Product design question
You are a PM at Lyft, You are asked to build a product for grocery delivery. How would you build it?
- Lyft
- 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.
Start a mock interview on this question · Mock interview from a job description
What this question tests
Whether you can extend a ride-hailing platform into a new vertical by identifying what genuinely transfers and what doesn't.
How to approach it
- Clarify scope: on-demand grocery delivery using Lyft's existing driver network, versus a dedicated grocery-picking service.
- Identify what transfers from ride-hailing: driver supply, routing, and payments infrastructure, and what doesn't: drivers aren't trained grocery pickers.
- Decide the sourcing model: partner with existing grocery stores for inventory and picking, using Lyft drivers only for the delivery leg, rather than building picking capability from scratch.
- Prioritize delivery speed and reliability as the differentiator, since Lyft's driver density is the actual competitive advantage here.
- Propose a concrete flow: customer orders through a partner grocery's system, a Lyft driver is dispatched for pickup and delivery once the order is packed.
- Define success metrics: delivery time from order-ready to drop-off, with a guardrail on order accuracy, since that's controlled by the grocery partner, not Lyft.
What a strong answer includes
- Correctly identifies that driver supply and logistics transfer from ride-hailing, while grocery picking does not, and designs around that gap.
- Proposes partnering with existing grocery stores for picking rather than Lyft building an entirely new picking operation.
- Focuses the value proposition on delivery speed and driver density, Lyft's genuine competitive advantage.
- Names order accuracy as a guardrail explicitly outside Lyft's control, showing awareness of the partnership boundary.
Common mistakes
- Assuming Lyft drivers can simply do in-store grocery picking without training or store relationships.
- Ignoring that order accuracy and stock issues sit with the grocery partner, not something Lyft alone can control.
Likely follow-up questions
- How would you handle disputes when an order arrives incomplete or wrong?
- Which grocery partner would you prioritize for a pilot, and why?
More product design questions
- How would you improve the Uber app?Lyft · Product design · Easy
- Design an app for making someone a better cook.Lyft · Product design · Medium
- How would you design at ETA system for Lyft drivers?Lyft · Product design · Medium
- Design Lyft for kids.Google · Product design · Hard
- How would you design a bicycle renting app for tourists?Google · Product design · Medium
- Design a referral system for a grocery app.Google · Product design · Medium
More questions from Lyft
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