Diagnose a drop in DAU
Last updated: October 23, 2025
Quick Overview
The activation rate dropped by 15% this week. Walk through your investigation process.
Waymo
October 23, 20257
12
740 solved
The activation rate dropped by 15% this week. Walk through your investigation process.
Product questions at Waymo test your ability to think like a product leader. This Phone Screen question evaluates how you balance user needs, business goals, and technical constraints when making product decisions.
What the Interviewer Expects
- Identify the target user and their core problem
- Propose reasonable solutions with basic prioritization
- Define 2-3 key success metrics
- Consider basic trade-offs and risks
Key Topics to Cover
How to Approach This
- Start with the user. Who are they, what problem do they have, and what is their current workaround?
- Use a prioritization framework: impact vs effort, RICE scoring, or ICE scoring.
- Define success metrics using the AARRR framework: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral.
- Consider second-order effects. A feature might boost short-term engagement but hurt long-term retention.
Possible Follow-up Questions
- How would you sequence the rollout across different user segments?
- How would you validate this idea before committing engineering resources?
- How would you decide to kill this feature if it's not working?
- What would you do if usage data contradicts user feedback?
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Problem Framing
To diagnose the 15% drop in Daily Active Users (DAU) for Waymo, the first step is to identify the potential causes behind this decline. We need to analyze recent user activity, app performance, and an...
User & Market Context
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