Product design question
As a PM at Zynga, what feature would you create for your favorite game?
- Zynga
- Product design
- Medium
Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.
Start a mock interview on this question · Mock interview from a job description
What this question tests
Tests personal product sense and the ability to apply game-design thinking to a live-service mobile game, since the question is intentionally open-ended.
How to approach it
- Pick a specific real game to anchor the answer, since 'favorite game' is intentionally personal, for example a mobile puzzle or social game with an existing live-service model.
- Identify a genuine pain point or missed opportunity in that game's current design, such as a social feature gap, a monetization moment that feels unfair, or a progression stall point that causes churn.
- Propose one concrete feature addressing it, for example a cooperative event mode that lets friends combine limited resources toward a shared goal, addressing both social engagement and a monetization moment.
- Explain the design details: how the feature works mechanically, what makes it fun rather than just another timer-gated wall, and how it fits the game's existing economy.
- Address monetization tie-in: a natural, non-predatory way the feature could drive revenue, like optional boosts that speed up team progress without being required to participate.
- Define success as engagement lift among players who try the feature (session frequency, return rate) and incremental revenue from the optional monetization hook.
What a strong answer includes
- Anchors on a specific, named game rather than a generic mobile-game description, since the question is explicitly personal and specific.
- Identifies a real, recognizable pain point in live-service game design, such as solo grind fatigue or an unfair monetization wall, showing genuine game literacy.
- Proposes a feature with a clear fun mechanic, not just a monetization gate dressed up as a feature.
- Balances the social/engagement goal with a non-predatory monetization angle, showing awareness of live-service game economics without being exploitative.
Common mistakes
- Staying too generic, describing 'a fun new feature' without picking an actual game or a specific mechanic.
- Proposing a feature that is purely a monetization gate with no genuine engagement value.
- No metric or way to know if the feature actually worked.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you balance this feature so it does not feel pay-to-win?
- How would you test this feature before a full rollout?
- What would make you cut this feature after a soft launch?
More product design questions
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- How would you go about designing a new location sharing app for Google?Google · Product design · Medium
More questions from Zynga
Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 4: Discovery and strategy for AI products
- Chapter 7: AI UX and human oversight: design for a system that is wrong sometimes
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop