As a technical professional, you live and breathe a world of APIs, databases, algorithms, and deployments. This specialized language is efficient for communicating with your peers. However, it can be a massive barrier when talking to the very people who depend on your work: Product Managers, Marketers, Salespeople, and Designers.

The "curse of knowledge" is a cognitive bias where you unconsciously assume that others have the background to understand what you're saying. Overcoming this curse is a superpower. The ability to translate a complex technical concept into simple, clear terms is one of the most valuable communication skills you can possess.

Your answer to this question reveals whether you are an effective collaborator who can bridge the gap between technology and business, or if you're a siloed expert who struggles to work with others.

What Are They Listening For?

The interviewer is testing for several key traits:

• Empathy: Do you take the time to understand your audience's perspective and level of knowledge?
• Clarity of Thought: Do you truly understand the concept yourself? (As Einstein reportedly said, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.")
• Patience: Do you get frustrated when someone doesn't understand, or do you find creative ways to re-explain?
• Business Acumen: Can you connect a technical detail to what the other person cares about (e.g., user experience, revenue, project timelines)?

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

1. "Dumbing It Down" (Condescension): The candidate uses a tone that is patronizing. "So I had to explain to the marketing guy, in very small words, what an API was..." This shows a lack of respect for their colleagues' intelligence and expertise in their own domain.
2. Using Jargon Anyway: The candidate thinks they are being simple, but still uses technical terms without defining them. "I just explained that we needed to add a caching layer to reduce database load." (A Product Manager doesn't know what a "caching layer" is or why "database load" is bad.)
3. Focusing on the "What," Not the "Why": The candidate explains what the technology is, but not why the other person should care. The non-technical stakeholder doesn't need to know how it works; they need to know what it means for them.

The "ABT" Framework for Simple Explanations

When explaining the concept within your STAR story, use the powerful Analogy, Benefit, Trade-off (ABT) framework.

1. Analogy or Metaphor: Compare the complex technical concept to something simple from the real world. This is the single most effective tool for creating understanding.
2. Benefit: Immediately connect the concept to a benefit that your audience cares about. Answer their unspoken question: "Why does this matter to me?"
3. Trade-off: Briefly and simply explain the cost or decision that needs to be made.

Example of ABT in Action

• Technical Concept: We need to refactor our monolithic application into microservices.
• Analogy: "Right now, our application is like one giant, tangled ball of yarn. If you want to change one small part, you risk messing up the whole thing. Microservices are like neatly organized, separate balls of yarn. You can work on one without affecting the others."
• Benefit: "The benefit to you is that our teams will be able to develop and release new features much faster and more independently, which will accelerate our product roadmap."
• Trade-off: "The trade-off is that this is a big project that will take our team about three months, meaning we'll have to pause work on other new features during that time."

Structuring Your Answer with STAR + ABT

You will use the STAR method to frame the overall story, and embed the ABT framework within the "Action" step.

S - Situation

Describe the context. Who was your non-technical audience (e.g., "our Head of Marketing")? What was the project or problem you were discussing?

T - Task

What was your specific goal? It should be about achieving a shared understanding or getting a decision made.

• Example: "My goal was to explain why we needed to dedicate the next two sprints to paying down technical debt, and to get the Product Manager's buy-in to delay a new feature."

A - Action

Describe your communication process. This is where you use the ABT framework.

• Action 1 (Empathy): "I knew the PM was under pressure to deliver new features, so just saying 'technical debt' wouldn't work. I had to frame it in a way that connected to her goals."
• Action 2 (The ABT Explanation): "In our meeting, I used an analogy. I said, 'Our codebase is like a busy kitchen. Right now, we've been cooking so fast that we have a huge pile of dirty dishes in the sink. We can keep cooking for a little while longer, but soon the whole kitchen will grind to a halt because we have no clean pots.' The benefit of 'washing the dishes' now is that for the rest of the year, our 'cooking speed'—our feature velocity—will be 50% faster. The trade-off is that we need to close the kitchen for cleaning for two weeks, which means pausing the new feature."
• Action 3 (Checking for Understanding): "After explaining, I paused and asked, 'Does that analogy make sense?' to ensure we were on the same page."

R - Result

What was the positive outcome of your clear communication?

• Example: "The analogy clicked instantly for her. She not only understood the need but became a champion for it. She was able to confidently explain the trade-off to leadership, we got the two sprints approved, and our development velocity did in fact increase significantly in the following quarter. It also fundamentally improved our relationship, as we now had a shared language for discussing technical health."

Example

Weak Answer

Strong, STAR + ABT Answer

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