Product design question

You're a PM at a vending machine company. Your CEO asks you to design a new line of vending machines to be placed in hotels and motels. 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

Product sense for a defined B2B2C context, matching machine design and inventory to the specific guest need.

Identify the specific guest context, late night or early morning needs when the front desk or nearby stores are closed, unlike a typical office vending machine.
Identify likely high value items for this context, phone chargers, travel toiletries, and simple food or drinks, rather than a generic office snack selection.
Propose a smart inventory approach, tracking sales data per property to tailor stock, since a business hotel and a highway motel need different items.
Consider the payment and access experience, contactless payment and possibly room charge integration for hotel guests to reduce friction.
Define success metrics, revenue per machine per day and stockout rate for high demand items like chargers.

Identifies the specific late night, no alternative nearby context as the core design driver, rather than treating this like a generic office vending machine.
Names concrete inventory choices suited to that context, phone chargers and travel size toiletries, showing real product judgment about guest needs.
Proposes room charge payment integration as a hotel specific convenience, distinct from a standard vending machine's cash or card only payment.

Proposing the same product as a standard office vending machine with no tailoring to the hotel or motel guest context.
No mention of per property inventory customization despite very different guest bases across locations.
No metric defined for machine performance or stockouts.

How would you decide inventory differently for a budget motel versus a business hotel?
How would you handle machines running low on high demand items overnight when restocking is not possible?