Thoughts on approaching a Product Design Question
In an interview, a Product Design questions generally assess a Product Manager’s ability to think critically about user needs, prioritize features, and consider the overall user experience and business objectives in the context of product design.
This is by far the most popular kind of assessments (also known as product sense questions) and could be seen at almost every product interview.
Before we move ahead here are 10 examples to help you understand the how does a typical Product Design question could possibly look like.
- Design a Calendar App:
- How would you design a calendar app for a mobile device?
- What features would you prioritize, and why?
- How would you ensure a seamless user experience for scheduling and managing events?
2. E-commerce Checkout Process:
- Can you walk me through the design of an e-commerce checkout process?
- How would you minimize friction and increase conversion rates during the checkout?
3. Collaboration Tool for Remote Teams:
- Design a collaboration tool for remote teams. What key features would you include?
- How would you address potential challenges related to communication and project management?
4. Health and Fitness Tracking App:
- Design a health and fitness tracking app. What metrics and features would you incorporate to keep users engaged?
5. Smart Home Device Integration:
- How would you integrate a new smart home device into an existing ecosystem?
- What considerations would you take into account to ensure a seamless user experience?
6. Dashboard for Data Analytics:
- Design a dashboard for a data analytics platform. What key metrics and visualizations would you include for decision-makers?
7. Travel Planning Platform:
- Imagine designing a platform for travel planning. What features would you prioritize to enhance the user’s journey from research to booking?
8. Educational Content Delivery:
- Design a platform for delivering educational content online. How would you organize content and engage learners effectively?
9. Social Media Content Moderation:
- How would you design a system for content moderation on a social media platform?
- What features and mechanisms would you implement to ensure a positive user experience while addressing potential issues?
10. Smart City Transportation:
- Design a smart city transportation system. What features would you include to enhance efficiency and user experience for commuters?
While answering such Product Design questions a simple 8 step process mentioned below can help you to communicate your thoughts in a structured manner.
Step 1: Clarify your understanding of goals and define scope
Understanding the goals and defining the scope of a product design question is the foundational step that sets the direction. Begin by engaging with the interviewer to gain a comprehensive understanding of the objectives of this question. This involves briefly exploring the business strategy, target market, and intended outcomes that interviewer might have in his mind. By clearly articulating the end goals you will ensure that your efforts are aligned with the thoughts of the interviewer.
Bullet Points:
- Engage with the interviewer to gather insights into the question’s objectives.
- Explore the intended outcomes and key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Try to identify the target market suitable as per the question and user demographics to tailor design decisions accordingly.
- Establish a clear scope by outlining the boundaries and constraints before jumping in.
Once the goals are clarified, it becomes easier to prioritize features and design elements. This initial step is crucial for creating a shared understanding with the interviewer.
Step 2: Articulate possible user personas
Creating user personas is a pivotal step in human-centered design, as it involves understanding the profiles that represent distinct user types. In a normal day to day process, you approach it by conducting user research, which can include interviews, surveys, and observations, to gather data on the target audience.
This data is then synthesized to develop personas that encapsulate demographic information, behaviors, goals, pain points, and preferences. By personifying users, as per the question and your experience it would be possible to provide a structure to your solution.
Bullet Points:
- Bring your experience in play here.
- Create demographic details such as age, location, and occupation.
- Explore user behaviors, goals, and motivations with the interviewer.
- Talk about their possible pain points and challenges faced by different user types.
These user personas serve as a reference throughout this process, helping you to think by putting yourselves in their shoes and make decisions that align with their needs. By considering the diverse perspectives of potential users, you can approach towards creating a product that will resonate with a broader audience, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.
Step 3: Articulate the needs of these users
Building upon the foundation of user personas, the next step is to articulate the specific needs and pain points of each user type. This involves a deeper dive into the challenges and desires of users, seeking to understand the context in which they will interact with the product.
Through methods like mental empathy mapping and talking on user journey mapping, you can identify key touchpoints and moments of frustration or delight, providing insights into the functional and emotional needs of users.
Bullet Points:
- Utilize empathy mapping to understand users’ emotional responses.
- Map out user journeys to identify touchpoints and pain points.
- Identify functional needs related to tasks and goals.
- Explore emotional needs and the overall user experience.
Articulating user needs helps you to prioritize features and functionalities that directly address these requirements. This step is essential for ensuring that the design not only meets basic functional expectations but also delivers an experience that resonates with target users on a deeper level.
Once user needs are well-articulated, it becomes easier to validate design decisions and iterate on the product based on interviewer feedback.
Step 4: Prioritize the most important problems
After identifying user needs, the next critical step is to prioritize the most significant problems that users might face. This involves assessing the criticality of each problem and understanding how users might navigate or attempt to solve these issues. By gauging the impact of each problem on the overall user experience, you can now focus the efforts on solving the most crucial pain points.
Bullet Points:
- Evaluate the severity of each identified user problem.
- Consider the impact of problems on the overall user experience.
- Assess how users might address or cope with these issues.
- Categorize problems based on urgency and importance.
Prioritizing problems allows for a more strategic allocation and shows your judicious use of time. By concentrating on the most critical issues first, you can maximize the positive impact of the solutions to be proposed.
Step 5: Brainstorm multiple solutions for the prioritized problems
With the prioritized problems identified, the next step involves a creative and open-minded brainstorming session to generate a diverse range of potential solutions. This phase encourages the exploration of various ideas without immediate judgment, fostering an environment where mental innovation can flourish.
Bullet Points:
- Explore creativity and open-minded thought of ideas.
- Generate a variety of potential solutions for each prioritized problem.
- Consider both incremental improvements and radical innovations.
During this phase, quantity often precedes quality, and the goal is to explore a broad spectrum of possibilities. The aim is to create a pool of potential solutions that can be evaluated and refined in the subsequent stages of the design process.
Step 6: Prioritize these solutions
After generating a pool of potential solutions, the next step is to systematically prioritize them based on various criteria. Frameworks like MOSCOW, KANO, or RICE can be employed to facilitate this prioritization process. These frameworks provide structured methodologies for assessing the feasibility, impact, and strategic importance of each solution, aiding in the selection of the most viable and impactful ideas.
Bullet Points:
- Utilize the MOSCOW framework to categorize solutions into Must-haves, Should-haves, Could-haves, and Won’t-haves.
- Apply the KANO model to distinguish between basic, performance, and delight features.
- Use the RICE framework to evaluate solutions based on reach, impact, confidence, and effort.
- Consider factors such as user impact, technical feasibility, and alignment with business goals.
Prioritizing solutions helps streamline the answering process by focusing resources on the most valuable and feasible ideas. It also ensures a shared understanding of the rationale behind the prioritization decisions with the interviewer.
Step 7: Define success metrics for the proposed solution
As the chosen solutions move forward in the design question interview process, it’s essential to establish clear and measurable success metrics. These metrics serve as benchmarks to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed solutions and gauge their impact on both user experience and business goals. By defining success criteria upfront, you can ensures a data-driven approach to assessing the performance of the product.
Bullet Points:
- Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) aligned with project goals.
- Establish quantifiable metrics for user satisfaction, engagement, and task completion.
- Define success criteria that reflect the desired outcomes of the proposed solutions.
- Consider both short-term and long-term metrics for comprehensive evaluation.
Success metrics provide a basis for objective evaluation of the proposed solution. These metrics can encompass a range of factors, from user adoption rates to conversion rates, helping the interviewer understand how well the proposed solutions meet the intended objectives.
Step 8: Summarize
In the final step of the product design answering process, it’s crucial to summarize key insights, decisions, and next steps. This involves creating a concise overview of your thought process, highlighting the rationale behind key design choices and the expected impact on users and business objectives. The summary serves as a valuable reference for the interviewer showcasing your structured thought process.
Bullet Points:
- Recap the key problems addressed and solutions proposed during the design process.
- Highlight the prioritization criteria and frameworks used to select solutions.
- Summarize success metrics and key performance indicators for evaluation.
- Provide a brief overview of the user personas and their needs that guided the design.
A well-crafted summary facilitates effective communication, ensuring that interviewer is aligned on the goals and outcomes of your product design effort.
Based on the complexity and familiarity with the question asked to you in the interview, a typical Product Design question should last around 15–20 mins.
Remember practice makes a man perfect. So, don’t forget to practice such design questions beforehand.
Happy learning!
