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You are a PM at Google. Design a feature for a product meant for a completely blind person.

Design a feature for the product for a completely blind person.
Asked at Google
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Sure, it feels good to be here at Google :)
Clarifying questions
- Which product of Google do you want me to target?
- How do you define blind- Completely/partially + By birth/by some illness
- Is there any other platform that does something like this?
- What is the goal of Google behind this?
- Is there a specific preference to which platform I should target them, like software/hardware etc.? google.com, software search>
- Will it be directly served to the user or via some organization/community who are helping them?

Getting into the shoes of the user.
Since the user is blind due to some illness, I will take the user to be in the age group~ 10-60, an age group that can be taught to use a new but simple tech product easily.

Since you mentioned software, I will assume the user is using at least a network based gadget, and considering blind, it will a mobile phone(that too a feature phone).

For the sake of the interview, I will consider that the user will not depend on anyone for using this. 
So, a blind person might need google search for-
- Entertainment- Songs, etc.
- Information/Education purposes- Podcasts etc. 
(Not considering any actions because you mentioned focusing on google.com search earlier)
- Currently, they depend on their caretakers for this.
- Senses through which they interact- Sounds, Touch, (Smell, Taste.ignored)
Refined goal- Removing the dependant from the scene.

The product!
4 possibilities- Input= Sound/Touch, Output= Sound/Touch
Output as touch will be costly, may affect user acquisition.

Touch as input- More accurate, a bit habituated, but time taking

Sound as input- Less accurate, easier, quick.
Taking into consideration the success of Google Assistant- I'll go with sound because typing even a word takes long on T9.

Sound Input -> Result -> Sound Output

Increasing the ease and interaction

Sound Input -> Feedback-> Result -> Sound Output

Increasing controls

Sound Input -> Feedback-> Result -> Sound Output -> Feedback for navigation/more results->Sound Input ->.......

Activation- Taking into mind, feature phones- Always-on-mic will be difficult, will configure "long press a button to open" option.

Long Press -> Sound Input -> Feedback-> Result -> Sound Output -> Feedback for navigation/more results->Sound Input ->.......

Connectivity- Internet vs call. Call- costly, but doesn't require good internet, Internet- no cost issues, but requires internet. Taking into account that we have a feature phone, and speed dial can opt, I'll go with Call. + for future Numpad keys can be used and different calling numbers for different types of search ex- news, audio, etc..

Long Press to call -> Sound Input -> Feedback-> Result -> Sound Output -> Feedback for navigation/more results->Sound Input ->.......

Going deeper into the results- Only with clear titles/audio for an easier experience, read titles only and let the user chose if they want in, if yes, read the whole article/play the sound.

That's it

Feedbacks please :)

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Feedback:

Pro:

- love the first sentence!

- great job narrowing down the scope quickly

- i like that you were able to apply the framework without making it obvious

- good use cases, could probably expand to more and focus a bit more on specific pain points

- a lot of consideration around how to cater to this type of user in the solution

Con:

- it is not clear why blind from birth vs. blind due to illness is important

- it could be good to clarify if the interviewer knows whether google search is already being used by blind people? (this can also be important to understand how much will be new user acquisition vs. increasing engagement or user satisfaction) If so, how are they using it? (this might help with understanding pain points) If not, do they know what blind people are doing instead? since there are no competitive product are they not using online search at all, or asking a friend to help?

- it would be helpful for the interviewer to know how you will approach the problem to make it easier for them to follow

- not clear why the age group is determined based on being blind due to illness, and more segmentation might have been helpful for example, blind with additional disabilities, by different regions of the world, social classes and means, level of technical acumen, casual/professional/student, etc.

- you could have considered sight, cameras on mobile and laptops, as well as webcams could allow you to do some things with eye tracking that could be interesting, or give a good reason for not considering this

- solution is hard to follow, there isn't really a product there, more like a collection of functionality. maybe try to clearly define a product like an, app, website, google home function or feature, android feature, that enables blind people to be able to do search better

Overall:

- Good high level approach to the problem and empathy for the user and their needs in terms of functionality. You could dive a little deeper on user segments, pain points, and put together some ideas for products, and then evaluate which solution is best. Lastly, you could briefly touch on how you would determine success of the feature.
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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