What are Design Questions?
Design questions are a type of product sense interview question where you’re asked to design a product or feature for a specific audience or problem.
They test how you think as a Product Manager — not your ability to come up with a “cool feature,” but your ability to:
- Understand users and their needs.
- Frame the problem clearly.
- Generate thoughtful solutions.
- Prioritize trade-offs.
- Define how success will be measured.
🎯 What’s Expected in Design Questions
1. Structured Thinking (Framework use)
- Interviewers want to see you follow a structured approach (like CIRCLES, Double Diamond, or similar).
- This shows you can handle ambiguity logically.
2. User-Centric Approach
- Identify who the users are.
- Understand their goals, pain points, and motivations.
- Don’t design for “everyone” → show prioritization of core personas.
3. Problem Framing Before Solutioning
- Don’t rush into features.
- A great PM first defines the problem statement clearly.
- Example: Instead of “kids need YouTube,” → “kids need safe, age-appropriate video content with parental controls.”
4. Creativity + Practicality
- You’re expected to brainstorm widely, but then converge on feasible, impactful solutions.
- Good answers balance innovation with execution reality.
5. Prioritization & Trade-offs
- Not every idea can be built → choose the most important features.
- Discuss trade-offs (cost, complexity, usability, risks).
- Show decision-making skills.
6. User Experience & Journey
- Explain how the user would actually interact with your solution.
- Walk through the flow (onboarding → usage → value).
7. Measurable Success Criteria
- End with metrics/KPIs to measure success.
- Example: For alarm clock → % users waking up on time, snooze reduction, NPS (user satisfaction).
✅ In short: Interviewers want to see if you can think like a PM → deeply understand users, define the right problems, propose logical solutions, and evaluate impact.
The ProductBrain 