Product Management Interview: Prioritizing and Structuring Roadmaps with RICE

This blog post will guide you through the thought process and frameworks needed to approach the product management interview question: How do you prioritize and structure roadmaps? What to build, when, and how?

Understanding the RICE Framework

The selected framework for answering this question is the RICE scoring model, which stands for Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort. This framework helps you objectively evaluate potential features and prioritize them based on their impact and feasibility.

Step-by-Step Framework Application

1. Laying Out Your Product Goals:

• Briefly discuss the product goals and how they align with the overall company objectives.
• This demonstrates your understanding of the product’s purpose and strategic direction.

2. Identifying Potential Features:

• Make a list of potential features or projects to include in the roadmap.
• Brainstorming a comprehensive list ensures you consider all possibilities.

3. Applying RICE:

• Assign a score of 1-10 to each feature for each of the four RICE factors:
• Reach: How many users will be affected by the feature?
• Impact: How much will the feature improve key metrics (e.g., engagement, revenue)?
• Confidence: How confident are you in the feature’s success based on data and market research?
• Effort: How much time and resources will be required to develop and launch the feature?
• Calculate the RICE score by multiplying the individual scores for each factor.

4. Prioritization:

• Prioritize features with the highest RICE scores.
• This ensures you focus on features with the greatest potential impact and feasibility.

5. Roadmap Creation:

• Create a visual roadmap, indicating what will be built, with time allocations and milestones.
• This provides a clear and concise overview of your product development plan.

Hypothetical Example

Imagine a product with the goal of increasing user engagement by 30% within a year. Feature A could potentially reach 40% of your user base with a high impact on engagement, has medium confidence due to some data uncertainties, and requires low effort. It would likely receive a high RICE score and be prioritized in the roadmap.

Fact Checks and Communication Tips

• Ensure your RICE scores are grounded in data and realistic expectations based on your understanding of the product and market.
• Walk your interviewer through each feature’s RICE score and be prepared to defend why certain features are prioritized over others.

Conclusion

In summary, prioritize features that align with company goals and offer the best balance between impact and effort. Utilizing a structured approach like the RICE model helps convey your strategy to interviewers clearly. Practice applying RICE to various product scenarios to refine your prioritization skills and prepare for a successful interview.