Pick a North-Star Metric and Guardrails for Lyft's Shuttle Ride Service
Company: Swiggy
Role: Product Manager
Category: Analytics & Experimentation
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
The interviewer asks how you would measure the success of Lyft Shuttle, Lyft's shuttle-style shared ride option. Define what success means for this product, choose the metrics you would track, and explain how you would decide whether it is working.
```hint Start from the trade it makes
A shuttle asks riders to give up some convenience (sharing the vehicle, possibly walking or waiting longer) in return for a lower price, while letting Lyft fill more seats per vehicle. Decide which side of that trade the product exists to win before choosing metrics, and look for signals that show when the trade goes wrong for riders, drivers or Lyft.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- How does Shuttle work: fixed routes with set pickup and drop-off points, or on-demand pooled rides from the door? Does it run all day or only at commute times?
- Is it a new launch in a few cities or an established product, and is it priced below Lyft's standard and shared rides?
- What is the main goal: affordable rides for price-sensitive commuters, more riders per vehicle to improve margins, or winning trips that currently go to public transit or personal cars?
- Are the vehicles driven by Lyft's regular drivers or run as a dedicated fleet?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A goal for Shuttle tied to Lyft's business, stated before any metric.
- Riders, drivers and Lyft as stakeholders, with what success means to each.
- One north-star metric with a reason it beats the alternatives, plus supporting metrics across adoption, engagement, trip experience and efficiency.
- Guardrails for driver earnings, rider experience and cannibalization of Lyft's other ride types.
- How to attribute changes to Shuttle, given that riders share vehicles, and what result would count as success.
### Follow-up Questions
- Shuttle trips are growing, but most new Shuttle riders were already taking Lyft's standard rides. Is that success?
- Riders per trip went up after some routes were cut, but rider wait times rose. How do you weigh the two?
- How would you test a Shuttle price change when riders on the same route share vehicles?
Overview: A product metrics question asking how to tell whether Lyft Shuttle, a shared shuttle-style ride option, is succeeding. It tests goal setting, choice of a north-star metric, supporting metrics for riders, drivers and unit economics, guardrails against cannibalizing other ride types, and how to attribute results to the product.