Five legit frameworks to help become a better PM
Are you the kind who has an adverse reaction when you hear words like ‘framework’ and ‘process’? We were too! But over time, we’ve found that frameworks help bring structure to how you think about problems. They create guardrails so you don’t find yourself wandering in random directions or going down rabbit holes. When implemented right, they bring in focus and clarity, and clear logjams.
Another problem with frameworks, though? They are shockingly easy to come by and it’s hard to identify which ones work and which don't. This post puts together the five frameworks we’ve found useful over and over. Not just when you interview, but when you’re cracking that difficult problem at work. So maybe bookmark this post, and let us know if there’s another framework you’ve found very useful. It could be something you built out too.
1. CIRCLES
Lewis C Lin’s CIRCLES framework is 101 for any product management interview prep. The framework applies to product design questions which you will encounter in one or more interviews with any company. Examples of product design questions are:
How would you improve Instagram?
Design an ATM machine for the blind people.
How would you design a metrics dashboard for Whatsapp.
These questions are tricky because the interviewer may be evaluating a host of competencies, some of which are:
Customer focus - does the candidate understand the target persona? Their user journey and pain points? Opportunities for improvement?
Problem statement understanding - is the candidate focused on the right problems to solve - have they identified and articulated the problem? Does the candidate keep coming back to the problem statement and is ensuring their solutions tie back?
Creativity - Can the candidate think outside the box and come up with creative solutions to the problem?
Prioritization - Can the candidate rationalize effort vs impact, and come up with a prioritized list of solutions for the problem?
The CIRCLES framework ensures you’re providing a holistic response to a design question. A summary of the CIRCLES method (source):
2. RICE
Prioritization is an essential skill for all product managers, but is more so in your first few years of product management as you focus on execution. Nothing can derail a team more than a wrong decision on what to build or work on. This is therefore another common trait that interviewers look for.
When faced with a prioritization challenge, the RICE framework by Intercom helps build a score that balances the cost of building something against the ROI on it. RICE stands for:
R - Reach
How many customers does the feature help/affect over a time period
I - Impact
How does the feature affect core metrics. When this is hard to determine, use a scale like 3 for “massive impact”, 2 for “high”, 1 for “medium”, 0.5 for “low”, and finally 0.25 for “minimal”
C - Confidence
How much confidence do you have in your estimates? 100% is “high confidence”, 80% is “medium”, 50% is “low”
E- Effort
How many person-months would it take your team to build the feature?
Finally, calculate the RICE Score
Score = Reach * Impact * Confidence / Effort
Now sort your list by RICE score and evaluate priority.
3. AARRR
A very helpful framework to define success metrics for any product or feature is the AARRR framework by Dave McClure of 500 Startups. AARRR is widely accepted as the five most important metrics to focus on, especially for start-ups, as they measure growth.
At interviews, this framework can be used if you were asked a question like; “How well do you think Clubhouse is doing?” Again, the interviewer understands that you do not know the actual metrics, but as long as you’re using this framework, you are covering all bases.
A - Acquisition or awareness
Where/what channels are customers coming from? (Measured through SEO, website visits, campaigns)
A - Activation
What percentage of acquired users take the desired actions or hit the ‘aha moment’? (Measured via users trying out the golden path scenario, performing key actions or visits to additional pages)
R - Retention
How many of the activated users are continuing to show interest in or use your product? (Measured through daily/monthly active users, churn rate)
R - Referral
How many installations/signups have occurred through referrals? (Measured through NPS, shares, invites)
R - Revenue
How profitable is your product? (Measured through metrics like Customer lifetime value to customer acquisition ratio, average order value per customer)
4. HEART
Another popular framework that helps determine metrics (yes, metrics are important), is the HEART framework by Kerry Rodden. While the AARRR helps identify business metrics, HEART is useful to determine the key UX metrics for a feature or product.
H - Happiness
A measure of user attitude, usually collected via surveys (Measured through NPS, perceived ease of use)
E - Engagement
Level and depth of user involvement with the product (Measured through number of visits, views, uploads)
A - Adoption
New users of the feature/product (Measured through download rate, new accounts created)
R - Retention
The rate of returning users (Measured through churn, downgrades)
T - Task success
Efficiency and effectiveness of the user experience (Measured through time taken to complete key actions, crash rate)
5. The 5 C’s of pricing
While pricing questions are not very common in interviews, you are likely to think about pricing for your product or feature at some point. This framework provides a useful guideline and ensures you factor in all considerations:
Cost
You cannot begin to price until you understand your cost structure inside out. This includes direct costs, overheads, discounts, etc.
Customer
What is your customer’s willingness to pay? What are the highest and lowest price points? Do they perceive your product worth the price point?
Channel
Consider other third party distributors - what is their ‘cut’? Do you have sellers in different geographies? How will the pricing change impact their ability to distribute?
Competitor
What are competitors’ pricing strategies and what are their vulnerabilities? What are your points of differentiation on the product as compared to the competition?
Company
What is the objective of the company or the product line? Is it to make profits, is it growth and acquisition of users or is it to upend competition? This knowledge plays a vital role in determining your pricing strategy.