Here are the key takeaways from the video: * User persona: People planning vacation trips * Pain points: Difficulty finding information and planning activities for a trip * Proposed solution: A new feature in Google Maps called "Trips" that allows users to create itineraries by specifying destinations, activities, and lodging. * Key features: * Ability to plan the entire trip itinerary including finding places to stay, eat, and things to do. * Leverage existing Google Maps features like offline maps and recommendations. * Rollout plan: Start with a small focus group to gather feedback and then do a public beta program. * Metrics to track success: Number of trips created, number of users who create a second trip, and user satisfaction. * Potential risks: * Users may not find the recommendations helpful or may not be interested in planning their entire trip in advance. * The feature may be cannibalizing engagement from the existing Explore tab in Google Maps.
I am planning something like, if you are planning a trip with a couple of people you can collaborate like in Google sheets and share it via a link with other people who might need it. It can have ratings to show the user which itenary might be the best fit or something like that.
The vacationer use case is great, but since it's for big trips, users will only use it for like 1-2 times per year. It would be very low frequency if it's for engagement.
I'd rather disagree with this, because lots of business professionals will be going for business trips as well as vacation , throughout the year. Also there are many wanderers moving round the globe.so it's might not a single event.
I think Test8nn meant on a relative scale. It's not that there aren't a lot of vacationers, at any given point there's gonna be some. But vis-a-vis the other personas listed, such as a regular city user/professional, it may be lower engagement.
Another risk I thought of was the potential for wrong data. Especially in small, less frequently visited areas, in my experience it’s not uncommon for google to have outdated information for business hours, phone number, or location.
A lot of trips are usually in groups. I wonder how would this work out in groups. I think we can extend this feature for groups...like people should be able to add other members to a trip via their Gmail id...then while suggesting things like best times to visit, we can consider calendars of all the group members.
i will go like this - Mission help people to navigate easily - goals - product goal: make the app easier to use - Users - 6 wheels+ drivers - 4 wheel drivers - 2 wheel drives - no wheel walkers I assume 86 percent of Americans use their own cars to commute daily ==> 4wheel drivers - Pain points lets assume google map already provides best routes to drive on (traffic) - less battery and network consumption - less need to look at the app while driving based on frequency and broader top of funnel in size i will go with ===> less need to look at the app - Solutions - activating audio guide - integrate with car LCD - design a gadget to integrate or add a head-up display / Bluetooth integrated device based on LOE + Impact I choose to add audio guide feature to improve user engagement with the app.
also maybe a "share my itinerary" feature w friends and on social media - would make it easy to share it fr a group trip +people tend to ask for itineraries when you post pictures
id also add "how to get there" so that users can browse through different modes of transportation too - road trip, flights (integrate w google flights)
I've noticed in a handful of these videos, the Elapsed Time that interviewees take to think about a problem is ~15 seconds. Do you have some advice/recommendation on what an appropriate or common amount of time interviewees take in a real world interview would be? Is 15 seconds standard or realistic?
I felt like the features were mostly inspired by another Google product, Google Trips. It had an app as well, touting to be the one-stop shop for everything including integration with Maps, weather, translate, Gmail etc. Would you recommend answering like this, where my recommendations are basically from another product from the same company? Isn’t it like thinking up Excel features by taking inspiration from PowerPoint? Would interviewers like this kind of response? Of course feature overlaps are possible but they are different products for a reason, right?
Yea, I had the same thought when watching this. But I guess he doesn’t know about the app, so it’s the ideas and thinking process that matter. I don’t know how much information Exponent gives to the “interviewees” before the interview, but there is possibility that they give the scenario and question on spot to make it look more authentic. In that case I think he gave a good answer!!
Shouldn’t we talk about the existing user journey for vacationers followed by deeper pain points for them and then eventually coming up with solutions ? Or can we directly start with solutions after prioritising vacationers and selecting them.
My first thought is … if a user knows he/she may be traveling to or through areas with potentially shotty cellular coverage.. for me, that’s going in and out of Canada.. the user can pre-download the routes and areas so it will never lag out and say “finding route”
I've been a PM for 15 years, and this doesn't make any sense. First you don't improve products by thinking in features, you improve products by understanding the users' pain points and needs. Second coming up with a solution is a team effort with UX designers, EMs etc. Do yourself a favor and look for proper PM advice elsewhere
I would agree with this, but this comment is at the bottom bc it doesn't help who posted it or their fans who have signed up. I was going to say the same thing - one of the things I look for in a PM is how they take feedback, how they iterate, how they respond to new information from a colleague, how they debate with passion but without causing hard feelings or letting it get personal.
I believe that PM interviews are far from reality of what one has to actually do in the job, similar to case interviews - consultant job scenario. The interview system does need a ramp up
15 years of working didn't teach you to listen carefully and try to understand the context/purpose of the mock interview? what a waste of time... old man
Why is there no notion of actually talking to users BEFORE going for potential features? At least just mentioning doing a user research to try to validate or invalidate the pain points assumed earlier in the interview?
What would you suggest someone who is from a Development support background with 5 Yrs Experience (Well versed with Coding / salesforce / web application) and wants to enter into Product Management role. Is it too early? Do you suggest PM certification helps ?
I entered product management 1 year after leaving uni (biotech engineering) the first year I just worked as a technical product manager and before I cracked the interview for TPM I did a few courses on project management. They look for product sense, ability to brainstorm and curiosity. I am an associate PM though.
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Here are the key takeaways from the video:
* User persona: People planning vacation trips
* Pain points: Difficulty finding information and planning activities for a trip
* Proposed solution: A new feature in Google Maps called "Trips" that allows users to create itineraries by specifying destinations, activities, and lodging.
* Key features:
* Ability to plan the entire trip itinerary including finding places to stay, eat, and things to do.
* Leverage existing Google Maps features like offline maps and recommendations.
* Rollout plan: Start with a small focus group to gather feedback and then do a public beta program.
* Metrics to track success: Number of trips created, number of users who create a second trip, and user satisfaction.
* Potential risks:
* Users may not find the recommendations helpful or may not be interested in planning their entire trip in advance.
* The feature may be cannibalizing engagement from the existing Explore tab in Google Maps.
I would add a feature of sharing this trip with friends and public as template so that they can just reuse this for their trip :)
I am planning something like, if you are planning a trip with a couple of people you can collaborate like in Google sheets and share it via a link with other people who might need it. It can have ratings to show the user which itenary might be the best fit or something like that.
Naming the timestamps the way you have is also great way to also breakdown an answer, thanks for doing that
Thanks Nahid! I’m glad it was helpful
Yes, much appreciated!
Is Nathan always this calm? this is incredible...
The vacationer use case is great, but since it's for big trips, users will only use it for like 1-2 times per year. It would be very low frequency if it's for engagement.
Absolutely
I'd rather disagree with this, because lots of business professionals will be going for business trips as well as vacation , throughout the year. Also there are many wanderers moving round the globe.so it's might not a single event.
@@Ghost990 but then again the number of ppl who are wanderers is not high, they wont constitute a big segment for google apps
I think Test8nn meant on a relative scale. It's not that there aren't a lot of vacationers, at any given point there's gonna be some. But vis-a-vis the other personas listed, such as a regular city user/professional, it may be lower engagement.
Fast-forward to May 21' . Google I/O Maps updates-
1) Fuel-efficient routes.
2) Recommendations for tourists.
Great analysis!
Another fantastic video. I particularly loved the last part, how Kevin captured the small misses and shared his feedback. Super observation.
Another risk I thought of was the potential for wrong data. Especially in small, less frequently visited areas, in my experience it’s not uncommon for google to have outdated information for business hours, phone number, or location.
This was really insightful. Vacationers as potential users definitely has a lot of scope to grow. Thank you sharing 👍
You are so welcome!
A lot of trips are usually in groups. I wonder how would this work out in groups.
I think we can extend this feature for groups...like people should be able to add other members to a trip via their Gmail id...then while suggesting things like best times to visit, we can consider calendars of all the group members.
this would go to the v2/ v3/ backlog for the feature then
This is another great feature
i will go like this
- Mission
help people to navigate easily
- goals
- product goal: make the app easier to use
- Users
- 6 wheels+ drivers
- 4 wheel drivers
- 2 wheel drives
- no wheel walkers
I assume 86 percent of Americans use their own cars to commute daily ==> 4wheel drivers
- Pain points
lets assume google map already provides best routes to drive on (traffic)
- less battery and network consumption
- less need to look at the app while driving
based on frequency and broader top of funnel in size i will go with ===> less need to look at the app
- Solutions
- activating audio guide
- integrate with car LCD
- design a gadget to integrate or add a head-up display / Bluetooth integrated device
based on LOE + Impact
I choose to add audio guide feature to improve user engagement with the app.
also maybe a "share my itinerary" feature w friends and on social media - would make it easy to share it fr a group trip +people tend to ask for itineraries when you post pictures
id also add "how to get there" so that users can browse through different modes of transportation too - road trip, flights (integrate w google flights)
Picking target group of vacationers was pretty good, but I think the pain points weren't called out and which pain point/need was prioritised.
It was a tough use case honestly - Google Maps is pretty robust
I've noticed in a handful of these videos, the Elapsed Time that interviewees take to think about a problem is ~15 seconds. Do you have some advice/recommendation on what an appropriate or common amount of time interviewees take in a real world interview would be? Is 15 seconds standard or realistic?
I thought that myself... 15 seconds seems waaaaay too fast when doing it myself...
He was pre prepared for the Q i think. For a fresh Q, I think a min-90sec is pretty standard.
I felt like the features were mostly inspired by another Google product, Google Trips. It had an app as well, touting to be the one-stop shop for everything including integration with Maps, weather, translate, Gmail etc. Would you recommend answering like this, where my recommendations are basically from another product from the same company? Isn’t it like thinking up Excel features by taking inspiration from PowerPoint? Would interviewers like this kind of response? Of course feature overlaps are possible but they are different products for a reason, right?
Yea, I had the same thought when watching this. But I guess he doesn’t know about the app, so it’s the ideas and thinking process that matter.
I don’t know how much information Exponent gives to the “interviewees” before the interview, but there is possibility that they give the scenario and question on spot to make it look more authentic. In that case I think he gave a good answer!!
Awesome mock! Very creative and clear, Nathan is great
Thanks a lot!
solution and features were great but I didn't see him talking more about the pain points and which one did he really wanted to prioritize
Shouldn’t we talk about the existing user journey for vacationers followed by deeper pain points for them and then eventually coming up with solutions ? Or can we directly start with solutions after prioritising vacationers and selecting them.
Google should take note from this...
We think so too :)
My first thought is … if a user knows he/she may be traveling to or through areas with potentially shotty cellular coverage.. for me, that’s going in and out of Canada.. the user can pre-download the routes and areas so it will never lag out and say “finding route”
I've been a PM for 15 years, and this doesn't make any sense. First you don't improve products by thinking in features, you improve products by understanding the users' pain points and needs. Second coming up with a solution is a team effort with UX designers, EMs etc. Do yourself a favor and look for proper PM advice elsewhere
I would agree with this, but this comment is at the bottom bc it doesn't help who posted it or their fans who have signed up. I was going to say the same thing - one of the things I look for in a PM is how they take feedback, how they iterate, how they respond to new information from a colleague, how they debate with passion but without causing hard feelings or letting it get personal.
I believe that PM interviews are far from reality of what one has to actually do in the job, similar to case interviews - consultant job scenario.
The interview system does need a ramp up
This generation is all about fake it till you make it, but they never make it.
For sure. But this is the reality of interviews. They want to see how you navigate the problem
15 years of working didn't teach you to listen carefully and try to understand the context/purpose of the mock interview? what a waste of time... old man
When I zoom into a street - show the damn street name
THIS!!
I think he missed pointing out current user flow and painpoints/ improvement areas before jumping to solution
Would love some ideas on how to improve maps for businesses listed or for contributors who post on the app
Why is there no notion of actually talking to users BEFORE going for potential features? At least just mentioning doing a user research to try to validate or invalidate the pain points assumed earlier in the interview?
Google had a product called Trips, which they stopped.
It is now called Google Travel
Love this
What would you suggest someone who is from a Development support background with 5 Yrs Experience (Well versed with Coding / salesforce / web application) and wants to enter into Product Management role.
Is it too early? Do you suggest PM certification helps ?
I entered product management 1 year after leaving uni (biotech engineering) the first year I just worked as a technical product manager and before I cracked the interview for TPM I did a few courses on project management.
They look for product sense, ability to brainstorm and curiosity.
I am an associate PM though.
@@prerna5581 Thanks. I see companies do not shortlist the resumes based on the experience . I wonder what additional might catch the eye of hr .
So the goal was increased engagement but none of the metrics checked if the goal was accomplished
best answer!!
Super mate
What's the difference between impact and engagement?
Engagement is a specific kind of impact.
I believe impact is the number of people this feature would potentially help while engagement is usage metric of the feature/product.
Okay, guys, let's just say 'Awesome' to each other before each sentence to hide the fact that the interview was a complete failure.
sorry but this interview is all over the place...
Sorry but this interview was super chaotic
This is a terrible interview
Are you serious? Google Trips is already a thing. Literally does what he's is proposing.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Travel
Never heard of
that's what I was thinking. it felt like a whole different product rather than a feature of google maps
....it's just an mock interview to get an idea of your product sense. chill, Elan
Habiluddin (manager maps).s/o.abdulkarim.2no.balarchar.bngn.(saved at google maps manager)