PartnerRoundHow McKinsey Solve is scored
Product scores and process scores are separate. Most preparation ignores the second entirely.
Solve (built with Imbellus, now run in-house) assesses you on two independent tracks. Product score is whether your answers were right. Process score is how you got there: the sequence of clicks, what you inspected, how you revised. The second is genuinely measured, and it is the one candidates neglect.
| Track | What it captures | How to improve it |
|---|---|---|
| Product | Correctness of your final submission | Understand the rules precisely; verify constraints before submitting |
| Process | Your investigation pattern in the interface | Gather relevant data before acting; avoid random clicking; revise deliberately when evidence changes |
Solve is not primarily a speed test. Scattergun clicking to 'explore' can read as an unsystematic process. Inspect what you need, in an order you could justify, then commit.
Both Ecosystem and Red Rock hinge on constraints stated once in the briefing. Candidates lose most of their product score to a rule they skimmed, not to a difficult judgement. Budget the first two minutes for rules, every time.
Now put it into practice
Reading only gets you so far.