Assessments (APM)

List of All Assessments

The following assessments will be used to measure progress towards learning outcomes and to assign grades.

Type	Description	% of Grade	Points	Learning Outcome(s) Assessed1
Exam	Pre-Course Knowledge Check	0%	0	1,2,3,4
Exam	Final Exam	10%	50	1,2,3,4
Engagement Check	EC 1 - AI Product Management	2%	10	1
Engagement Check	EC 2 - Git and Deployment	2%	10	1
Engagement Check	EC 3 - Product Strategy and Innovation	2%	10	2
Engagement Check	EC 4 - Customer Validation	2%	10	2
Engagement Check	EC 5 - Mid-semester Feedback Survey	2%	10
Engagement Check	EC 6 - GitHub and Collaboration	2%	10	4
Engagement Check	EC 7 - APIs and How the Internet Works	2%	10	4
Engagement Check	EC 8 - Principles of Software Engineering and Design	2%	10	4
Engagement Check	EC 9 - AI Tools	2%	10	4
Engagement Check	EC 10 - Product Metrics and Data Analysis	2%	10	4
Sprint Demo	Sprint 1 – Deploy your first app	8%	40	1
Sprint Demo	Sprint 2 – Identify a problem worth solving	8%	40	2, 3
Sprint Demo	Sprint 3 – First MVP with Database and Payments	8%	40	4
Sprint Demo	Sprint 4 – Using Git for collaboration and version control	8%	40	4
Sprint Demo	Sprint 5 – Choosing the right AI tools	8%	40	4
Product Demo	Final Product Demo	30%	150	4
	TOTAL	100%	500

Notes

1. Table of Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome	Supported BYU Aims
1. Understand the basics of how LLMs generate natural language.	Intellectually Enlarging
2. Develop and articulate a product strategy.	Intellectually Enlarging, Lifelong Learning and Service
3. Analyze the physical, mental, and spiritual impact your product is likely to have on its users.	Spiritually Strengthening, Character Building, Lifelong Learning and Service
4. Create a digital product that delivers value to a target customer group.	Intellectually Enlarging, Lifelong Learning and Service

Knowledge Checks

Pre-Course Knowledge Check

The pre-course knowledge check is a 50 question multiple-choice exam. It does not count towards your grade but is required for you to complete. The purpose of the knowledge check is to understand your baseline level knowledge coming into the class.

Complete the exam on LearningSuite.

Do not use AI or any outside resources while completing the exam. Doing so would defeat its purpose and failed to give an accurate signal on base level knowledge.

The final exam will be very similar in content and structure and will be completed in the testing center.

Hence, comparing your final exam score to your score on the pre-course knowledge check will give you a good sense for what you have learned in the course.

Final Knowledge Check

The Final Knowledge Check will consist of a 50 question multiple choice test in the testing center.

Product Sprints

Sprint 1 – Deploy your fist app

Overview

The purpose of this homework assignment is to help you create a public facing portfolio containing your work that you can use to share with potential employers and others.

The deliverable for this homework is a single URL pointing to your personal portfolio published on the internet via GitHub Pages which will look like the following template

To actually submit the assignment, you need to complete the following steps:

1. Publish your portfolio to the internet
2. Once published, submit a single page PDF or Word Doc containing three things:

• A URL to your live product portfolio
• The name and relation of the person you showed your portfolio to (e.g. your roommate, parent, employer, etc)
• A few comments on how they reacted to what you showed them? i.e. what questions did they ask, what did they think overall?

Set-up

1. Create a new repo from the following template on GitHub: https://github.com/byu-strategy/product-management-portfolio. Call the repo “portfolio”.

2. After creating the repo, go to Settings -> Pages -> Deploy from a branch, and select GitHub Actions

3) Start VS Code and then Open -> Open Folder to the folder you want to save your portfolio files in. Then open a Terminal within VS Code.

4. Copy/paste the URL of your new repo and run the following command from the terminal. Your URL should have the following structure: https://github.com/[your github username]/portfolio

git clone https://github.com/[your github username]/portfolio.git

Make sure to add .git to the end of the URL and update your user name before running the command.

5. Then use the terminal to navigate into the newly cloned git repo (folder)

cd portfolio

6. You should now see all of the files from the repo in your left hand window pane within VS Code. These are the source files behind the template.

7. To complete the homework, you will edit and personalize the template. Once you are done editing, save all of the files and run the following git commands to publish your portfolio:

git add .
git commit -m "write a short message describing your changes"
git push

Once you have pushed your changes, within about one minute, your website portfolio will be live at this URL: https://[your github username].github.io/portfolio/

Remember to update your user name in the URL.

You can preview what your portfolio looks like at any point by running this command from the terminal:

quarto preview

For this to work, you will need to install quarto. Get Claude code to help you install it.

Requirements

You should make at least the following changes to the source files of your portfolio.

1. Add a personal photo (I recommend using your LinkedIn photo for a consistent online presence)
2. Update and personalize the Home page (index.qmd)
3. Update and personalize the About page (about.qmd)
4. Update and personalize the project-1.qmd file to accurately reflect the application you built. Make sure to update the two buttons that contain links to your GitHub source code and your Vercel deployed app.
5. Use AI or another tool of your choice to create a favicon and update the image reference in the .yml. You could use an icon or just your initial(s).
6. Choose one other person to show your portfolio to and describe to them what you built. Take a couple minutes to explain to them the tools and skills you are learning.

Although not required for this assignment, you should feel free to make further enhancements and personalizations to your portfolio. You will continue to build on this portfolio throughout the course so it should be something you invest significant effort in as it can be a valuable tool for you in the future to showcase your skills.

Grading

This assignment is worth 40 points which equates to 8% of your grade.

A full score of 40 will be awarded if all requirements above are met and the portfolio is “client ready.” Client ready means you could show this to a real prospective employer with confidence, meaning there are no errors, all of the hyperlink’s work, etc.

One point will be docked for each aspect that is not “client ready.” For example, if a hyperlink doesn’t work, that’s -1 from the 40 possible.

Sprint 2 – Identify a problem worth solving

Overview

The purpose of this assignment is to help you identify and begin to validate a problem that you can solve with a digital product you will build in this class. A problem worth solving is one that creates meaningful value for people, organizations, or society. Value can take many forms such as saving time, reducing costs, improving health, or unlocking new opportunities.

A practical litmus test is whether someone is willing to pay money to see the problem solved, since willingness to pay is a strong signal that the problem is real, painful, and worth addressing.

At the conclusion of this assignment you will have a strong hypothesis on what problem you plan to work on solving for the remainder of the course.

The assignment consists of doing research to support your articulation of a problem with solving.

Requirements

Turn in a Word doc or PDF that includes the following:

1. In 1-3 sentences, write down a problem you believe in worth solving based on your research.

2. A summary of the evidence you have gathered that leads you to believe this is a problem worth solving? Sources of evidence could include the following:

• Your personal experience, preferences, and frustrations
• Exploratory interviews with other people
• Interviewing others while observing them complete where pain points may exist (contextual interview)
• Ethnographic observation of others (i.e. you’re not speaking with others you’re simply observing and taking notes)
• Networking and discussing with others
• Surveys
• Synthesis of information and data found online
• Running an experiment
• Networking with others you don’t normally talk with

You should think of your audience as a VC investor and you should be working to convince them that you’ve uncovered a real pain point that is worth investing in solving. It’s up to you to build that case for action by communicating whatever evidence you can bring to the table.

List each source of evidence and your synthesis of what it’s telling you.

Below are few frameworks you may find helpful to organize your thinking as you do your research. You are not required to use these frameworks. They are simply offered as optional resources that many people have found useful.

Importance vs Satisfaction Framework(click link to learn more)

Image source: The Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen

Jobs-to-be-Done(click link to learn more)

Jeff Dyer

The Value Proposition Canvas(click link to learn more)

Image source: Strategyzer

3. Identify at least 1 persona of a customer that has the problem/job-to-be-done that you’ve identified. Document the following about this customer persona:

Name & Role (fictional but realistic)
- Give them a name and role to make the persona feel tangible (e.g., “Emily, 34, Busy Working Mom”).

Demographics
- Age, occupation, location, income level, education (only those relevant to the problem).

Goals / Motivations
- What do they want to achieve?
- Why does solving this problem matter to them?

Challenges / Pains
- What specific frustrations, risks, or obstacles do they face?
- How do these challenges affect their daily life or work?

Job-to-be-Done (JTBD)
- A statement capturing the core task or outcome they’re trying to achieve, usually framed like:

“When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [desired outcome].”

Current Solutions / Workarounds
- What are they doing now to solve or manage the problem?
- Why are these solutions insufficient?

Willingness to Pay
- How much would this persona realistically pay to make the problem go away?

Example Persona (Noise Disrupting Sleep Near Railroads)

Name & Role: Sarah, 42, Homeowner near rail line

Demographics: Married, 2 kids, suburban area, middle-class household income

Goals / Motivations: Wants her family to get consistent, restful sleep to improve health and productivity

Challenges / Pains: Train horns wake her children multiple times per night; she feels exhausted and less productive at work

Job-to-be-Done:
> “When loud train horns wake my family at night, I want a way to block or eliminate the noise so we can sleep peacefully and stay healthy.”

Current Solutions / Workarounds: Uses white noise machines and heavy curtains; they help a little but don’t stop the interruptions

Willingness to Pay: Would pay several thousand dollars for soundproofing or regulatory solutions, since the problem impacts family health and home value

Grading Rubric

1. Problem Statement (5 points)

• 5 points: Problem is clearly articulated in 1–3 concise sentences, specific, and compelling.
  
• 3 points: Problem is stated but vague, overly broad, or not clearly framed.
  
• 1 point: Problem is unclear, incomplete, or missing.

2. Evidence & Research (20 points)

• 16–20 points: Multiple sources of evidence are presented (e.g., interviews, surveys, observations, secondary data). Evidence is synthesized well and convincingly supports that the problem is real and meaningful.
  
• 11–15 points: At least two credible sources of evidence are presented with some synthesis, but the argument for the problem’s importance is only somewhat convincing.
  
• 6–10 points: Minimal evidence (one source) or evidence lacks depth; weak synthesis; limited support for the problem’s importance.
  
• 0–5 points: Evidence missing, irrelevant, or not tied to the problem statement.

3. Customer Persona (10 points)

• 9–10 points: Persona is realistic, detailed, and includes all required elements (name/role, demographics, goals, challenges, JTBD, current solutions, willingness to pay). Clearly linked to the identified problem.
  
• 6–8 points: Persona includes most elements but lacks depth or specificity in some areas. Somewhat connected to the problem.
  
• 3–5 points: Persona is superficial, missing several required elements, or feels unrealistic. Weak connection to the problem.
  
• 0–2 points: Persona missing or incomplete.

4. Clarity & Professionalism (5 points)

• 5 points: Submission is well-organized, professionally written, and free of errors. Audience (VC investor) is considered.
  
• 3 points: Submission is understandable but has some organizational, formatting, or writing issues. Limited consideration of audience.
  
• 1 point: Submission is unclear, poorly formatted, or contains frequent writing issues. Audience not considered.

This assignment is worth 40 points which equates to 8% of your grade.

Sprint 3 – First MVP with Database and Payments

Overview

The purpose of this homework assignment is to guide you through developing a full-stack MVP application with a front-end, back-end, database, and payment system.

Requirements

1. One or more working features that deliver on your customer value proposition
2. A functional back-end with Supabase, user authentication, and Stripe payments integrated
3. Application deployed to Vercel
4. I should be able to sign-up for an account on a free tier or trial and use your application.
5. AI generated code review saved in a .md file using the following prompt to Claude Code:

“How many lines of code is my app? How well desinged is the app on a scale of 1-10? Would this stand up in a world class engineering shop? Save your response in a .md file”

Deliverables:

On LearningSuite, submit a single .md file containing Claude Code’s reponse to the prompt above. Add a link to your vercel hosted application at the very top of the file.

Grading Rubric

Category	Description	Points
1. Working Features	App has one or more working features that deliver clear value.	0–10
2. Technical Setup	Supabase backend, user authentication, and Stripe payments are functional.	0–10
3. Deployment	App is deployed on Vercel and can be used by the instructor (signup works).	0–8
4. AI Code Review File	.md file includes Claude Code review and link to the app.	0–8
5. Design & Usability	App looks clean and is easy to navigate.	0–4
		Total: 40 Points

This assignment is worth 40 points which equates to 8% of your grade.

Sprint 4 – Improved MVP and Code Base Assessment

Sprint 5 – Production Worthy Product

Engagement Checks

Engagement Checks provide a brief opportunity at the end of class for you to demonstrate your understanding of key concepts discussed that day and to reinforce active participation in the learning process.

Engagement Checks occur during the final ten minutes of class. They consist of writing your answers to five questions, the topics of which were discussed during class that day.

The questions are presented on a slide and students are provided a note card to write their answers. Each student should bring their own pen or pencil. Students should include their name and the day their section (i.e. Monday) meets in order to get credit.

A list of the Engagement Check dates and associated readings are shown on the course schedule.

NoteWhy We Do Engagement Checks

Research shows that writing down what you’ve just learned helps your brain remember it better. Psychologists call this the “testing effect” or “retrieval practice”: when you pull ideas out of your head and put them into words, you strengthen your memory far more than by just rereading or listening. Writing answers to a few questions at the end of class also helps you notice what you do and don’t understand, making your study time more effective later. These quick Engagement Checks aren’t busywork, they’re a proven way to lock in the key ideas from class so you actually remember them.

Final Product Demo

Feedback Surveys

Mid-Semester Feedback Survey

If you complete this survey, we will take your lowest Engagement Check score and convert it to a perfect score.

Survey Link

Student Ratings

If you complete this survey, we will take your lowest Engagement Check score and convert it to a perfect score.