Product design question
How would you design a washing machine for the millennials?
- Product design
- Medium
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What this question tests
Product design for a physical appliance with a specific generational lens: can you identify what actually differs for millennial users versus a generic redesign.
How to approach it
- Define what's distinct about millennial users: smaller living spaces (apartments, shared laundry), high mobile-app usage, and value on sustainability/efficiency.
- Identify pain points: bulky machines don't fit small apartments, unclear cycle times leading to wasted trips to shared laundry rooms, and desire for eco-conscious options.
- Propose design changes: a more compact, stackable form factor, and app connectivity for remote cycle-completion notifications, especially valuable in shared laundry settings.
- Add a sustainability angle: clear energy/water usage stats per cycle and eco-mode defaults, appealing to this generation's stated preferences.
- Consider subscription/rental models instead of upfront purchase, matching millennials' lower homeownership rates and preference for flexible, lower-commitment options.
- Define success: adoption in shared/multi-unit housing contexts and app engagement with cycle notifications.
What a strong answer includes
- Grounds the redesign in real generational differences (smaller living spaces, shared laundry, lower homeownership) rather than just adding a screen.
- Proposes app-based remote notifications specifically valuable for shared laundry room use cases common in apartment living.
- Considers a rental/subscription ownership model, matching known millennial preferences around flexibility over large upfront purchases.
- Adds a genuine sustainability feature (usage stats, eco defaults) tied to a real, well-documented generational value.
Common mistakes
- Redesigning the washing machine with generic 'smart features' with no real connection to millennial-specific needs.
- Ignoring the shared/apartment-living context that meaningfully differentiates this audience's laundry experience.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you price this differently for a rental/subscription model versus outright purchase?
- How would you handle shared laundry room logistics, like someone else needing the machine?
More product design questions
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- How do you design a camera for the elderly?Google · Product design · Medium
- Redesign Twitter for eCommerce.Shopify · Product design · Hard
- How would you go about designing a new location sharing app for Google?Google · Product design · Medium
- How would you improve Google Home?Google · Product design · Easy
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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