The Strategy Behind a Successful Product’s Monthly Business Review

Introduction

Product managers are responsible for communicating the performance and strategic direction of their products to company leadership. Monthly business reviews (MBRs) serve as a platform for such communication. This blog post will dissect a question targeting a PM’s ability to outline the goals of a chosen product and curate content for an MBR presentation. We’ll leverage a structured framework for answering this typical product management interview question as advocated in ‘Decode and Conquer: Answers to Product Management Interviews.’

Detailed Guide on Framework Application

Choosing the Right Framework

For designing an MBR deck, the HEART (Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, Task Success) Framework combined with a Business Analysis structure can provide robust guidelines. This blend allows a PM to discuss product goals while showcasing the product’s health and trajectory.

Step-by-Step Framework Application

To create an effective MBR deck, follow these structured steps:

1. Introduction: Start with a brief overview of the product and its major updates since the last MBR.
2. Happiness: Include user satisfaction scores or NPS to indicate user contentment with the product.
3. Engagement: Present engagement metrics such as daily active users (DAUs) or session length.
4. Adoption: Show adoption trends, highlighting new user growth or feature adoption rates.
5. Retention: Include retention curves and churn rates to assess the long-term value of the user base.
6. Task Success: Share success rates for critical user tasks, demonstrating product effectiveness.
7. Business Metrics: Discuss business-centric metrics like revenue, cost savings, or market share.
8. Goals and Roadmap: Outline future product goals and the roadmap for achieving them.
9. Challenges and Solutions: Address any challenges faced and propose your strategies for overcoming them.

Hypothetical Example

Let’s apply this structured approach to the case of a productivity app:

1. Introduction: “This month, we integrated a new AI-based task prediction feature.”
2. Happiness: “Our NPS increased by 10 points, indicating a positive reception.”
3. Engagement: “DAUs rose by 15%, with average session length up by 20%.”
4. Adoption: “New sign-ups grew by 25%, with 40% of users trying the new feature in the first week.”
5. Retention: “Month-over-month retention improved by 5%.”
6. Task Success: “95% of tasks predicted by AI were deemed helpful by users.”
7. Business Metrics: “Revenue grew by 15%, and our cost per acquisition decreased by $1.50.”
8. Goals and Roadmap: “Our next goal is to enhance cross-platform functionality.”
9. Challenges and Solutions: “We saw a slight increase in support tickets, which we are addressing with a new self-help guide.”

Communication Tips

When constructing your MBR deck, ensure that your findings, whether they are positive or negative, lead to actionable insights. Your presentation should tell a story of progress and direction, backed by data and a clear roadmap. Practice delivering your MBR with confidence and be ready to answer any follow-up questions.

Conclusion

An MBR is more than just a collection of figures; it’s a strategic document that requires careful consideration and presentation. By understanding and applying the HEART Framework and Business Analysis, you can create an MBR deck that effectively communicates the status and future direction of your product. Practicing this structured approach will undoubtedly sharpen your skills for FAANG product management interviews.