Follow up questions
Here is how to answer this question (STAR format) as a senior engineering manager leading teams in a product-focused area.
Note: this is an entirely fictional story/situation
Probing questions
- If you look back, how would you do it differently?
- What information did you have available to you at the time?
- What have you learned from this experience?
Example Answer #1
Situation
The first product I delivered was when I had no software development experience. And how I transitioned skills that I learned to make it a successful product. This product was aimed at being Uber for the logistics industry when the four biggest logistics companies came together, and they wanted to transform their job posting, driver recruitment, job tracking, and invoicing.
Concern
When I joined, SOW, Scope, mocks and roadmap had already been decided. All of the feedback came from the clients, and actual users were not contacted.
Action
- I used my lack of knowledge in logistics to gain access to actual users within our client companies.
- I started understanding the industry with just five drivers and five logistics admin. I understood how they work and their receptiveness to digital products. With them, I understood what matters to them most in the entire journey. This helped me refine the refining product roadmap.
- For example, the roadmap had invoicing and onboarding as the items with the highest value. However, Driver Recruitment and Job tracking were more important to them, as the current system had a very archaic way of doing this.
- I worked with my UI person and brought him together for these interviews; we started collaborating on creating mocks. Many mocks got refined as well.
- For example, when the drivers would be driving, the earlier mocks had a lot of analytics, but later, we refined it to just a destination map. – Simplified UI
- I created a focus group with these drivers to send them updates and get real-time feedback – I called them my internal advocates.
Results
- We started with five on each side and IE, and at the Private Beta launch, we were at 50 on each side; this helped us at the time of launch when we launched with more than 1000 on each side, at least 500 more than the targetted.
- Every driver completed an average of 3 jobs a week, as opposed to targeting just 2.
- I used the skills gathered from my earlier jobs to make this product scalable and relatable, which drivers were proud of as they were a part of this journey.
Example Answer #2
Situation
As a Senior Engineering Manager at Meta, I led a cross-functional team of 25 engineers, designers, and product managers. We were tasked with developing a new social networking feature to enhance user engagement and community building within our platform.
Task
The challenge was to create a feature that encouraged more user interaction and aligned with Meta’s strategic goals of fostering authentic and meaningful connections. My responsibility was to guide the team through the entire product lifecycle – from ideation to launch, ensuring the deliverable was innovative, user-friendly, and scalable.
Action
I started by organizing brainstorming sessions to encourage innovative ideas and foster a collaborative environment. We then conducted market research and user surveys to better understand our audience’s needs. Based on these insights, we iterated on several prototypes, rigorously testing each. I ensured that communication between different teams was seamless and that we adhered to agile methodologies for efficient and flexible product development. I also liaised with stakeholders to align our goals and expectations and to keep them informed about our progress.
Result
The product we developed was a huge success. Within the first three months of its launch, user engagement increased by 40%, and we saw a 25% increase in daily active users. The feature received positive feedback for its user-centric design and innovative approach to social networking. This project contributed significantly to Meta’s strategic goals and set a new standard for collaborative and innovative product development within our teams. I am most proud of this accomplishment because it showcased my team’s technical capabilities and their ability to deeply understand and respond to user needs, aligning closely with Meta’s mission.
Conclusion
By structuring my response in this way, you aim to clearly articulate the context of the project, the specific challenges and tasks that have been handled, the actions you took to address those challenges, and the positive outcomes that resulted from these efforts.
