Product design question
You are a PM at Google. Design a feature for a product meant for a completely blind person.
- Product design
- Hard
Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.
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What this question tests
Accessible design thinking for a blind user specifically, checking whether you can pick one concrete product and design around non-visual interaction end to end.
How to approach it
- Clarify scope: pick one Google product to focus on, for example Google Maps, since a blind-first redesign needs depth in one area rather than breadth.
- Define the user's core need: independent, safe navigation without relying on visual cues like street signs or map orientation.
- Identify current gaps: turn-by-turn audio exists, but nuanced cues like curb cuts, crosswalk signals, and obstacle warnings are missing.
- Prioritize safety-critical audio cues, like upcoming crosswalks and street crossings, over convenience features like restaurant recommendations.
- Propose a feature: detailed audio cues combining GPS with crowd-sourced accessibility data, such as marking sidewalks with obstacles or missing curb cuts.
- Define success as reduced navigation errors and increased self-reported confidence navigating unfamiliar routes among blind users.
What a strong answer includes
- Picks one specific product, Maps, and goes deep rather than giving a shallow answer across many Google products.
- Prioritizes safety-critical cues, crosswalks and obstacles, over general convenience features, showing correct triage for this user.
- Proposes crowd-sourced accessibility data as the mechanism, a realistic and Google-appropriate way to fill the missing-cue gap.
Common mistakes
- Answering too broadly across all of Google's products instead of committing to one and designing it in depth.
- Focusing on generic screen-reader compliance rather than the specific safety needs of navigating physical space independently.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you source and verify the crowd-sourced accessibility data?
- How would you test this with blind users before a wide launch?
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