Imagine you have three feature requests and time to build only one. How would you decide which to do first?

What the interviewer is looking for

• This question tests prioritisation & roadmapping. Names explicit criteria like impact, effort, risk and strategic fit, explains what they said no to and why, and keeps the roadmap tied to outcomes.
• Strong answers: Uses clear criteria such as customer impact, effort and alignment with goals, and explains how they would communicate the decision.
• Likely follow-up: How would you explain the decision to the two people whose requests did not get picked?

Another way it may be asked: Sales wants one feature, support wants another, and a designer wants a third. You can only build one this month. How do you pick?

A structure to follow: Frame, structure, analyse, recommend

1. Step 1

   Frame

   Restate the goal and ask what success is and what the constraints are.

2. Step 2

   Structure

   Split the problem into a few separate parts you can check one by one, and say what you will look at first and why.

3. Step 3

   Analyse

   Reason with the information you have, state your assumptions out loud, and say what data would change your mind.

4. Step 4

   Recommend

   Give a clear recommendation, the main risk, and the first step you would take.

This is guidance on shape, not a script. Use your own real experience and facts; never invent details to fill a gap. See the STAR guide and answer frameworks.

Common slips

• Listing ideas without choosing between them.
• Hiding assumptions instead of stating them.
• Finishing without a recommendation.

How to practise it

Answer in four spoken parts, one per step, then check you ended on a recommendation.

Related questions

• A senior sales leader insists a big customer needs a feature that is not on your roadmap. How do you handle that conversation?
• How do you balance short-term revenue requests against longer-term platform investment when you build a roadmap?
• If you were asked to improve a product you had never used before, how would you figure out what its users actually need?
• Tell me about a time you had to explain a complicated idea to someone without your background. How did you make sure it landed?
• Walk me through how you defined success for a feature you recently shipped, and which numbers you watched after launch.

Browse all questions