Detecting an Underperforming Product and Running a Sunset Decision With Stakeholders

You own an existing product that may no longer be pulling its weight. Explain which milestones or signals would tell you it is underperforming, what you would consider before deciding to shut it down, what process you would put in place, and how you would handle the stakeholders involved. ### Clarifying Questions - What kind of product is it: a consumer app, a paid enterprise tool, or a feature inside a larger product, and do paying customers or contracts depend on it? - How long has it been in market, and what was it originally meant to achieve? - Do other products, teams or partners rely on its data, APIs or traffic? - Is shutting it down already on the table, or am I evaluating it from scratch? ### Part 1 — Spot underperformance Which milestones, metrics or signals would tell you the product is not performing well? Explain how you would judge them against what the product was supposed to achieve. ```hint Compare with the original bet A number looks bad only relative to a goal, a stage and a trend; check what the product was funded to deliver before judging it. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Signals across the user journey and the business: adoption, engagement, retention, monetization and cost. - Benchmarks: the original targets, the product's stage, the trend and comparable products. - Ruling out measurement problems and fixable causes before concluding. ### Part 2 — Weigh the decision to sunset Before recommending a shutdown, what would you consider? ```hint Count what disappears with it Look beyond the product's own numbers to who depends on it and what the company would lose or free up if it were gone. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Whether the problems are fixable, and the cost and odds of a turnaround or pivot. - Strategic value and dependencies that the product's own metrics do not show. - Impact on existing users and customers, including contractual, legal and data obligations. - The opportunity cost of the team and infrastructure. ### Part 3 — Lay out the process Describe the process you would follow from the first concern to a final decision and, if it comes to that, through the shutdown itself. ```hint Separate deciding from exiting Think about which steps happen before the decision is final, which happen after it, and what each stage needs before it is complete. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A time-boxed turnaround attempt with success criteria agreed in advance. - A decision forum and the evidence it reviews. - A shutdown plan: timeline, migration and data export, support, and winding down systems. ### Part 4 — Handle the stakeholders Who are the stakeholders, and how would you bring them along and communicate with them at each stage? ```hint Map who loses what Users, the team that built the product, executives and partners each lose something different in a shutdown, so they need different messages at different times. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A stakeholder map covering internal and external groups. - The order and tailoring of communication, including to the team that built the product. - Handling disagreement and keeping users' trust. ### What a Strong Answer Covers - Judging performance against the product's purpose and stage, not one isolated metric. - An evidence-based, time-boxed path that gives the product a fair chance before a decision. - Respect for the users who depend on it: notice, migration and data export. - Clear ownership, decision rights and communication sequencing. ### Follow-up Questions - The product's own metrics are weak, but its users are among the company's most valuable customers. How does that change your recommendation? - The executive who sponsored the product strongly opposes shutting it down. How do you handle that? - After the shutdown is announced, users react angrily in public. What do you do in the first week? - Suppose the product is a generative AI product the company has funded for a year without finding traction, and leadership asks you to choose between continuing to fund it and shutting it down. How do you make that call?