Metrics question
The average delivery time for Instamart orders has increased by 10% compared to the expected standard delivery time. Identify the root cause behind this increase.
- Swiggy
- Metrics
- Hard
Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.
Start a mock interview on this question · Mock interview from a job description
What this question tests
Structured root cause analysis on an operational metric regression, requiring hypothesis generation and a plan to test each one with data.
How to approach it
- Confirm the measurement first: check if the 10 percent increase is consistent across regions and time or driven by an outlier segment.
- Break delivery time into stages: order placement to picker assignment, picking time, and rider transit time.
- Generate hypotheses per stage: fewer available pickers or riders, a surge in order volume, a specific store's operational issue, or a routing change.
- Cross reference with recent changes: any new store openings, app changes, or staffing changes in the affected window.
- Propose the investigation order: check supply demand ratio and per stage timing data first, usually the fastest way to localize the cause.
What a strong answer includes
- Breaks delivery time into stages instead of treating it as one number, correctly localizing where to look.
- Cross references the timing of the regression against known recent changes, a realistic investigative step.
- Prioritizes checking supply demand balance first, the most common driver of delivery time regressions.
Common mistakes
- Jumping to a single guessed cause without breaking the metric into stages first.
- Ignoring recent operational or product changes that coincide with the regression window.
Likely follow-up questions
- Which specific stage would you investigate first, and why?
- How would you tell if this was a systemic issue versus isolated to a few dark stores?
More metrics questions
- How would you increase customer lifetime value for Swiggy?Swiggy · Metrics · Medium
- As a PM at Swiggy, you observed that the number of orders went down by 20% last week as compared to all the weeks before. How would you go about doing the Root Cause Analysis here?Swiggy · Metrics · Medium
- How would you measure the success of Lyft Shuttle?Swiggy · Metrics · Medium
- How would you measure the performance and health of a Netflix Original?Microsoft · Metrics · Hard
- Imagine you are the PM in charge of Reactions on Facebook - the new way to interact with posts by using “love”, “haha”, “wow”, “sad”, and “angry” reactions. What would success look like in terms of number of non-like reactions per post at launch and how do you come up with this? Would this number differ by reaction? Why or why not?Meta · Metrics · Hard
- You launched a new signup flow to encourage new users to add more profile information. A/B test results indicate that the % of people that added more information increased by 8%. However, 7 day retention decreased by 2%. What do you do?Google · Metrics · Hard
More questions from Swiggy
Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 9: Prove it paid off: outcomes, economics, and pricing
- Chapter 2: Data fluency: SQL, logs, and reading the truth yourself
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop