Gumtree was able to segment users by category, location and interest.

Easy implementation. The team could set up granular surveys in no time, getting real-time results to feedback back into feature iterations.

Customer feedback is important, so make sure you are getting quality feedback regularly. Tools like airfocus Portal and AI Assist , can make collecting and analyzing feedback much easier and less time-consuming.

Backlog prioritization case study

Rounding off our list of product management case studies, we’re back to the story of an airfocus client and what other teams can learn from them.

As any product manager knows, prioritizing your backlog is just as important as prioritizing your roadmap. Getting these aligned and in an easy-to-share format can save your team time and effort.

Our client, Flowe, is a digital bank subsidiary of Italy’s Banca Mediolanum. Marco Santoni is the data product manager on their Data Platform team and manages the internal product from features to analytics.

One of Flowe’s key challenges came from the Azure DevOps system's inability to prioritize their backlog. They frequently had over 150 ‘new’ items at any given time and no objective way to prioritize the tickets. After looking into a few tools, Marco went with airfocus because it offered:

Seamless integration with Azure DevOps. You can import existing roadmaps.

Priority Poker . Teams and stakeholders can collaboratively prioritize their backlog against three KPIs: development effort, business value, and productivity.

Real-Time results for ‘quick wins’ and ‘don't dos’ are based on prioritized scoring.

By implementing airfocus, the Flowe team can present their roadmap to the entire company weekly. This aligns everyone against a common goal and ensures increased transparency.

Product management is a team game. Having a transparent and collaborative approach is even more important in the current remote working era. airfocus facilitates easy and open collaboration across teams and geographies.

Interested in streamlining your processes and turning objective prioritization into a company-wide goal? Chat to our team for a demo.

When interviewing for a product manager position , you'll often be asked about various case studies you were involved in. Of course, it's good to have a few stories on hand and to know what kinds of questions to anticipate during these interviews. 

Here are a few product manager interview case study questions you might get.

How would you prioritize these features for this product?

You may be asked how you would prioritize certain features for an imagined or real product. For example, say a new smartphone is coming out, and the goal is to launch with three new features. 

How do you determine which feature to complete first, second, and third, and which can be sacrificed to finish the others? 

If you run into this sort of question, it's important to ensure you have all of the relevant information, such as the target demographic, what has made the product successful in the past, etc. So ask questions, or imply that you would collect the answers to these questions and then work from there. 

How would you suggest we launch this product in a new region?

Another question you might be asked during a product management case study for PM interview is how you would launch a product in a new region . Again, this question pertains to a real-world example, so it's important to have a solid answer prepared. 

It can be helpful to start by collecting more information from the interviewer or explaining what information you would collect. Then, formulate a strategy . That strategy could include specific features you would introduce, marketing campaigns you would engage in, and more. 

How would you improve our in-app messenger?

Sometimes, you may be asked something very specific, like how you would improve an in-app feature that already exists. As you may have guessed, you want to glean as much information from the interviewer as possible or state which information you would collect. 

Then, list some potential strategies based on your experience. What kinds of features would you launch or remove ? Would you prioritize performance, response times, etc.? How would you manage a budget? Lean on your past knowledge and experience to help you answer the specific question at hand.

Want to know about solutions to future problems that you didn’t even know exist yet? We can help you out with even more product management case studies for that. Dig in here.

Starting a new product management job and wondering how to approach your first few months?

Then check out our 30-60-90 day guide today.

Tomas Prochazka

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