What do you think it means to have 'user empathy'?
Principal product managers rely on their ability to understand the needs of their stakeholders and customers. Interviewers ask this question to ensure a candidate understands this product management skill.
Remember to go beyond stating that user empathy includes the ability to understand a user's feelings. In a product management sense, user empathy should have a more holistic approach. Your response should demonstrate that proper user empathy includes attempting to think from the user's perspective and understand their world as it applies to your product.
"User empathy is the ability to understand and operate from the persona of your users. For example, as a principal product manager, I need to understand my users' feelings, thoughts, environment, past, and future to have proper empathy. I would need to understand their likes and dislikes. I would need to know their successes and struggles. All this knowledge would allow me to properly consider their needs and advocate for features that would add value to their lives."
