15% off membership for Easter! Learn more. Close

Design a product for people to learn how to play musical instruments.

Asked at Google
946 views
Answers (1)
crownAccess expert answers by becoming a member

You'll get access to over 3,000 product manager interview questions and answers

Approach:

 

#1:Product Description:  We want to create a product that helps people learn how to play musical instruments.

 

#2:Clarification Questions & Assumptions:

1: Question: Do we want to make it an assisted learning experience or do-it-yourself?

Interviewer: What do you prefer?

Response: In my opinion, DIY (do-it-yourself) takes a lot of time and doesn't offer personalized learning initially. Over time, people might lose interest, and retention can be a problem. On the other hand, with assisted learning, someone will guide you from start to finish and keep you engaged. So, I'll create an assisted learning product.

 

2: Question: What’s the TG that we are looking at?

Interviewer: You've chosen the assisted option, so what are your initial thoughts?

Response: We are targeting kids/adults especially in metro cities, and we consider parents or guardians to be important decision-makers along in case of kids.

Interviewer: Okay

 

3: 

Question: Is this a project by a big tech company or a startup?

Interviewer: Do you think a major tech company would be interested in this?

Response: In my opinion, big tech companies have different goals, and their business model tends to be more self-service. So, I don't think they'll be interested. 

Interviewer: Your call then

Response: Would go with startup & consider limited but sufficient resources

 

 

4: Question: Which platform do you have in mind? Web or App? Online vs offline?

Interviewer: What platform do you think is best?

Response: Since we're starting with a minimal viable product (MVP) and an assisted learning approach, we'll use a web platform instead of a mobile app. It's easier to create an MVP on the web in terms of effort and execution, and it's better for our go-to-market strategy. 

When it comes to choosing between online and in-person teaching, I would go with in-person teaching. That's the best way to have conversations, build relationships, and successfully provide our product.

 

 

 

5: Question: We're making a product where assisted (tutors) help students. We pick tutors who are already good at teaching by placing checks. We don't teach them how to be good; we find the ones who are already experts. Is this fine with you?

Interviewer: Okay, go on

 

#3:Objective

 

We're categorizing users based on AAAERRR (Awareness, Acquisition, Activation, etc.). In this case, we're talking about our MVP, and the product's success is primarily determined by how many people become aware of it, how many decide to start using it, how they get activated or engaged with it, and whether they keep using it over time. 

So, I believe that getting new users, getting them involved, and making sure they stick around (acquisition, activation, and retention) are the most important. Because our platform is just starting, and keeping users is crucial for making money in the future.

Out of these, especially in the early stages, I think keeping users (retention) is the key measure of success.

 

#4:User groups:

Kids/Children/parents/adults

  • Kids/adults who are just starting or are very new to music and are not sure which instrument to begin with.
  • Kids/adults who want to learn the desired musical instrument & learning it for passion
  • Kids/adults who want to learn the desired musical instrument & learning it for hobby/extra curricular
  • Kids/adults who want to learn the desired musical instrument & learning it for few selected performance
  • Parents who want to enrol their kids/children/known so that their kids can learn some musical instruments

 

Professionals/Tutors:

  • Professionals or tutors who want to join the platform to get their skills utilised and earn more money.


If I want to narrow it down & conclude, it seems like starting with kids who want to learn as a hobby or out of interest would be a good choice, as they would make up a significant part of our initial audience on the platform.

 

 

#5: Few User Needs:

Individuals (parent/kids/children/adults):
 

Use case

Priority

As a user, I should be able to find a Teacher


P0

As a user, I should be able to view & select Tutor Profiles 


P0

As a user, I should be able to book session with desired tutor



P0

As a user, I should be able to check schedule overview



P1

As a user, As a user, I should be able to check session Performance & Progress



P0

As a parent, i should be able to check my kid’s progress



P1




Tutors:

 

                        Use Case

                            Priority

As a user, I should be able to sign up & add my education & other relevant skills

P0

As a user, I should be able to prove genuineness 

P1

As a user, I should be able to add preferred location/areas

P0

As a user, I should be able to manage bookings including payment modules

P0




#6:Solution:

#6.1: Individuals end:

 

Use Case

Solution

Reach

Impact

Effort

Solution Priority

 

As a user, I should be able to find a Teacher

Users can find teachers nearby after asking which musical instrument they are interested in.



High
 



High



Medium




P0

 

User  can find above within a city 

Low

Low

Low

P1

 

I should be able to select my current learning skill level to find relevant matches

High

High

Medium

P0

 

As a user, I should be able to view & select Tutor Profiles 



User should be able to check the experience, educational skills, background, photos with past customers





High





High





Medium





P0

 





As a user, I should be able to book sessions


User should have the option to select one free session with desired tutor




High




High




Low




P0

 

Users can choose my preferred slots and preferences.



High



High



Low



P0

 

User can select session type (online vs offline)



Low



Low



Low



P1

 

Users should be able to book follow-up sessions with various packages (e.g., 1 session, 10 days, 14 days, 28 days).





High





Medium





Medium





P0

 

User should be able to pay from multiple payment modes such as EMI (CC)

High

High

Medium

P0

 



As a user, I should be able to give feedback, check schedule, session Performance, Progress, upgrade

User should be able to find & review session recording



High



High



Medium



P0

 

Users want to be able to see materials to read before their sessions, which should match their schedule. They also want to check any homework assigned by their tutor.

High

High

Medium

P0

 

Users should have the option to leave comments after each session they book. This allows them to provide feedback, and if unsatisfied, they can also request a different tutor.





High





High





Medium





P0

 

Users should be able to see how many sessions they have been to.



Low



Low



Medium



P2

 

Users should be able to check the tracked learning levels possible by using basic intelligence (ranging from 1 to 5) after every session and at set intervals.





High





High





Medium





P0

 


 

#6.2: Tutors end:

 

Use case

Solution

Reach

Impact

Effort

Priority







As a user, I should be able to sign up & add my education & other relevant skills

A dashboard where professionals can upload their skills in specific musical instruments, their education certificates, and work experience documents to get started.. 

High

High

Low

P0

Dashboard where professionals can upload video testimonials from past

High

High

Medium

P0









As a user, I should be able to manage bookings to increase efficiency, interest & manage payment






 

A platform where I can specify my preferences for serving, such as areas names, etc to find relevant customers 

High

High

Low

P0

Want to receive notifications or calls from customer support to get my approval before confirming a booking.




High




High



Medium



P0


Feature where I can have conversations with the people I've booked sessions with in the past 10 days after the session has taken place.



Low

Because we are a platform that primarily operates offline, it's convenient for users to share their contact numbers during the sessions



Low



High



P1

Dashboard where I can check my upcoming bookings for the next three days so I can plan my work accordingly.



High



High



Medium



P0

Check the payments in progress, payment due to platform, platform due (basic stuffs)

High

High

Medium

P0


As a user, I should be able to prove genuineness

Portal where tutors can ask existing customers outside of portal to add ratings and reviews

Low

Low

High

P1



The effort needed will depend on technology-related tasks and will take into account a T-shirt sizing approach (L/M/S). In this approach, I've used my knowledge and understanding to categorise tasks as High, Medium, or Low in terms of their reach, impact, and effort.


#7: Tradeoff:

Thinking about the fact that users can share their phone numbers with their partner or tutor, we should offer some kind of promise (not a guarantee) to encourage them to stay with the platform.
 

 

#8: Metrics:

I'll be splitting the measurements into two groups: Key metrics at platform level and the other is success metrics relevant to user groups


Key Metrics (platform)

 

Metric

Description

Metric category 

Number of users visited (sessions)

This shows how many users have visited and had sessions.

Secondary

DAU/MAU

Helps us measure the quality of users who visit regularly.

Secondary

Number of free sessions booked and attended (engagement)

Indicates how many free sessions were both scheduled and actually attended.

Secondary

Number of follow-up sessions booked (retention) and attended and revenue

Shows the count of booked follow-up sessions and how many were actually attended.

Primary

Booked session DAU/MAU

This helps us track how many users stay engaged with the product after booking a session.

Primary 


 

Key Metrics (user level)

Individuals:

Number of users who registered or logged in.

Number of users who scheduled free sessions.

Number of users who booked follow-up sessions.

Number of users who stay active with the product after booking sessions. This includes things like DAU/MAU, how many complete their homework, and how long they spend engaged in sessions, etc

Tutors:

Number of users who registered or logged in
Number of bookings received/day/week
Average rating/user
Number of paid users and their schedule

 

 

 

 

Access expert answers by becoming a member
0 likes   |  
1 Feedback
badge Platinum PM

Great post there. I enjoyed reaching a well structured and step by step answer. I have a couple feedback that I think it's impotant to keep in mind: 

  • I noticed even though you highlighted that you're going to focus on "retention", some of the proposed features such as "upload testimonial" were marked as high impact even though they didn't drive retention. You want to be disciplined and stick to features that help you with your focus area 
  • Same thing with the user group. You mentioned you'd like to focus on building an MVP that is targetting kids who'd like to learn a musical instrument as a hobby. However, there were no specific features for this niche. I would either not narrow down to a niche user group or if I do, I'd make sure to include solutions that are more relevant to them. 
Great answer overall. I enjoyed reading it. 
0
Get unlimited access for $12/month
Get access to 2,346 pm interview questions and answers to give yourself a strong edge against other candidates that are interviewing for the same position
Get access to over 238 hours of video material containing an interview prep course, recorded mock interviews by expert PMs, group practice sessions, and QAs with expert PMs
Boost your confidence in PM interviews by attending peer to peer mock interview practices, group practices, and QA sessions with expert PMs
Get unlimited access for $12/month
Get access to 2,346 pm interview questions and answers to give yourself a strong edge against other candidates that are interviewing for the same position
Get access to over 238 hours of video material containing an interview prep course, recorded mock interviews by expert PMs, group practice sessions, and QAs with expert PMs
Boost your confidence in PM interviews by attending peer to peer mock interview practices, group practices, and QA sessions with expert PMs