Product design question
Design a fridge for kids.
- Asana
- Product design
- Easy
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What this question tests
Tests product design for a non-typical user (children) with distinct physical, cognitive, and safety constraints compared to a standard adult product.
How to approach it
- Clarify the age range, since a fridge for a 4-year-old differs hugely from one for a 10-year-old; assume ages 4-10 for a household kitchen fridge.
- Identify constraints: height/reach, limited strength to open heavy doors, safety around cold/sharp edges, and no ability to read fine print or navigate settings.
- Identify the core jobs: getting a snack or drink independently, and being safely kept out of unsafe zones (raw meat, alcohol, sharp tools) with minimal parent supervision.
- Propose design: a lower, lighter-opening kid-height compartment or drawer with rounded edges, color-coded bins (fruit, snacks, drinks), and a separate locked or high-shelf zone for adult-only items.
- Address safety: soft-close hinges, no small magnets or choking-hazard parts, and a weight-limited door so it can't be pulled onto the child.
- Define success: parent-reported reduction in 'get me a snack' requests, and safety incident rate versus a standard fridge.
What a strong answer includes
- Anchors on a specific age range and states the assumption explicitly instead of designing for 'kids' broadly.
- Separates the child-accessible zone from an adult-locked zone, addressing both independence and safety.
- Names concrete physical design details (door weight, edge shape, shelf height, color coding) rather than generic 'kid-friendly' language.
- Defines success with both a usability metric (fewer help requests) and a safety metric (incident rate), showing balanced thinking.
Common mistakes
- Treating this as a UI/software problem when it's mostly an industrial design and safety problem.
- Ignoring safety hazards (locks, sharp edges, choking hazards) entirely.
- No defined age range, leading to a design that doesn't fit any real user.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would the design change for a toddler versus a preteen?
- How would you keep parents in control of what's accessible?
- What safety certifications or standards would this need to meet?
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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