Design YouTube for kids under 10 – PM Interview question

Product Management interviews often test your ability to design for unique user groups. One common scenario is designing products for children. A classic interview prompt looks like this:

“Design YouTube for kids under 10. How would you approach it?”

Here’s a structured way to tackle this question, step by step.

1️⃣ Clarify the Problem

Before diving into solutions, clarify the scope:

• Are we building a new product from scratch or improving YouTube Kids?
• Who are the primary users (kids under 10) and secondary users (parents)?
• What are the key goals? Typically, a kids’ video platform should be:
  • Safe and age-appropriate
  • Fun and engaging
  • Educational where possible
  • Trustworthy for parents

Clarifying upfront shows interviewers that you think about users and constraints first.

2️⃣ Understand the Users

• Kids (Primary Users): Seek entertainment, simplicity, and discovery.
• Parents (Secondary Users): Seek safety, control, and monitoring.
• Content Creators: Need tools to produce safe and engaging videos.

Understanding these three perspectives ensures your solution balances fun, safety, and usability.

3️⃣ Identify Pain Points

For Kids:

• Interfaces can be confusing or overwhelming.
• Hard to discover age-appropriate videos.
• Unsafe recommendations may appear.

For Parents:

• Fear of exposure to harmful content.
• Lack of control over viewing time or content.
• Limited visibility into what their children are watching.

5️⃣ Proposed Features

For Kids:

• 🎨 Visual-first interface with large icons.
• 🕹 Age-based content categories (3–5, 6–8, 9–10).
• 🎧 Voice search for easy discovery.
• 🌙 Healthy usage cues to encourage breaks.

For Parents:

• 🔐 Parental controls: time limits, approval, and scheduling.
• 👁 Activity dashboard: tracking what kids are watching.
• 🛑 AI + human content moderation.

For Creators:

• 🎬 Kid-safe creation templates.
• ✅ Strict vetting for creators publishing to kids.

6️⃣ Prioritization of Features

In interviews, prioritization demonstrates product judgment. Here’s how you could prioritize features for YouTube Kids:

Feature	Effort	Impact	Priority Rationale
Parental Controls	Medium	High	Critical for building trust with parents, who are the gatekeepers. Features like time limits, approval of videos, and scheduling ensure children can use the platform safely while parents feel confident letting them explore independently. This is a non-negotiable feature for adoption.
Content Moderation	High	High	Prevents exposure to inappropriate or harmful content. Combining AI filters with human review reduces risk and ensures compliance with child safety regulations. Without this, the platform cannot be trusted or scaled safely.
Visual-first UI	Medium	High	Simplifies navigation for children who have limited reading skills or short attention spans. Large icons, bright visuals, and intuitive layouts help kids explore independently, increasing engagement and reducing frustration.
Age-based Categories	Low	Medium	Organizes content by age group (e.g., 3–5, 6–8, 9–10) to ensure children only see videos appropriate for their developmental level. Supports discovery and makes it easier for parents to feel confident in what their child watches.
Voice Search	Medium	Medium	Helps younger children who cannot type or read well. Improves accessibility and allows kids to search for content verbally, enhancing independence, though it is not essential for core safety and engagement.
Healthy Usage Cues	Low	Medium	Promotes responsible viewing habits by gently reminding kids to take breaks. Supports parental goals of balanced screen time but is lower priority compared to safety and usability features that directly impact adoption.

“I prioritize features based on user safety, engagement impact, and development effort, ensuring critical needs are met first.”

7️⃣ Metrics for Success

Safety: % of inappropriate content incidents (target <0.01%).

Engagement: Average daily watch time within healthy limits.

Parent Satisfaction: Parent NPS.

Learning Outcomes: % of educational content consumed.

8️⃣ Trade-offs

Content variety vs safety: Too much filtering reduces fun; too little risks harm.

Kid autonomy vs parental control: Children want independence; parents need oversight.

Monetization vs ethics: Ads must be age-appropriate and non-predatory.

9️⃣Summary

In summary, designing YouTube for kids under 10 requires a safe, engaging, and educational platform. Kids need simple navigation and age-appropriate content, while parents need oversight and trust. I’d prioritize parental controls, content moderation, and a visual-first interface as the top features. Metrics like safety incidents, engagement, and parent satisfaction would measure success. Overall, this approach balances impact, effort, and user trust, ensuring the platform works well for both kids and parents.