Microsoft's Windows phone: defining success and a strategy to reach it as PM
Company: Microsoft
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
Imagine you are the product manager responsible for Microsoft's Windows phone. How would you turn it into a success? Say what success means, assess where the phone stands against competing platforms, and lay out the strategy you would pursue and how you would know it is working.
```hint Diagnose before prescribing
Before proposing features, work out why the platform struggled against iOS and Android: what reason did buyers, app developers, and the carriers and phone makers who sell devices each lack to commit to it?
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Is this set while Windows phones were still competing with iOS and Android, or is it about Microsoft re-entering the phone market today, after it wound the platform down?
- What does success mean for Microsoft here: a meaningful share of phone sales, a profitable device business, or keeping people on Microsoft services when they use a phone?
- Is the operating system itself on the table, so the phone could run Android, or must it stay on Windows?
- Is there a fixed budget or time frame in which the plan has to show traction?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A definition of success and the time horizon it is judged over
- A diagnosis of the competitive position covering buyers, app developers and distribution partners
- A target market chosen with a reason, and what would make the phone the better choice for it
- A decision on the platform and app-ecosystem question, with the trade-offs of the options considered
- Milestones and metrics that show whether the plan is working, and the point at which to change course
### Follow-up Questions
- Developers will not build for a small user base, and buyers will not choose a phone without the apps they use. What would you do in the first year to break that loop?
- If leadership gave you two years and a fixed budget to show traction, what would you cut from your plan?
- When would you recommend leaving the phone hardware business, and what would Microsoft keep doing on mobile in that case?
Overview: A product strategy question asking how you would make Microsoft's Windows phone succeed as its product manager. It tests defining success, diagnosing a platform's position against iOS and Android across buyers, app developers and distribution partners, choosing a target market, and setting milestones that show whether the plan works.