What are some of the most important factors you consider when prioritizing product development work?

Remember to indicate that the level of importance of each of the criteria you mention in your answer is relative to the situation involved. For example, the marketing needs of the product of an internal operation may not be as important as the prioritization of marketing-related features of a customer-facing Snapchat app feature.

"There are several factors to consider when prioritizing product development work. This essential aspect of a product manager's role requires experience, skill, and situational awareness.

Per the Kano Model, I consider the impact of the feature set on customer delight and product function. For example, a particularly exciting feature that is not available in any competitor product is likely to cause a significant jump in usage and satisfaction for Snapchat.

The performance and usability of the solution can be equally important factors to consider. Customers respond poorly when features are slow or too complex to use. Therefore, it is important to balance new features with the technology needed to support them properly. Likewise, teams often need to prioritize the user interaction design features necessary to make their products easy to use.

Also, it is important to understand the market the features expected by the personas within the customer community. A product can fail if the basic features are sacrificed for other complex functionality. Conversely, a product like Snapchat can fail if it does not continually offer innovative features. A balance between the two is necessary.

Finally, some features are necessary to keep a product going. That could include technical debt work, customer support features, operations features, marketing features, etc.

All of these areas are important to consider when prioritizing work. The relative importance of each depends on the history of the product, the strategic plan, the competition, and the technology available. The right answer relies on a product manager's ability to accurately define the value stream and the cost of delay for the features that are not a top priority."