Product design question

You are tasked with improving podcast engagement on Spotify. What would you do?

Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.

What this question tests

Whether the candidate can identify specific engagement gaps for a content format and propose fixes tailored to how people actually consume podcasts.

Clarify the metric of concern: is it discovery (finding new shows), completion rate (finishing episodes), or repeat listening (returning weekly).
Segment users: casual browsers who sample and drop off versus habitual listeners with a regular routine, since fixes differ.
Name likely pain points: weak discovery for niche shows buried under top-charts bias, and no easy way to pick up mid-episode across devices.
Prioritize a fix: improve personalized discovery (similar to music recommendations) and seamless cross-device resume, since these address the biggest drop-off points.
Define success as completion rate lift and weekly active podcast listeners, segmented by new versus habitual listeners.

Separates discovery, completion, and repeat listening as distinct problems instead of treating 'engagement' as one metric.
Proposes cross-device resume as a concrete fix, addressing a real friction point specific to podcast listening habits.
Ties the fix to Spotify's existing strength in music personalization, extending it to podcasts rather than building from scratch.

Treating podcast engagement the same as music engagement without accounting for longer, habit-based listening patterns.
Proposing generic content acquisition (more shows) without addressing discovery or completion friction.

How would you personalize podcast discovery differently than music recommendations?
What would you measure to know a discovery change is actually working?