Salesforce-Platform-Strategy-Designer Practice Test Questions

Summary:
The question focuses on the tools a Strategy Designer uses to create stakeholder alignment around a new product vision. A narrative is powerful for building an emotional, high-level understanding, but it must be supported by concrete, logical evidence to fully secure buy-in from stakeholders who are responsible for budgets, resources, and execution. The goal is to complement the "why" with the "what" and "so what."

Correct Option:

B. The strategic case including a breakdown of features and why they meet audience needs.
The strategic case provides the logical and business-focused justification that supports the inspirational narrative. It translates the vision into actionable components.

By breaking down features and explicitly linking them to specific audience needs, the Strategy Designer demonstrates a deep understanding of the problem and validates that the proposed solution is desirable, viable, and feasible. This evidence-based approach is critical for convincing stakeholders to invest resources.

Incorrect Options:

A. Incentives to motivate internal stakeholders to align with the proposed future state
While incentives can be a tool for motivation, they are not a primary artifact a Strategy Designer creates to build alignment for a vision. Relying on incentives suggests a lack of inherent buy-in for the strategy itself.

True, sustainable alignment comes from a shared belief in the strategic direction, not from external rewards. The focus should be on the merit of the strategy, not on compensating stakeholders for supporting it.

C. A roadmap to minimize miscommunication about milestones in the build process.
A roadmap is a vital planning and communication tool, but it is a downstream artifact. Presenting a detailed roadmap too early, before the strategic case is agreed upon, can lead stakeholders to focus prematurely on timelines and deliverables rather than the strategic "why."

Alignment must first be achieved on the vision and strategic rationale; the roadmap is then built to execute that aligned-upon strategy.

Reference:
Trailhead: Create a Strategic Narrative

Summary:
The core challenge is to present research findings that directly contradict a stakeholder's strongly held belief in a way that is collaborative and constructive, not confrontational. The goal is to transition the stakeholder from a fixed hypothesis to a shared understanding of the real customer problem, making them a partner in redefining the solution. This requires a forum that fosters dialogue and collective sense-making.

Correct Option:

C. In an insights workshop with plenty of time for group discussion
An insights workshop is specifically designed for this scenario. It transforms the presentation of findings from a one-way report into a collaborative discovery process.

By sharing raw data (like video clips or quotes) and facilitating a group discussion, the team allows stakeholders to "uncover" the insights themselves. This builds shared ownership of the new direction and gently guides them away from their initial hypothesis without directly telling them they are wrong, thereby minimizing defensiveness.

Incorrect Options:
A. In a walking deck with video clips from research sessions
While a deck with video evidence is data-rich, it is primarily a one-way, presentation-style format. It positions the design team as "proving the stakeholder wrong," which can create defensiveness and shut down productive conversation.

The stakeholder may become focused on critiquing the data or methodology rather than absorbing the core insight. It lacks the crucial element of facilitated dialogue to navigate this challenging feedback.
B. In a 'How Might We" statement to encourage new ideas
An "HMW" statement is an excellent tool for the ideation phase that comes after alignment has been reached on the core insights. It is premature here.

Jumping directly to "How Might We" skips the vital step of building a shared belief in what the problem actually is. Without this shared understanding, any new ideas will be built on the same faulty foundation.

Reference:
Trailhead: Build Shared Understanding with Your Team

Summary:
The strategy designer's goal is to build a collaborative partnership with the manufacturing team to identify sustainability opportunities. The approach must be analytical and evidence-based, focusing on the company's specific context rather than generic external data. A successful case is built on a shared understanding of internal processes and their environmental impact, which can then be rationally assessed for risk and opportunity.

Correct Option:

B. Analyze internal systems through the lens of environmental risk.
This approach is objective, data-driven, and directly relevant to the manufacturing team's operations. By analyzing their own systems and processes, the designer can identify specific, tangible areas for improvement (e.g., waste, energy use, supply chain).

This method builds a rational case based on internal facts, not external pressure. It demonstrates an understanding of the team's world and frames sustainability as an operational efficiency and risk mitigation issue, which is more likely to gain their buy-in and partnership.

Incorrect Options:

A. Meet with the manufacturing team and give them feasible solutions.
This is a prescriptive approach that risks alienating the team. Arriving with pre-defined solutions without first understanding their unique challenges, constraints, and expertise shows a lack of collaboration.

The manufacturing team are the subject matter experts on their own processes. The strategy designer's role is to facilitate discovery and build a case with them, not to dictate solutions to them.

C. Present research on climate change to the manufacturing team.
While the information may be factually correct, this approach is likely to be ineffective. The manufacturing team is already aware of the broad concept of climate change.

This tactic can come across as lecturing or shaming, and it fails to connect the global issue to the team's specific, day-to-day responsibilities and opportunities for improvement within Cloud Kicks.

Reference:
Trailhead: Strategy Designer - Discover the Current State

Summary:
The question focuses on measuring the direct outcome of a user experience (UX) redesign for an online store. While business metrics like sales are important, a pure UX metric should directly reflect the user's perception of the interaction with the site itself. The goal is to find a metric that is sensitive to changes in usability, design, and flow, rather than broader market or commercial factors.

Correct Option:

C. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
CSAT is a direct and immediate measure of user satisfaction with a specific interaction or experience, such as using a newly designed website. It typically asks a question like "How satisfied were you with your experience today?"

This makes it an ideal metric for a UX redesign because it captures the user's subjective feeling about the site's ease of use, navigation, and design. A successful UX improvement should be directly reflected in a higher CSAT score following a site visit or transaction

Incorrect Options:

A. Increased transaction volume
While a primary business goal, transaction volume is a commercial outcome influenced by many factors beyond UX, such as marketing campaigns, pricing, product availability, and seasonal demand.

An increase in sales does not conclusively prove the UX was better; it could be due to a successful ad campaign. Conversely, a great UX might not immediately overcome a poor pricing strategy. It is an indirect, not a direct, measure of user experience.

B. Net Adoption Score (NAS)
Net Adoption Score is not a standard industry metric for measuring customer experience. It appears to be a distractor item.

The well-known standard is Net Promoter Score (NPS), which measures customer loyalty and the likelihood to recommend a brand. NPS is a broader, relationship metric that is less sensitive to a specific UX change than CSAT.

Reference:
Salesforce Help: What’s the Difference Between CSAT, CES, and NPS?

Summary:
The question focuses on measuring the long-term health and growth potential of a B2B app after its initial launch success. Longevity in a business context is defined by a stable and loyal customer base that continues to derive value from the product over time. The metric must reflect ongoing engagement and revenue sustainability, not just one-time acquisition events or short-term sales spikes.

Correct Option:

B. Customer retention rate
Customer retention rate directly measures the percentage of customers who continue to use the app over a specific period. A high retention rate indicates that the product delivers sustained value, leading to recurring revenue and lower customer acquisition costs.

For a subscription-based service (common in fintech), retention is the primary indicator of longevity and growth potential. It shows product-market fit beyond the initial launch hype and is a leading indicator of a stable, predictable revenue stream, which is essential for long-term planning.

Incorrect Options:

A. Annual app downloads
App downloads are a top-of-funnel acquisition metric that measures initial interest, not long-term value. A high download count does not reveal if users are active, paying, or satisfied after the first use.

This metric is volatile and can be influenced by one-time marketing campaigns. It says nothing about whether the customer base is stable or churning, which is critical for assessing longevity.

C. App sales over time
While sales revenue is important, "sales over time" can be ambiguous. If it refers to total cumulative sales, it can mask a high churn rate by being inflated by initial success.

This metric does not distinguish between revenue from new customers versus retained customers. A company could have flat sales over time but a terrible retention rate if it is constantly replacing lost customers, which is an unsustainable and costly model for long-term growth.

Reference:
Salesforce: What is Customer Retention

Summary:
The design challenge focuses on deflecting service requests from human agents to self-service bots. While operational metrics like volume are important, the ultimate measure of success is whether the bot effectively solves the customer's problem without frustrating them. A bot that deflects calls but leaves customers dissatisfied fails the core objective. The metric must reflect the quality of the self-service experience from the user's perspective.

Correct Option:

A. Customer satisfaction rate
This metric directly measures whether the bot successfully enabled the customer to resolve their issue. A high CSAT score for bot interactions indicates that the self-service tools are effective, user-friendly, and meeting customer needs.

It validates the entire premise of the "How Might We" challenge: providing a satisfactory self-service resolution. If customers are happy with the bot, it proves the deflection is successful and sustainable, reducing the long-term burden on human representatives.
Incorrect Options:

B. Total conversations
This is a volume metric that only measures how often the bot is used, not how well it performs. A high number of conversations could indicate many frustrated users repeating queries or the bot failing to understand them.

It does not assess the impact or quality of the resolutions, making it a poor indicator of whether the bot is truly achieving the goal of effective self-service.

C. Human takeover rate
While this metric (also called escalation rate) is relevant, it measures a failure state. It shows how often the bot could not handle the issue, forcing a human takeover.

A low takeover rate is desirable, but it doesn't guarantee the bot was successful; the customer might have just given up. CSAT is the positive counterpart that confirms successful, satisfactory resolutions.

Reference:
Salesforce Help: Bot Metrics

This official documentation lists key metrics for Einstein Bots. It explicitly includes Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) as a primary metric to "measure the quality of your bot's conversations," directly aligning with the goal of assessing the impact of the self-service experience.

Summary:
The primary goal is to design for the broadest possible audience to increase diversity in customer acquisition. This requires a scalable methodology that starts with understanding specific needs and then systematically expands the solution's applicability. The tactic must proactively build inclusivity into the design process itself, rather than relying on point-in-time feedback or general empathy-building.

Correct Option:

A. Solve for one, extend to many through a persona spectrum.
This inclusive design principle involves deeply understanding the needs of one person with a specific, permanent disability or at the edge of a spectrum of need. The solutions designed for this extreme user often reveal insights that lead to innovations benefiting a much wider, more diverse audience.

For example, designing for someone with one arm can lead to a versatile, one-handed navigation system that is also useful for someone holding a baby or carrying groceries. This method systematically ensures the solution is adaptable and inclusive by design, directly serving the goal of reaching the broadest audience.

Incorrect Options:

B. Use Jobs to Be Done to increase empathy with the audience.
While Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) is an excellent framework for understanding the fundamental goals and motivations that drive customer behavior, it is a general-purpose discovery tool, not a specific inclusive design tactic.

JTBD focuses on the "job" a customer is trying to get done, which can increase empathy but does not inherently guide designers to consider the full spectrum of human permanence, situational, or temporary abilities in the way "Solve for one, extend to many" does.

C. Hold focus groups with traditionally underrepresented participants.
This is a reactive and limited form of research. While including diverse voices is crucial, focus groups gather opinions and self-reported data, which can be biased. They occur too late in the process to fundamentally shape the design philosophy.

This tactic checks a box for representation but does not provide the deep, contextual insight or the scalable methodological framework needed to "solve for the broadest possible audience" from the outset.

Reference:
Inclusive Design Principles from Microsoft

Summary:
The business goal is to provide coupons specifically to digital consumers, which is a core e-commerce function. While Marketing Cloud is excellent for distributing the coupons via email or ads, it is not a transactional platform for actually redeeming them during a purchase. A complete solution requires a system that can manage the coupon's business rules (value, eligibility) and process it securely at the point of sale within the digital storefront.

Correct Option:

A. B2C Commerce
B2C Commerce is Salesforce's dedicated e-commerce platform for building digital storefronts. It has native capabilities for creating, managing, and honoring promotional rules like coupons and discount codes directly at the checkout process.

Integrating Marketing Cloud with B2C Commerce creates a seamless flow: Marketing Cloud targets customers and delivers the coupon, and B2C Commerce validates and applies it when the customer makes a purchase online. This provides an end-to-end solution for a digital coupon campaign.

Incorrect Options:

B. Revenue Cloud
Revenue Cloud (part of CPQ - Configure, Price, Quote) is designed for managing complex, multi-step B2B sales cycles and subscription pricing. It is used for generating accurate quotes and contracts.

It is not built for the high-volume, direct-to-consumer (B2C) transactional model of a digital store. Using it for simple e-commerce coupons would be an overly complex and inappropriate use of the tool.

C. Service Cloud
Service Cloud is a customer service and support application. While a service agent could manually generate and provide a coupon to appease an unhappy customer, this is a reactive, one-off action.

It is not a scalable platform for proactively running a widespread marketing coupon campaign to all digital consumers. It lacks the native promotional engine and storefront integration required for this business goal.

Reference:
Salesforce B2C Commerce

Summary:
The scenario involves highly sensitive personal health data and a plan to monetize it, which presents significant ethical, legal (like HIPAA/GDPR), and reputational risks. The strategy designer's role is to proactively guide leadership to identify and mitigate these potential harms before making investments or plans. The approach must be a structured, forward-looking exercise in risk assessment, not just gathering opinions or benchmarking.

Correct Option:

B. Facilitate a Consequence Scanning workshop before proceeding with any further investment.
Consequence Scanning is a specific, structured workshop designed to proactively identify the potential negative impacts, unintended consequences, and ethical risks of a new initiative before it is built.

This method forces the leadership team to systematically consider the implications of monetizing patient data from the patient's perspective, the company's legal standing, and its brand reputation. It is the most responsible and comprehensive first step to ensure ethical considerations are built into the strategy's foundation.

Incorrect Options:

A. Perform user research to understand their level of comfort with data being shared for monetization.
While gathering patient input is important, it is not a substitute for the company's own ethical and legal due diligence. Patients may not fully understand the implications of their data being monetized.

Relying on "comfort levels" is risky; the company has a fiduciary and ethical duty to protect this data beyond what users might casually agree to. This approach outsources an ethical decision to the very people who may be harmed.

C. Research similar healthcare organizations about how they are monetizing patient data.
This is benchmarking, not ethical counseling. Just because other companies are doing something does not make it ethically sound or legally compliant for this startup. This approach could lead to following practices that may later be deemed unethical or illegal. The strategy designer should counsel leadership to define their own ethical standards, not simply follow others.

Reference:
The Consequence Scanning Event Guide (from the UK Government)

While not a Salesforce link, this is a recognized industry practice for ethical design. Salesforce's own ethical AI principles align with this proactive, "what could go wrong?" methodology. The strategy designer's duty is to recommend this kind of foundational ethical practice.

Summary:
The question focuses on the foundational stage of problem definition, where a company is articulating a need and a challenge before seeking a solution. At this early, strategic phase, the goal is to avoid locking into a specific solution prematurely. The commonality lies in maintaining a focus on the core problem and the "why" behind it, which ensures that any future solutions (like their ML tools) are designed to meet the actual, validated need.

Correct Option:

A. Both are solution-free statements
A need statement describes a user's fundamental requirement or pain point (e.g., "We need to ensure our CO2 performance data is perceived as trustworthy by regulators"). A challenge statement frames this need as a actionable problem to be solved (e.g., "How can we guarantee the perceptual validity of our data?"). The critical commonality is that both should be articulated without prescribing a specific technical solution. This prevents bias, keeps the team open to a wide range of innovative ideas, and ensures that the eventual solution—like a specific ML tool—is developed to directly address the validated core problem.

Incorrect Options:

B. Both are tactics intended to solve a problem
This is incorrect because these statements are not tactics. Tactics are the specific actions or methods used to execute a solution. Need and challenge statements exist at a higher, strategic level to define the problem. They are the "what" and "why" that must be understood before tactics can be selected.

C. Both explain the scope of possible solutions
This inverts their purpose. A well-written need or challenge statement is intentionally open-ended to avoid artificially constraining the scope of possible solutions. Their goal is to frame the problem space, not to define or limit the solution space. Defining the solution scope is a subsequent step in the process.

Reference:
Trailhead: Define the Problem with Problem Statements

This module emphasizes creating problem statements that are focused on the user's need and are free from assumed solutions, which is the core concept linking both a need statement and a challenge statement.