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Product Manager Challenge 2

Part 1 – Product Scenario (Creative + Organizational + Product Cycle Knowledge)

Your team has been tasked with creating a platform that helps students better collaborate on coursework and projects.

  1. Problem Exploration

    • Define two key pain points students face with collaboration today.

    • Describe your approach to validating whether these are real and worth solving.

  2. Vision & Features

    • Propose a vision statement for the platform.

    • List 3 major features you would prioritize, and explain why (reference feasibility, impact, and effort).

  3. MVP Definition

    • If you had only 6 weeks and a small 4-person engineering team, what would your minimum viable product look like?

    • Provide a clear prioritization rationale (e.g., using MoSCoW, RICE, or another framework).

Part 2 – Execution (Organization + Proactivity + Technical Prowess)

  1. Roadmap & Planning

    • Create a high-level 8-week roadmap breaking down 3 phases (e.g., discovery, MVP build, iteration).

    • Assign approximate ownership (e.g., engineers, designers, PM responsibilities).

  2. Communication & Proactivity

    • Draft a short status update email to your team at the midpoint of the project when you realize one of the features may be delayed. Show how you would:

      • Keep morale positive

      • Communicate clearly

      • Suggest next steps

  3. Technical Awareness

    • Suppose engineers propose two implementation options for a core feature:

      • Option A: Quick to build but minimal scalability.

      • Option B: More complex but allows growth and integrations.

    • Which would you choose for an MVP? Justify your decision based on product management principles.

  4. Ticket Cutting
    • Please create a ticket/task for one part of one of your potential features 
    • The Ticket should include: 
      • User Story
      • Acceptance Criteria 
      • Technical Details
      • Out of Scope

Evaluation Criteria

  • Organization: Clear structure and prioritization in answers.

  • Proactivity: Evidence of anticipating risks, communicating clearly, and proposing solutions.

  • Creativity: Original feature ideas and thoughtful approaches to collaboration.

  • Product Development Cycle Knowledge: Demonstrated use of frameworks, MVP thinking, and roadmap planning.

  • Technical Prowess: Balanced tradeoff reasoning, showing awareness of product-engineering compromises.

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