How to answer your favorite product question?

The interviewer smiles and asks: “What’s your favorite product, and why?” Your mind races. Do you pick a trendy app? A classic tool? How do you turn this into a showcase of your PM skills—not just a casual chat?

At NextSprints, we’ve coached 500+ candidates to turn this question into a golden opportunity to demonstrate product thinking. In this guide, I’ll walk you through a battle-tested framework, real-world examples (Instagram, Spotify, Notion), and phrases that make hiring managers think, “We need to hire this person.”

Let’s dive in!

Why Interviewers Ask This Question (And What They Really Want)

This isn’t a casual icebreaker. Interviewers use it to assess:

1. Product Sense: Can you analyze a product’s strengths/weaknesses systematically?
2. User Empathy: Do you understand the target audience and their pain points?
3. Strategic Thinking: Can you tie your observations to business outcomes?

Most candidates fail because they:

• Ramble about personal preferences (“I love TikTok because it’s fun!”).
• Pick overly generic products (“Google Search is great!”).
• Ignore the “why” behind design decisions.

The NextSprints Framework: A 5-Step Blueprint

Step 1: Choose the Right Product

Do’s:

• Pick a product you know deeply (as a user or builder).
• Align with the company’s domain (e.g., discuss Figma for a UX-focused role, AWS for infrastructure).
• Avoid overused picks (Slack, Airbnb) unless you have a fresh take.

Example Picks:

• B2C: Duolingo, Headspace, Calm.
• B2B: Notion, Airtable, Zapier.
• Hidden Gems: Oura Ring, Superhuman, Replit.

Pro Tip: Use LinkedIn or Glassdoor to research the company’s products—then pick something adjacent but non-competitive.

Step 2: Analyze the Product Like a PM (Not a User)

Use the Product Teardown Framework:

a. Target Audience & Core Value Proposition

• “Duolingo targets casual language learners who need gamified, bite-sized lessons.”
• “Notion serves remote teams needing customizable collaboration tools.”

b. Key Features & Differentiators

• Instagram: Algorithmic Explore page → personalized content discovery.
• Spotify: Discover Weekly → data-driven user retention.

c. Monetization & Business Model

• “Calm uses a freemium model—free trials upsell to a $70/year subscription.”

d. User Journey & Pain Points

• “New Notion users struggle with the blank canvas problem—solved with templates.”

Step 3: Highlight Strengths and Weaknesses

Interviewers want balanced critique, not fanfare.

Example for Duolingo:

• Strengths: Mastery of habit-forming UX (streaks, notifications).
• Weaknesses: Limited depth for advanced learners → opportunity for tiered subscriptions.

Phrase It Like a PM:

“While [Product] excels at [strength], it could improve [weakness] by [solution], which would impact [metric].”

Step 4: Propose a Strategic Improvement

Show you think like a builder, not just a critic.

Example for Spotify:

• Problem: Users abandon curated playlists after 2–3 skips.
• Solution: Add a “Why?” button after skips to gather feedback → improve recommendations.
• Metric: Increase playlist completion rate by 15%.

Pro Tip: Use the RICE Framework (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) to prioritize your idea.

Step 5: Tie It Back to the Company’s Mission

Example for a Healthcare Startup Interview:

“I admire Oura Ring’s focus on proactive health monitoring. Similarly, I’m excited about [Your Company]’s mission to [X], because…”

Real-World Example: Breaking Down Notion

1. Choose the Product:
“Notion is my favorite product because it solves a universal problem—fragmented workflows—for remote teams.”

2. Teardown:

• Audience: Remote teams, freelancers, students.
• Key Features: Customizable templates, relational databases.
• Weakness: Steep learning curve for non-technical users.

3. Improvement:

• Proposal: Add AI-guided onboarding (“Create a workspace in 60 seconds”).
• Metric: Reduce time-to-first-value from 30 mins → 5 mins.

4. Tie-Back:
“This aligns with [Your Company]’s focus on democratizing no-code tools for SMBs.”

Common Mistakes to Avoid (From a FAANG PM’s Notes)

1. Picking a Competitor’s Product:

   • ❌ “I love Asana!” (If interviewing for ClickUp.)
   • ✅ “I admire Monday.com’s visual project tracking.”

2. Ignoring Metrics:

   • ❌ “The UI is beautiful.”
   • ✅ “The simplified checkout flow increased conversion by 22%.”

3. No Clear Structure:

   • ❌ Rambling about 10 features.
   • ✅ Use the Product Teardown Framework.

Your Action Plan for Interview Success

1. Prepare 2–3 Products: Align with your target company’s niche.
2. Practice Teardowns: Use our Product Teardown Guides.
3. Mock Interviews: Get feedback from PM mentors or peers.

Pro Tip: Record yourself answering—do you sound analytical or fangirling?

Final Words

You’ve got this. 🚀

The “favorite product” question is your chance to showcase how you think, not just what you like. Remember:

• Depth > Novelty: It’s okay to pick a common product if your analysis is fresh.
• Balance Praise with Critique: Show you can identify opportunities.
• Practice Out Loud: Explain your framework to a friend (or your dog!).