Mediating an engineering vs UX lead conflict on a P0, the PM's role, and diversity

The most important item on your team's roadmap this quarter, rated P0, is stuck: your engineering lead and your UX lead disagree on how to approach it. The interviewer asks how you would handle the situation, then follows up with two more questions, one about how you see the product role and one about diversity. ### Clarifying Questions - Would you like a real example from my experience, or how I would handle this scenario as described? - Is the disagreement about what the user experiences, about technical feasibility and cost, or about what can ship this quarter, and has either lead brought evidence? - How much of the quarter is left, and is the date fixed by an external commitment? - Do both leads report outside my line, so that I have influence but no formal authority over either? ### Part 1 — Getting the P0 item unstuck Describe how you would handle the disagreement between the two leads so that the item still delivers what it is meant to deliver this quarter. ```hint Find what each side is protecting Ask what each lead is optimizing for and which facts or assumptions they actually disagree on; arguments about approach often hide different goals or untested beliefs. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Understanding both positions and the interests behind them before proposing anything. - Turning opinions into evidence or new options within the time the quarter allows. - Agreeing on decision criteria and a decision owner, then committing and following through. ### Part 2 — The product manager's role How do you see the product manager's role in a situation like this? Is it your job to break the tie? ```hint Map who owns what Think about which parts of the call belong to engineering, which to design and which to product, and what changes when a deadline means someone must decide. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A clear view of the PM's responsibilities and limits relative to engineering and design. - When the PM should make the call, when the leads should, and when to escalate. ### Part 3 — Diversity What do you think Google should do about its commitment to diversity? ```hint Make it actionable Move past values statements: name where a company can act, from hiring and promotion to team habits and the products it builds, and how it would know whether its actions work. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - Concrete actions across the employee lifecycle and in product development. - How progress would be measured and who is accountable for it. - What the candidate would personally do as a PM. ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A structured, specific answer to each part, ideally anchored in a real example told as situation, task, actions and result. - Respect for both leads' expertise and an outcome both can commit to, without the PM dodging a decision that has to be made. - Honest judgment about the limits of the PM's authority. - A diversity answer built on actions and measurement rather than slogans. - Reflection on what the candidate learned or would do differently. ### Follow-up Questions - You decided in favor of the UX lead's approach, and the engineering lead keeps reopening the decision. What do you do? - Both approaches score about the same on your criteria. How do you decide? - How would you make the user research for this P0 item more inclusive?