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Product Design

The Product Design Playbook

To successfully answer "Design a Product" questions, avoid simply listing features you personally want; instead, demonstrate a structured, user-focused approach that balances empathy with technical constraints.

Step 1

Ask questions to understand the problem

Before brainstorming, clarify what the prompt actually means. For example, if asked to "Design a messaging app," clarify who it is for: doctors sharing sensitive patient data (requiring HIPAA compliance and high security), teenagers (focusing on gamification and media), or users in low-connectivity areas (requiring an offline-first, low-bandwidth architecture). This prevents you from building a product that fails the actual needs.

Step 2

Provide a structure

Step 3

Identify the users and customers

Step 4

Determine the use cases and goals

Step 5

Evaluate current products and identify weak spots

Step 6

Brainstorm features to improve those weak spots

Step 7

Wrap things up

Additional Tips

Have an opinion: Act like the product owner. Don't be passive; develop a strong point of view and own your decisions.
Wow the interviewer: Move beyond safe bug-fixes. Try to come up with at least one killer, bold feature or a novel go-to-market angle that excites the interviewer.
Use the whiteboard: Don't stay glued to your seat. Stand up, draw architectures, wireframes, or user flows to communicate your design clearly.
Don't overbuild & Acknowledge Trade-offs: Be realistic about what can actually be built. Point out the flaws, limitations, or technical constraints (e.g., Latency vs. Accuracy) of your design before the interviewer does.
Think about the business: Remember that a great user experience must also drive company goals (revenue, user acquisition, retention). Tie your product design back to business viability.

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