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Amazon·Product Manager·Onsite - Product Sense / Strategy·Senior

Senior
May 2026

Summary

Amazon PM interview with a meaty product design question about building a driver performance evaluation system from scratch. One question, but it had a lot of layers and I definitely underestimated how deep they wanted me to go on the data side.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Amazon currently only tracks packages delivered and total delivery time per driver. How would you design a more comprehensive framework to evaluate driver performance fairly?

Product Analytics & MetricsProduct Sense & IdeationSystem Design
Author's notes

I started with the obvious stuff, on-time rate, customer feedback, and thought I was doing well.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the goal: to evaluate driver performance fairly, balancing efficiency, quality, and customer experience. Then propose a multi-dimensional framework that includes metrics beyond delivery time, such as safety, customer feedback, and adherence to protocols, and explain how to weight and combine them.

Pro tip: Emphasize that any performance framework must be transparent and actionable for drivers, and consider unintended consequences like speeding or cutting corners to meet time targets.

1. Define Objectives and Principles

Clarify what 'fair' means: rewarding effort, ensuring safety, and aligning with Amazon's customer obsession. Establish principles like transparency, actionability, and avoiding perverse incentives.

2. Identify Key Performance Dimensions

Brainstorm dimensions beyond delivery time: safety (accidents, violations), customer experience (feedback, complaints), reliability (on-time delivery, attendance), and efficiency (stops per hour, route adherence).

3. Select and Define Metrics

For each dimension, choose specific, measurable metrics. For example, safety: number of incidents per 1000 miles; customer experience: average rating; reliability: percentage of on-time deliveries.

4. Design Weighting and Scoring

Determine how to combine metrics into an overall score. Consider using a weighted sum or a balanced scorecard. Weights should reflect company priorities and be adjustable over time.

5. Address Fairness and Implementation

Ensure fairness by normalizing for route difficulty, traffic, and other external factors. Plan for data collection, driver feedback, and iteration to avoid gaming and ensure buy-in.

Key Points to Mention

  • Balancing multiple dimensions: efficiency, safety, customer experience, and reliability.
  • Avoiding perverse incentives: e.g., speeding to meet delivery times.
  • Normalizing for external factors: route density, traffic, weather, vehicle type.
  • Using customer feedback as a key metric, but being wary of bias.
  • Incorporating leading and lagging indicators: e.g., safety training completion (leading) and accident rates (lagging).
  • Ensuring transparency and providing drivers with actionable insights to improve.

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.