Choice-Based Work Sample Scorecard
Let candidates choose a real problem, then score how they solve it.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 98%
The Choice-Based Work Sample Scorecard reframes hiring from an exam into a mutual search for a candidate who wants the role and can thrive in the company's way of working. Give an IC product candidate several realistic problems and let them choose one for a bounded work sample. The choice itself supplies evidence, as do the proposed solution and the story used to communicate it. Grace's Slack scorecard looked for a technically possible but creative solution, a compelling narrative, a justified selection among options, a measurement plan, and credible thinking about how to build it. This combination exposed candidates who relied on magical technical assumptions as well as those who could produce context-rich product judgment. The method evaluates demonstrated work without assuming success at one admired company transfers automatically to another.
Origin
Grace used short, choice-based product assignments at Slack and observed a direct relationship between candidates who excelled across the scorecard and people who later led successful organizations there.
Core principles
- 01Hiring is a two-way search for an environment where the candidate can thrive.
- 02A candidate's choices reveal how they think.
- 03Product work requires feasible creativity, narrative, rationale, measurement, and execution.
- 04Company fit matters even among candidates with similar titles and prestige.
How to run it
- 1
Define realistic problems
Create several representative challenges that expose the judgment needed in the role without requesting production work.
Pro tip Keep the scope around a few hours and unrelated to work the company plans to ship directly.
Watch out An open-ended assignment can become exploitative free consulting.
- 2
Let the candidate choose
Allow the candidate to select the problem and explain the choice.
Pro tip Treat the selection rationale as evidence about interests and prioritization.
- 3
Score feasible creativity
Evaluate whether the solution is imaginative while respecting how the product and technology actually work.
Watch out Reject solutions that depend on unexplained magic-wand capabilities.
- 4
Score the narrative
Assess whether the candidate frames the problem, evidence, choice, and tradeoffs in a compelling sequence.
Pro tip Judge data in its stated context rather than rewarding the biggest number automatically.
- 5
Score execution logic
Look for a credible measurement plan and an understanding of how the team could build the solution.
- 6
Test mutual fit
Discuss whether the candidate enjoys this mode of work and can build a successful career in this specific environment.
Pro tip Ask whether former collaborators would eagerly work with the person again.
Watch out Prestige at another company is not proof of fit here.
In the wild
Some experienced candidates proposed Slackbot behavior that assumed an unrealistically contextual, language-driven system. Stronger candidates understood the tool's actual constraints, offered creative but feasible solutions, told a coherent story, and explained measurement and implementation.
→ The work sample separated demonstrated product judgment from employer prestige and interview fluency.
Common mistakes
Proctoring an exam
A superior, adversarial tone obscures whether the person genuinely wants the job and can thrive in the company.
Rewarding technical magic
A polished solution is weak if it assumes capabilities the product cannot realistically provide.
Overweighting company pedigree
A successful PM at one admired company may not fit another company's culture or product style.
Is it for you?
Best for
Hiring individual-contributor product managers into startups or product-driven companies.
Not ideal for
Senior executive searches or processes that cannot offer a short, ethically bounded work sample.
From the episode
Merci Grace (ex-Head of Growth at Slack) on PLG, interviewing, storytelling, building a diverse team, hiring salespeople, building a growth team, and much more