Product design question
How would you redesign a ceiling fan?
- Product design
- Easy
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What this question tests
Tests fast physical-product redesign ideation focused on real, specific pain points rather than generic smart-ify answers.
How to approach it
- Identify pain points: hard-to-reach pull chains or remote-less control, dust accumulation on blades, noise at high speed, no automatic comfort adjustment.
- Segment renters, who can't install smart wiring, from homeowners, who can invest in a smart retrofit.
- Design app or voice-controlled speed with a built-in temperature sensor for auto-adjustment, a dust-resistant blade coating, and a battery-powered retrofit kit for renters.
- Prioritize the auto-temperature-adjust feature as the core value differentiator over app control for its own sake.
- Define success as energy savings from auto-adjustment versus manual use, and reduced noise and dust complaints.
What a strong answer includes
- Goes beyond the obvious add-an-app answer by including a genuinely differentiated feature, temperature-based auto-adjustment.
- Specifically addresses renters who can't retrofit wiring, a real constraint often ignored.
- Ties the feature to a measurable energy-savings outcome, not just convenience.
Common mistakes
- Only proposing make it smart or app-controlled without a specific underlying value like comfort automation or energy savings.
- Ignoring renters who can't modify wiring.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you design this for renters who can't install new wiring?
- How would you measure whether the auto-adjust feature actually saves energy?
More product design questions
- Design a TV for a car.Google · Product design · Hard
- Design a refrigerator for the blind.Google · Product design · Hard
- 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
More questions from Google
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