PostHog · Execution · Mid · 45 to 60 minutes

How should PostHog prioritize surveys work?

PostHog is a product analytics platform that helps teams build, measure, and improve digital products. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

Prioritization
Product strategy
User insight synthesis
Execution planning
Stakeholder alignment

The situation

A product leader at PostHog asks you to propose how the team should decide what to build next for the surveys product area. Interest in surveys is rising, requests are coming from users and internal stakeholders, and several ideas look promising, but the team wants to avoid a heavy roadmap process that slows shipping. Assume one quarter of capacity for one product squad and a backlog far larger than the team can build. Your job is to recommend a lightweight way to prioritize work and apply it to surveys so the team can align quickly, make tradeoffs, and avoid committing engineering time too early. The challenge is that demand signals are uneven, different people will argue from anecdotes, and surveys needs to fit PostHog's broader product philosophy. You need to show how the team should decide what matters most now, what should wait, who should drive the decision, and how to reduce risk before turning a priority into a full build.

What to produce

A 1 to 2 page prioritization memo for the surveys product area.

Your answer must

Define 3 to 5 product principles for surveys, and show how they would guide tradeoffs.
Describe how you would gather and synthesize evidence of user demand from available signals, and note the biggest gaps or uncertainties.
Present a ranked list of 4 to 6 surveys work themes or request categories using a simple effort and impact view, with explicit assumptions.
Recommend a clear ownership model and decision cadence for moving from ideas to committed work.
Include a low cost validation plan for the top 1 to 2 priorities before a full build, with clear success signals.

Constraints

Work only from the summary provided, do not rely on outside facts about PostHog or its customers.
Keep the process lightweight enough to fit normal quarterly planning, not a long annual roadmap exercise.
Do not assume new headcount, a separate research team, or large custom data studies.

Format

Use short headings, bullets, and one simple prioritization table.

How PostHog actually played it

PostHog walks through its prioritization steps: agree on product principles, map what users want, rank by effort versus impact, make ownership clear and test with minimal effort. The surveys product serves as the worked example. Handy for PMs designing a lightweight roadmap process.

Write product principles first so choices are faster
Rank ideas by effort and impact and assign one clear owner
Test with minimal effort before committing to a full build

Built from How we decide what to build by Ian Vanagas.