Easy everything in Product Management, page 8
What columns would you set up on a new Kanban board?
Tests your grasp of workflow visualization, not just Agile terms. A good answer starts with To Do/In Progress/Done, then adds columns like Code Review to mirror the real process, and crucially, mentions setting WIP limits to manage flow and identify…
Describe your role in user story refinement.
This tests your understanding of refinement as a collaborative de-risking process. A great answer details your role in clarifying requirements, identifying technical risks, breaking down work, and providing estimates. A red flag is passively receiving tasks.
What do you need in a user story beyond technical requirements?
This tests your product sense. A great answer asks for the user persona, the 'why' behind the request, and measurable success metrics. A red flag is focusing only on technical implementation details without understanding the core user problem.
Describe the Red-Green-Refactor cycle in Test-Driven Development
This tests your grasp of TDD's core loop and its design benefits. Outline the cycle: Red (failing test), Green (minimal code to pass), and Refactor (clean up). Mention creating a test list first. A red flag is ignoring the critical Refactor step.
Sprint Retrospective: What's the output and what happens next?
This tests if you see Scrum as an action-oriented framework. A good answer identifies concrete improvement items as the output and explains that the most impactful one is added to the next Sprint Backlog as a formal work item.
Code Complete vs. Done: What's the Difference?
Tests your understanding of value delivery vs. task completion. A great answer defines 'code complete' as a developer milestone and 'Done' as a team-agreed state of shippable value, governed by the Definition of Done.
What is the primary purpose of the Daily Scrum?
This tests your understanding of Scrum events as tools for inspection and adaptation, not status reports. A great answer states the purpose is to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and plan the next 24 hours.
What is a Sprint Goal and how does it influence planning?
Tests if you grasp that a Sprint Goal defines a valuable outcome, not just a list of tasks. A good answer explains it's a filter for selecting work, provides flexibility, and creates team coherence. Red flag: equating the goal with 'finishing all the tickets'.
What are the components of a well-written user story?
This tests your understanding of user stories as conversation starters, not specs. A good answer covers the 3 C's (Card, Conversation, Confirmation) and INVEST criteria. A red flag is focusing only on the "As a..."
What is the Definition of Done (DoD)?
This tests your understanding of how DoD creates transparency and ensures a usable Increment. A good answer defines DoD as a quality standard, explains it applies to the entire Increment, and links it to predictability.
How do you fix a Daily Scrum that runs too long?
This tests your understanding of the Daily Scrum's purpose (inspection, not problem-solving). A good answer involves re-educating the team, using a 'parking lot' for deep dives, and coaching individuals.
How do you handle an urgent, mid-sprint stakeholder request?
Tests your understanding of Scrum roles and stakeholder management. First, acknowledge the request's urgency. Then, redirect the stakeholder to the Product Owner, who manages all new work. A red flag is saying 'yes' and derailing the sprint, or a flat 'no'.
What is the purpose of Sprint Review vs. Sprint Retrospective?
This tests your grasp of Scrum's distinct feedback loops. The Review inspects the product Increment with stakeholders to adapt the Product Backlog. The Retrospective inspects the team's process with the Scrum Team only.
Describe the purpose of the Daily Scrum
Tests if you know the Daily Scrum is a planning event for Developers, not a status report. A good answer states it's a 15-min meeting to inspect progress toward the Sprint Goal and adapt the Sprint Backlog.
What are the three Scrum accountabilities and their focus?
Tests recall of Scrum's core team structure and how the roles create a self-managing unit. A good answer names the Product Owner (value), Developers (Increment), and Scrum Master (process) and defines their focus.
Explain the Agile principle of Simplicity and how you apply it.
This tests your ability to connect Agile theory to engineering practice. A good answer defines simplicity as maximizing work not done, applies YAGNI with a concrete example (e.g., phased feature rollout), and links it to business value.
Goal of a Retrospective and Continuous Improvement
Tests if you see process improvement as a core engineering duty. A great answer defines the retro's goal (inspect & adapt the process), its output (actionable items for the next Sprint), and its role as the engine of continuous improvement.
Individuals & Interactions Over Processes & Tools: Explain This Value
Tests your grasp of Agile's core philosophy: empowering people over rigid systems. A great answer defines the principle, links it to cross-functional team structures, and champions direct communication over ticket-passing.
Instrumenting a New User Interaction for Analytics
Tests your grasp of the full data lifecycle. A good answer covers event definition, client-side implementation, the backend pipeline, and end-to-end verification.
How would you build a weekly active user dashboard?
This tests your ability to translate a business request into a technical plan. A good answer defines "active," identifies necessary data (user ID, timestamp, event), outlines the data modeling, and explains the BI tool implementation.
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