Product Design for a Business Analytics Platform: Users, MVP and Success Metrics

Design an analytics platform. Decide who it is for and which decisions it should help them make, define what the first version includes, and explain how you would judge whether it succeeds. ```hint Start from a decision, not a chart An analytics product is only as useful as the decisions it improves. Name one user and a recurring decision they struggle with before listing any dashboards. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is this a platform for Freshworks' business customers to analyze the data in its customer-service, sales and IT products, a tool for Freshworks' own teams, or a standalone product sold to any company? - Which customers matter most: small businesses with no data staff, or larger accounts with analysts who already use a business intelligence tool? - Should it be included in existing plans to support retention, or sold as a paid add-on? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear interpretation of which platform and for whom, with the alternatives named and set aside - Pain points tied to recurring decisions of the chosen user - A prioritized first version and roadmap, including the data foundations a platform needs: consistent metric definitions, data freshness and permissions - Success metrics that track decisions and business outcomes rather than dashboard views, with guardrails such as data accuracy and latency - Risks such as untrusted numbers, alert fatigue, privacy and query cost ### Follow-up Questions - How would you decide whether the platform is included in every plan or sold as a paid add-on? - Larger customers already have their own business intelligence tools. How would you serve them without building a general-purpose BI product? - How would you let users ask questions in plain language without them acting on a wrong answer?