Define Goals for a Product You Choose and Plan Its Monthly Executive Review Deck

Pick any product you like. First, explain what the product is for and which goals it pursues. Then, acting as the product manager who owns it, describe what you would put in the monthly business review deck you present to the leadership team, and how that deck helps leaders understand the product's health and make decisions. ### Clarifying Questions - May the product come from any company, or would you prefer one of Google's own products? - Who attends the review (the product's own leadership chain or a wider executive staff), and how much time does this product get in the meeting? - Is the deck only a health and progress report, or should it also ask leadership for decisions, budget or headcount? ### Part 1 — Define the product's goals Introduce the product you chose: who uses it, what it does for them, and how it creates value for the company. State its goals in priority order and the metric that shows whether each goal is being met. ```hint Purpose before numbers Start from what the product exists to do for its users and for the business; a metric that cannot be traced back to one of those purposes does not belong in the goal set. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A clear picture of the product's users, value proposition and business model. - A short, ranked list of goals covering both user value and business value. - A measurable indicator for each goal, including one north-star metric and its guardrails. ### Part 2 — Build the monthly business review deck Describe the structure and content of the deck section by section. For each section, explain what it shows, why leadership needs to see it every month, and how results are presented relative to plan. ```hint Write for the people deciding Leaders review many products with little time; ask what they must know or decide this month and what can wait in an appendix. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Sections that trace back to the goals from Part 1, shown against targets and trends. - Explanations of what drove each variance, not just the raw numbers. - Launches, risks and explicit asks or decisions for leadership. - Format choices: a consistent structure from month to month and what moves to the appendix. ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A product the candidate can discuss in depth, with a goal hierarchy rooted in its users and business model. - Metric discipline: a north star, leading and lagging indicators, guardrails and targets instead of a list of dashboards. - A deck built to drive decisions and accountability rather than to report status. - How the monthly review fits alongside weekly operating reviews and quarterly planning. ### Follow-up Questions - Your north-star metric rose this month while revenue fell. How would you present that on the first slide? - Leadership cuts your slot in the meeting in half. Which three slides do you keep, and why? - How would the deck differ for a product in its first months after launch compared with a mature one?