Product design question
Design a product to improve the post booking experience on OpenTable.
- DoorDash
- Product design
- Medium
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What this question tests
Tests product design for the often-neglected post-transaction phase of a booking flow, where trust and repeat use are built.
How to approach it
- Pick a user: a diner who just booked, and identify the main anxiety, will the reservation be honored.
- Identify pain points: no reminders, no easy modify or cancel, no communication on last-minute changes.
- Prioritize confirmation and modification flexibility first, since a failed reservation is the most damaging event.
- Design the solution: automated reminders, one-tap modify or cancel, a direct channel for restaurant changes.
- Add a loyalty layer, post-visit review or rebooking prompts, only once the core flow is solid.
- Define success as reduced no-shows and increased repeat bookings within 30 days.
What a strong answer includes
- Focuses on the actual highest-anxiety moment instead of jumping to loyalty or gamification.
- Sequences core reliability fixes before nice-to-have engagement features.
- Picks success metrics directly tied to the identified pain points, no-shows and repeat bookings.
Common mistakes
- Jumping straight to loyalty or rewards features without fixing core reliability first.
- No metric tied to no-shows, the central trust problem in restaurant bookings.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you handle a restaurant that frequently adjusts reservations?
- How would you reduce no-shows without penalizing genuine emergencies?
- What would you measure to know diners trust the confirmation flow?
More product design questions
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- Which app have you used for finding an apartment? How would you improve it?DoorDash · Product design · Easy
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- How would you improve DoorDash's post booking experience once the user has ordered their meal?DoorDash · Product design · Medium
More questions from DoorDash
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