Day 17 - Metrics Question 1

Practice metrics questions with us...

Hello learners!

Welcome to the 17th day of the series 30 Days of PM Interview by Crework! Yesterday, we talked about how to approach metrics and analytics questions in a PM interview. Now, we need to practice some of them.

But before we start, make sure you are subscribed to us. In case you are not, subscribe to us right now and complete the challenge.

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Choose a Metric ✨

Your practice question for today is:

What metrics would you focus on as the PM for YouTube? (Asked in Google interview)

Now, before we move on to “how should we approach it” part, I want you to try it. Come on, pause here for a while, bring a notebook and pen and try this question.

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Okay, now let’s talk about how we can approach this.

Step 1: Ask Clarifying Questions

1. Here, are we talking about the whole YouTube product or any one part of it. YouTube has different sections - videos, live, music, creator studio etc.

2. Am I supposed to come up with metrics for a specific scenario or to track the success of YouTube in general?

For this question, I am assuming that I have to identify general success metrics for the success of YouTube in general and not for any specific feature.

Step 2: Understand the Objectives and Goals

Let’s try to understand the goals of YouTube currently.

1. YouTube’s mission is to give everyone a voice and to show them the world. So, they want to serve both the content creators and the consumers.

2. YouTube wants:

   1. More revenue for the company

   2. More engagement from users

   3. More content to be created regularly

3. Key stakeholders:

   1. Content consumers

   2. Content Creators

Step 3: Let’s come up with the metrics

1. North Star Metric - This is the most important metric for any product that tells if the product is doing well or not.

   1. For YouTube, the north star metric is Total watch time per day. (it could be per day or per month or per week too, the purpose is to measure it in a fixed interval)

   2. To qualify as a “North Star,” a metric must do three things: lead to revenue, reflect customer value, and measure progress.

   3. More watch time → More revenue

   4. More watch time → More users are engaging on the platform

   5. Increase in watch time → Shows progress

2. L1 Metrics - These are the metrics that either directly contribute to the NSM or act as a check to make sure the product is growing in a healthy direction.

   1. For YouTube, L1 metrics could be

      1. Watch time per user per day - Keeps in check the value users are getting

      2. Click through rate on videos

      3. Likes per user per day and comments per user per day → To check the engagement of users

   2. For creators side, the metrics could be

      1. Number of videos uploaded per day

      2. Number of videos per creator per day

This was an example of how you can approach a metrics question asked in a PM interview. There can be multiple ways of approaching the same problem, and there is no “right” answer. The interviewer wants to assess your ability to think and come up with a solution. The real answer is the process you use to come up with your solution.

I would love to see the solution you came up with. Please share it with us on twitter or reply to this mail.

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Day 17 - Completed ✅

Congratulations on completing the 17th lesson of the series 30 Day of PM Interview. 🥳 Now, you know what to do. Share your learnings with the world and be accountable.

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