What's your favorite product and why? PM Interview answer

The question “what is your favorite product and why?” is key in product manager interviews. Out of the hundreds of PM interview questions that we studied, this question alone made up 11% of the product design category.

So it’s very likely that you’ll have to answer this question. Though it may appear simple, interviewers will expect thoughtful, structured answers that demonstrate your critical thinking and product sense.

You’ll need to answer using a clear framework. The good news is that we’ve found one for you, and we've written a full sample answer that shows you how to put it into practice.

Let’s get started.

Why interviewers ask "what is your favorite product and why?"
How to answer "what is your favorite product and why?"
Sample answer for "what is your favorite product and why?"
List of variations of the favorite product question
How to practice the favorite product question

Click here to practice with ex-FAANG interviewers

1. Why interviewers ask "what is your favorite product and why?" ↑

“What’s your favorite product and why?” is a common question asked during PM interviews at top tech companies. Interviewers ask this question to assess:

Your understanding of product design
Your ability to deliver constructive criticism
Your knowledge of a specific product

First, one of your tasks as a PM is to help design new product features and improve existing ones. So you’ll need to be able to explain what differentiates an excellent product from its competitors.

Second, PMs work closely with designers, so you’ll be expected to deliver criticism on designs with a high degree of emotional intelligence. Interviewers will therefore want to see that you can provide clear and constructive feedback when answering the question.

Third, PM’s often have to make important design decisions with little time and lacking data. So a good PM knows the product they own inside and out, which helps to make better choices in these difficult scenarios. This is why certain companies will expect you to have a solid understanding of their products from your first day as an employee.

2. How to answer "what is your favorite product and why?" ↑

We recommend using a three-step approach to answer the favorite product question in product manager interviews. This approach is also known as the BUS framework:

Business objective
User problems
Solutions

If you're preparing for a product manager interview, we strongly encourage you to learn that framework, as it can also be used for product design questions (e.g. “How would you design a phone for a blind person?”) as well as product improvement questions (e.g. "How would you improve YouTube?").

Let's go through each of the three steps one at a time.

Step one: Business objective

Here are the things you need to do at the beginning of your answer:

Outline your answer
Explain the product
Define the business objective

Many candidates skip this step, listing aspects of their favorite product in an unstructured way. This is a big missed opportunity to help your interviewer understand your thinking more clearly and to show that you’ve got great communication skills.

First, tell your interviewer upfront how you will answer their question. Imagine it like the table of contents at the beginning of a book - it's helpful for the interviewer to have an overview before diving into details.

Next, take a minute or two to explain the product. Your interviewer will only be able to easily follow your answer if they first understand what the product is in the first place.

Finally, you should clarify the business objective of the product: optimizing for revenue, engagement, visibility, etc. This highlights your product sense and will help you frame the rest of your answer.

To see how this plays out in a sample answer, take a look here.

Step two: User problems

Now that you’ve clearly explained the product and its business objectives, it's time to explain the users and their problems in more detail.

Here are the things you need to do in this step:

Select a user type
List user problems

First, you should select a user type to focus on (e.g. end user, customer, retailer, etc). Given that you’re explaining why this product is your favorite, it’s a good idea to focus on the user type that corresponds with how you use the product.

Second, you should explain what problems the product solves for this user type. Identify the unique pain points that the product resolves, both those that are personal to you and those that others of the same user type likely experience.

To see how this plays out in a sample answer, take a look here.

Step three: Solutions

Now that you’ve clearly explained the product and the user problems that it aims to solve, it’s time to dive deep into how it goes about solving them.

Here are the things you need to do in this step:

Explain how the product solves the user problem better than competitors
Discuss trade-offs and suggest improvements, as necessary
Summarize

First, for each of the user problems you have identified, you should explain the product’s solutions and why they’re better than competitors’ solutions. Be specific about the exact features and UX improvements that set it apart, and why competitors wouldn’t be able to simply copy it.

Note that interviewers will likely ask follow-up questions throughout your answer, such as “How would you make it better?”. If they do, you should suggest improvements that support the business objective you defined earlier.

Next, identify trade-offs. Go over the potential downsides of the design and features of the product, and how that plays against the advantages. Even if the interviewer hasn’t directly asked how you would improve the product, this would be a good time to talk about possible improvements.

Finally, after going through that exercise, it's a great idea to state the initial question again and summarize why this is your favorite product. This summary is a simple way of telling your interviewer that you are done answering the question and another way of showing you've got great communication skills.

3. Sample answer to "what is your favorite product and why?"

Would you like to see the tips above being put into practice in an interview situation?

We asked Mark, one of our top Google PM coaches, to give his answer to "What's your favorite Google product and why?" in a mock interview.

3.1 Sample answer #2 (written)

Here is a written sample answer to the favorite product question. Note how, like the video, it follows the BUS framework we laid out in section 2.

3.1.1 Business objective

Outline your answer

"My favorite product right now is Instagram.

Here’s how I’d like to go about answering this question: First, I’ll explain what the product does at a high level and its business objectives. Second, I’ll outline the target users and their problems. And finally, I’ll explain how the product solves those problems better than competitors and why that makes it my favorite product.

Does that sound ok to you?¨

Explain the product

"Before I explain why it’s my favorite app, I’ll quickly review how Instagram works.

Instagram has two main types of users: end users and advertisers.

End users choose accounts to follow (e.g. friends and family, influencers, brands, etc.), which in turn creates a personalized feed of photos and videos that provides information, entertainment, and inspiration. These users can also upload photos and videos to share with their own followers.

Advertisers sell products and build their brand on the platform. They can do this by paying for ads that show up as recommended posts and stories, by building an engaging account that people want to follow, or a combination of the two."

Define the business objective

“The more time users are on the app and the deeper their engagement, the more rewarding the platform is to advertisers, which creates a virtuous cycle. Therefore, in terms of its business objectives, Instagram is most likely interested in user engagement and revenue.”

3.1.2 User problems

Select a user type

“I tend to use Instagram mostly as an end user, not an advertiser, so let me explain more about the product from that user perspective.”

List user problems

“Instagram provides solutions to common problems for users like me.

One, people often experience boredom in their free time, especially in scenarios where they don’t have much time, and they’re only carrying their phone, like in waiting in line for a coffee.

Two, it is tough to find one easy place to share casual photos, promote artwork, or build a small business where there are many users who are likely to find and share your content.”

3.1.3 Solutions

Explain how the product solves the user problem better than competitors

“Instagram solves these problems better than competitors in a few ways.

“First, by giving users the option of exactly what accounts to follow, there’s a really high chance a user’s feed is full of content they’re going to enjoy as soon as the app launches on their phone. This is a better solution than some alternatives which first require you to choose the type of content you want to engage with before really providing value (like TikTok and Twitter).

“Second, the primary design of the app as a mobile experience built around visuals might be Instagram’s biggest advantage over its competitors. For instance, reading a tweet or a lengthy Facebook post while walking is harder than glancing at a picture.

The core design of the app therefore makes the barrier to engage with Instagram content really low compared to other alternatives. It also makes it easy for users to curate their content, with attractive photos and easy to use visual effects.”

Discuss trade-offs and suggest improvements, as necessary

“One trade-off here is that the focus on visual content inhibits users’ ability to post long-form or written content. This may drive certain users to other social media products, such as Facebook or blogging sites.

However, the benefits of the visual content ultimately trump the downsides, as it creates a cohesive and visually stimulating experience that keeps the user scrolling. Also, users who want to promote long-form or written content can easily share portions of it with links to their website or other work, if they so choose.”

Summarize

“So that’s why Instagram is my favorite product. The endless feed of visuals optimized for mobile provides a simple solution for users looking to be entertained. Given how easy it is to use and engage with the app, it builds a virtuous cycle that creates more revenue opportunities for advertisers.”

4. List of favorite product question variations ↑

There are a few ways you might be asked the favorite product question in PM interviews. You should use the BUS method for any variation.

To help you identify the different ways you might get asked this question, and to help you practice, we've compiled the below list of examples that were asked in PM interviews at companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon, according to data from Glassdoor.com.

Also, if you'd like to learn about the other types of questions you may face, you can also visit our ultimate guide to product manager interview questions.

Pick your favorite app. How would you improve it?
Tell me about your favorite product that’s not an app or website
Pick your favorite Google product. What would you change about it?
Tell me about a free service you like and how would you monetize it
What’s your favorite Microsoft Office Product? What are the first three things you would change about it?
Tell me about a product you love. How would you make it better?
What’s your favorite Facebook feature?
Tell me about a product you use often

Now that you have a list of sample questions to work with, it’s important to consider how you will practice with these questions.

5. How to practice the favorite product question ↑

With a lot to cover, it’s best to take a systematic approach to make the most of your practice time.

Below you’ll find links to free resources and four introductory steps that you can take to prepare for favorite product questions.

5.1 Study the company you're applying to

Get acquainted with the company you’ve applied to. In many cases, the product questions you’ll be presented with will be based on real-life cases the company is facing. If you’re applying to a specific team, study up on their products, the user, etc.

Take the time to find out which products you’ll most likely be working with, based on the job description, and research them. Look up relevant press releases, product descriptions, product reviews, and other resources in order to discuss what’s most important to the role: the company’s product.

If you'd like to learn more about a specific company's PM interviews, then we'd encourage you to check out our guide for that company below :

5.2 Learn a consistent method for answering the favorite product question

In this article, we’ve outlined a step-by-step method you can use to solve the favorite product question. We’d encourage you to first memorize the basic steps, and then try solving a couple of the sample questions on paper.

This will help you to understand the structure of a good answer. This is a good first step, BUT just knowing the method is not enough, you also need to be able to apply the steps in interview conditions.

5.3 Practice by yourself or with peers

In our experience, practicing by yourself is a great way to prepare for PM interviews. You can start practicing alone, asking and answering questions out loud, to help you get a feel for the different types of PM interview questions. It will help you perfect your step-by-step approach for each question type. And it also gives you time to correct your early mistakes.

You can find free practice questions on articles like this one or on YouTube.

If you have friends or peers who can do mock interviews with you, that's a great option too. This can be especially helpful if your friend has experience with PM interviews, or is at least familiar with the process.

5.4 Practice with experienced PM interviewers

Finally, you should also try to practice product manager mock interviews with expert ex-interviewers, as they’ll be able to give you much more accurate feedback than friends and peers.

If you know a Product Manager who can help you, that's fantastic! But for most of us, it's tough to find the right connections to make this happen. And it might also be difficult to practice multiple hours with that person unless you know them really well.

Here's the good news. We've already made the connections for you. We’ve created a coaching service where you can practice 1-on-1 with ex-interviewers from Google, Amazon, Uber, and other leading tech companies. Learn more and start scheduling sessions today.

Keep reading: product manager interview articles