Assess a product manager’s customer research judgment by asking how they move from observations to a decision. A collection of customer quotes is not automatically evidence for a feature.
Use synthetic notes and a fictional product so the exercise does not reveal private customer conversations.
Prepare mixed evidence
Include fictional users with different workflows, a strong feature request, an observed workaround, and a stakeholder’s interpretation of what users want.
Ask the candidate to separate direct observations, reported opinions, and assumptions.
Request a research plan
The candidate should identify the decision the team needs to make and propose the smallest useful next investigation.
| Dimension | Useful evidence |
|---|---|
| Framing | Defines the uncertainty behind the request |
| Evidence | Distinguishes what was observed from what was inferred |
| Audience | Notices whose perspective is present or missing |
| Questions | Avoids steering participants toward a preferred answer |
| Synthesis | Finds patterns without erasing contradictory information |
| Decision | Connects learning to a practical next step |
Do not require the candidate to produce a complete product strategy from a tiny packet.
Introduce a conflicting observation
Reveal that a user who requested the feature does not encounter the underlying problem frequently. Ask how this changes the interpretation.
Look for an update to the hypothesis and an explanation of what remains uncertain. The candidate should not dismiss inconvenient evidence simply because the initial story was compelling.
Discuss research limits
Ask what the packet cannot establish. A few fictional conversations cannot support a population-level claim or precise demand estimate.
The useful signal is whether the candidate knows how much confidence the evidence deserves.
Assess collaboration
Ask how they would explain the finding to a founder who strongly favors the feature and an engineering team waiting for direction.
Look for a clear decision proposal with visible assumptions, rather than a research summary that leaves everyone unsure what happens next.
Use the first product manager handoff and product marketing evidence exercise. Discuss a product hiring search with Refery.