How to Crack PM Product Design Questions (+ sample answers)

Product design questions are the most common questions you’ll get in product manager interviews at top tech companies. Interviewers use them to evaluate your product sense, i.e., your ability to understand a user problem and identify the best way to solve it. 

Now, in addition to classic product design prompts, you may also receive a prompt to design an AI-powered feature or product from scratch. You’ll need to go deep into the tech, reason your way through relevant metrics and trade-offs, including the inherent risks in building with probabilistic models.

Sounds daunting, right? But preparing strategically makes all the difference. 

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to kickstart your product design interview prep: a framework to structure your answer, plus samples to show you what a high-quality answer looks like, a product design question bank, and some great tips from PM and AI PM interview experts.

Here’s an overview:

• What is a product design question?
• How to answer product design questions
  • BUS (business objectives, user problems, solutions) framework
  • Sample answer to a standard product question
  • Sample answer to an AI product question
• 10 product design interview questions with answer ideas
• More product design questions from top tech companies
• Product design mock interviews videos
• More about product design questions for PMs
• How to prepare for product design questions

Click here to practice 1-on-1 with PM interviewers

1. What is a product design question for product managers?↑

A product design interview question is a subcategory of product sense questions. It comes in a simple prompt like, "How would you design a phone for people with hearing loss?" You’re typically given 45 to 60 minutes to answer the prompt. 

Interviewers ask product design questions to evaluate your product sense and fundamentals. They want to know how you think through a problem and how to solve it in a way that benefits the users and fulfills business objectives.

Product design questions are often part of the product sense interview round at companies such as Meta, Stripe, and others. At Google, these questions come up in the product vision round. In some instances, instead of being asked to design from scratch, you may get a product improvement question.

With many companies pushing for AI-first features or products, you may notice a shift in your product design interviews. If you’re applying for an AI PM role, you’ll likely get a product design question in one of two ways:

• You’ll be asked to design a product with a specific AI feature from scratch.
• You’ll be asked a standard design question, then probed on how you’ll integrate AI into the solution.

2. How to answer product design questions↑

To answer a product design question, you’ll need to use a framework to structure your answer. The one we recommend is the BUS (Business objective, User problems, Solutions) framework. 

In this section, we’ll go over how the BUS framework works. We’ll also illustrate how to use the framework with two sample answers: one for a standard product question and one for an AI product question.

If you’d like to skip straight to our company question bank, click here. 

2.1 BUS (Business objective, User problems, Solutions) framework

The BUS (Business objective, User problems, Solutions) framework is a 3-step approach that you can use to answer product design and product improvement questions.

Step one: Business objective

Here are the things you need to do before starting to think about user problems and how to solve them:

• Outline how you will approach your answer.
• Define the business objective.

Many candidates skip this step and start listing design ideas in an unstructured way. This is a big red flag for interviewers. 

First, you should lay out your approach to solving the question. 

Say something like, "First, I'm going to try to understand the business situation and our objective in more detail. Second, I will focus on defining the target user and brainstorming what problems we could solve for them. And third, I will generate solutions for these problems, prioritize them, and make a recommendation."

Outlining your answer shows you think clearly and strategically, and that you've got strong communication skills. If you jump straight in and answer the question in an unstructured way, it will be very hard for your interviewer to keep up with you.

After outlining your approach, you need to clarify the business situation and objectives. Knowing the business context and what it's trying to achieve will help you make better design decisions later on. This is particularly important if the question your interviewer asks is vague.

For instance, let's imagine your interviewer wants you to "design a phone." 

Then you might want to ask what the specific business objective is that we are trying to fulfill (e.g., sell as many phones as possible with a low price point, go for the premium market, etc.) and whether we already have a user in mind for the phone (e.g., business users, teenagers, etc.).

You'll design completely different phones depending on the answer to these questions.

Aside from the business context, now is your chance to ask other clarifying questions to help you narrow down your problem. "Ask for more context for why you’re building the product. This helps constrain your problem. What markets? What timeframe? What platform?" Mark (ex-Google and Meta PM) says.

Step two: User problems

Now that you know more about the business situation and objectives, it's time to think about the users and their problems/pain points in greater detail. 

Here are the things you need to do in this step:

• Segment users
• Select a user type.
• List user problems/pain points.
• Prioritize user problems/pain points.

First, you should identify the different types of users for your product, and select one to focus on.

Going back to our phone example, if the business objective is to focus on an underserved market, you could suggest focusing on: hard-of-hearing users, visually impaired users, elderly users, users with mobility issues, etc. List these different users and select one with your interviewer.

Ideally, you should come up with at least three segments. When segmenting users, don't just automatically choose your segmentation criteria. Discussing the dimensions by which you segment is an important starting point. 

"A good segmentation will imply different product directions for each segment. So focusing on a segment will also lead to focusing on a direction," Gal (ex-Google PM) says.

Note that you can skip this part of the discussion if your interviewer has already specified a type of user they want to focus on in their initial question.

It's also helpful to remember that for some products, the user and the customer are not the same person. For example, this is the case for games that parents buy for their kids, or software (e.g., Jira) that managers buy for people in their teams.

Second, once you've got a target user, you should think through what problems you can solve for them. An easy way to do this is to imagine them using the existing product or service you're trying to replace.

For instance, let's imagine we are focusing on hard-of-hearing users. What are the problems they are facing with current phones? 

Here are some examples: 

• Can't hear the phone ringing 
• Can't hear the other person talking on the line
• Can't listen to voicemails
• Can't hear app notifications
• Can't hear the sound of videos received from friends, etc.

Some people just offer one pain point, but it’s better to list a few.

"You need good pain points to come up with good solutions. Organize them based on the level of pain and impact," ex-Google PM Mark says.

Another great way to communicate pain points is to articulate them through the user’s lens. You can do this by describing the pain points of your target user in a particular moment.

"It shows the interviewer that your solution is going to be grounded in a real user need and not just product assumptions," Michael (ex-Netflix PM) says. 

Third, you should prioritize one to three items from the list of problems you have created. It's common to prioritize based on how painful that problem is for the user. 

For instance, you could say something like, "My suggestion is to focus on solving problems one and two because those are the two features that really define a phone and they are currently inaccessible to hard of hearing people."

Step three: Solutions

Once you've defined the user problems you are trying to solve, it's time to generate some solutions, prioritize, and then summarize them.

First, for each of the user problems you have identified, you should generate potential solutions.

Let's do this for user problem 1: hard-of-hearing users can't hear their phone ringing. You could build a phone with these features when ringing:

• Rings for longer than standard phones to give more time to pick up
• Flashes bright colors on the screen
• Vibrates really strongly
• Is connected to a vibrating wristband or watch
• Sends visual notifications to other connected devices, such as laptops, TVs, connected light bulbs, etc.

At this stage, it's helpful to draw a table with two columns on a piece of paper or a whiteboard. The first column should contain the user problems you have decided to focus on. The second column should contain solutions to solve each problem.

Another way you can narrate your proposed solutions is to lead with the human experience first, as Michael (ex-Netflix PM) illustrates the approach. "Instead of just describing a feature, describe the moment of experience that it creates for the user," he says. And then, while describing the experience, you can go into how each solution should work under the hood.

Once you've generated a few ideas, it's time to prioritize the ones you will recommend building. A common way of doing this is to grade each solution from 1 (low) to 3 (high) based on the RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) framework.

You will need to do this for each of the user problems that you identified in step 2. Don’t forget to address the trade-offs of your solution (e.g., a vibrating wristband would require users to pay for additional hardware).

You can also structure your prioritization as a phased roadmap. "This approach shows that you can brainstorm and think sequentially and not just pick a favorite," Michael says.

Finally, after going through this exercise, it's a great idea to state the initial question again, and summarize what product you suggest building and why. 

This summary is a simple way of telling your interviewer that you are done answering the question. And again, it's an efficient way of showing you think clearly and strategically and communicate your thoughts effectively.

"Remember, you’re only solving for the pain point you picked. Your solutions can be small and simple," Mark says.

2.2 Example product design question with answer: Design a computer keyboard↑

Now that you know what approach to use to answer product design questions, let's apply it to a full example.

Try answering the question below following the BUS method we have described. Play both the role of the interviewer and candidate, and make decisions regarding what business objective and target user to focus on.

Answer:

1. Business objective

Let's start by outlining the approach we are going to take. First, we will discuss the business objective. Second, we will analyze users and the problems we could solve for them. And third, we will look into solutions and make a recommendation.

Here are the questions that immediately come up to clarify the business objective for this design question:

• What's the business objective? Maximize profits? Focus on an underserved niche?
• Do we already have a target user in mind, or is that something we should explore or discuss?
• Keyboards are often paired with a mouse. Do we just want to design a keyboard, or should we also design a mouse that goes with it?

Let's assume here that the interviewer wants us to design a keyboard for gamers but isn't interested in the mouse, and that the business objective is to maximize revenues.

2. User problems

Now that the business objective is clearer, let's start thinking about users and user problems in more detail.

There are different types of gamers we could focus on. An easy way to segment them is to split the market between casual and professional gamers. 

Given we want to maximize revenues, it makes sense to focus on casual gamers, as it's likely to be a much bigger market than the professional segment.

Let's now brainstorm typical problems casual gamers face when using standard computer keyboards. Here are seven that promptly come to mind:

1. User can't perform at their best because keys are slow to respond, collect dust underneath over time, and aren’t easy to replace.
2. User can't easily create personalized shortcuts, as the software available to customize the keyboard is rudimentary.
3. User has to replace the keyboard frequently as keys that are repetitively used wear out or break (e.g., space, shift, etc.).
4. User is distracted by noisy keys.
5. User can't easily turn the game volume up or down from the keyboard.
6. User can't see keyboard keys when playing in the dark.
7. User's wrists and hands hurt as the keyboard is uncomfortable to use for long periods of time.

Let's now prioritize these problems by putting ourselves in the shoes of a gamer. Most gamers' primary #objective is probably to win the game they play. As a result, it makes sense to prioritize solving problems, which will help users significantly improve their performance.

Let's therefore focus on problems one and two, as these look like they could make the user faster and better if solved.

3. Solutions

Let's generate solutions now that we have selected a type of user (casual gamers) and a set of user problems (one and two above).

We'll rate the solutions from 1 to 3 directly inline. For technical simplicity, we'll give 1 to the hardest solutions to implement and 3 to the easiest. For value delivered to the user, we'll give 1 to the least valuable solutions and 3 to the most valuable. And then we’ll add up both numbers.

Here are some solutions that could help solve problem one, which is that users can’t perform at their best because keys are slow to respond, collect dust underneath over time, and are not easy to replace:

1. Build keys that don't need to be pressed as hard or deep for the user input to be registered (Simplicity = 3, Value = 3, Total = 6).
2. Build keys that register user input quicker thanks to alternative technologies (e.g., magnetic keys, mechanical keys, etc.) (S = 1, V = 3, T = 4).
3. Build keys that can easily be removed to clean the keyboard or that don't let dust settle under the keycaps (S = 2, V = 2, T = 4).

Here are some solutions that could help solve problem two, which is that users can’t easily create personalized shortcuts, as the software available for customization is basic:

1. Create software that lets users define different sets of shortcuts depending on what game they play (Simplicity = 2, Value = 3, Total = 5).
2. Create software that makes automated suggestions for shortcuts based on commonly used shortcuts by other players with similar keyboards (S = 1, Value = 2, T = 3).
3. Create software that lets users adjust how hard or deep they need to press the keys for their input to be registered (S = 1, V = 3, T = 4).
4. Add additional buttons to the keyboard that let users generate a combination of keystrokes (i.e., a "macro") in a single keystroke (S = 3, V = 3, T = 6).

Now that we have generated some solutions, let's prioritize them based on how easy they are to implement and how much value they bring to the user. 

For problem one, it therefore looks like prioritizing the first solution makes sense. One of the tradeoffs to bear in mind when implementing this solution is that we could make the keys so sensitive that the user might inadvertently press the wrong keys more often. We will therefore have to balance the sensitivity and control of the keyboard.

For problem two, the first and fourth solutions are promising options. Here, an important tradeoff is balancing customization and complexity. We're targeting casual gamers, so we want to give them a good level of customization but not make installing and personalizing the keyboard too complex and lengthy.

Finally, let's summarize. Our recommendation is to build a keyboard for casual gamers, as this is most likely to maximize revenues. We also recommend building features that will help the user maximize their performance while remaining simple to implement. Here are the three features to build:

• Keys that are more sensitive than standard
• Software that lets the user create shortcuts
• Additional buttons for "macro" shortcuts

2.3 Example AI product design question with answer: Design an AI companion↑

This sample answer is based on a mock interview with ex-Google PM Gal. 

1. Business objective

I'll first start with a few clarifying questions and get confirmation on an assumption.

• What is the primary goal of this product? Is it just having someone to speak to, or do we have any additional goals like health outcomes or physical safety?
• Are we focusing on independent seniors or those with mild cognitive decline or maybe even users with more advanced care needs?
• I assume the main interface would be a mobile app. And I will assume US only, English only for now.

This is how I’m going to structure my answer: I'll start by discussing the mission and the goals of the business. From there, I'll move on to the users. I'll segment them and then find the specific segments and focus on their specific pain points. From there, I will outline a few solutions, prioritize them, and finally, we will discuss some metrics. 

Okay, so let's start with the mission and goals.

Anthropic's mission is to build reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. Now, what is maybe even more important, they have three core principles, or what is known as Anthropic 3Hs: It's helpful, honest, and harmless. 

Now all of these are very relevant to the product we are discussing because of the population. So I think a good product mission would be to provide elderly users with a trusted, safe, and empathetic AI companion that supports their daily well-being.

Now, let's think about what the product goals might be. And we would focus on driving some daily engagement, building deep user trust, and improving measurable well-being outcomes. 

2. User problems

Okay, so let's move on to discussing who our users are.

Now, this kind of product involves a really broad ecosystem. There are, of course, our elderly users. Then we have the main caregivers, usually the family. Many times, we also have professional caregivers, like nurses and care workers. We could continue and discuss healthcare providers like doctors, insurance companies, and a few other players. 

I think that for a first product, I would suggest focusing only on the elderly users themselves, maybe touching a bit on the caregivers, as they serve a critical role. But what I want to do is segment the elderly users themselves, the senior people. 

So let's think about the dimensions that I would want to segment by, first of all, the type of need. Is there a just social or also a physical need? This is one dimension. 

Another dimension that is important is their functional capability. This includes their cognitive abilities that might change in older age and also their digital fluency. So I actually have here two dimensions and kind of a two-by-two matrix. This actually results in four groups.

• The 1st group is seniors with high capabilities and social needs. They’re healthy but have become lonely and need social companionship. 
• The 2nd group is independent seniors with high functional capabilities. They may have physical needs like chronic conditions and need help with medication adherence, sometimes symptom tracking.
• The 3rd group is seniors who already have low functional capabilities and have social needs. These are seniors who have lower digital fluency, are facing cognitive decline, and may also be  struggling with loneliness
• The 4th group is seniors who have both low functional capability and physical needs

Now, of course, I'm being a bit simplistic because users might have both social and physical needs. But to focus our discussion, I think it is important to differentiate between these two needs. 

In order to prioritize these four segments that I've just described, I'll start with estimating the reach. 

The first segment, seniors with high capabilities and social needs, is probably the largest. It includes the majority of people in the first decade of retirement, where cognitive and physical state is still usually good, but isolation becomes relatively widespread after retirement.

The second segment includes seniors with chronic illnesses. It is also large, but probably not as large. 

The third segment, which includes cognitive decline, maybe even mild cognitive impairment, affects a meaningful but smaller segment. 

Finally, the most severe segment with both meaningful and mental and physical decline. It's probably the smallest.

So to sum it up, in terms of reach, high capability users, especially those with social needs, present the largest segment, with loneliness being really widespread among otherwise independent seniors. And as we move towards lower capability and higher dependency, the segments become smaller.

If we try to estimate the impact as we progress along the same continuum, it's clear that on the one hand, the need becomes more severe. But on the other hand, users' ability and willingness to use the product will also decline. And it actually also directly correlates with our ability to generate impact because it requires caregiver involvement and more complex support. So our ability to help there also declines.

Finally, we can add the fact that the more we get into actual medical support, the challenges of reliability and safety become dramatically larger. And so it becomes clear that, at least for the initial launch, we would want to focus on the first group of users with high capability, high functional capabilities, and social needs.

So now let's talk about the pain points. Now I can imagine a lot of nuanced pain points here. Let's start listing them.  

First of all, lack of spontaneous low-effort social interactions. They don't go to the mall as much. They don't meet people just spontaneously. 

Next, feeling like a burden when reaching out to the family. These are people who many times were used to being the provider, the pillar of the family. Sometimes, some suddenly become needy.

Next, loss of identity or purpose post-retirement. They were used to doing something important, and suddenly they just wake up in the morning with no clear purpose.

They also have limited opportunities for deep intellectual conversations. Even if they do manage to have some conversations, it's usually about the weather or basketball or something like this. 

They have low motivation to initiate activities alone. Someone who has just lost their spouse with whom they used to go out for walks every morning for 40 years loses their motivation to go out for that walk.

Next, a very common issue is uncertainty about minor medical symptoms. We don't want to go deep there, but we might be able to offer some guidance for minor medical symptoms. 

Next, there's reluctance to share worries or vulnerabilities. Transitioning to being someone needy is sometimes very painful. They also lack mental stimulation in daily life, which is super important in the prevention of cognitive decline. 

Next, they have a lot of free time. Finding what to do in their free time is an issue. Lastly, they must be struggling with a major life transition, such as retirement or the loss of a spouse. 

So we have quite a few pain points. I think I listed around 10 or so. I think that we need to group them into clusters.  

• Social friction and loneliness
• Purpose, motivation, and engagement
• Health worries and big life events

Social friction and loneliness seem to be the one with the highest impact, as this is the core driver of emotional well-being. It's also the one with the highest frequency. I think it affects most seniors at least to a certain extent, and it is relevant daily.  Purpose and motivation are close second in both impact and frequency. So I think we should focus on these two.

If we choose one or two pain points from each cluster, the one that really stands out is lack of spontaneous, low-effort social interaction. Maybe I would combine this with lack of deep conversation; those are related. And I would also choose low motivation to initiate activities alone, as this would actually be actionable even beyond conversation. 

3. Solutions

Now let's move on to a few possible solutions. 

I would actually want to propose a solution for each of these three pain points, and then we might see how they might or might not fit together. 

So first, let's start with a proactive companion that initiates low-effort conversations. It will always start with a notification that the user can choose to accept or ignore. This is important in order not to be too intrusive and always leave control in the hands of the user. 

These notifications would pop up various times during the day, like, good morning, how did you sleep? And to make it interesting, it can be connected to Google News or maybe some sports network. Then there might be notifications like, the Super Bowl is starting in two hours, who do you think will win?

What I like about the solution is it removes the burden of initiating interaction. It creates spontaneous-feeling touch points, like with a Super Bowl example, and it avoids over-engagement.

Next, I would want to imagine a solution where you can have deeper ongoing conversations. The companion will become an expert on anything that the user is interested in. Let's imagine that the user is a retired history professor who wrote a few books on the subject of the US Civil War. The companion will have complete knowledge of all these books, but will also acquire deeper knowledge on this and related subjects.

Here it might actually serve as some kind of research assistant or a partner, where over time discussion can deepen, ideas can be developed, and I might imagine even writing a book together someday.

What's interesting about this solution is that it directly solves the issue of shallow interactions. It goes deep, and it adapts to the user's interests and cognitive abilities over time. What is very important here is it generates intellectual stimulation, something that is crucial for maintaining cognitive abilities in a way that is therapeutic without getting into actual therapy areas.

Lastly, I'm thinking about an activity coach helping users to do some actual activities beyond conversation. Again, this would never be intrusive. It would start with just a notification. If the user chooses to accept, it can suggest small personalized activities that are context-based. 

As an example, the important thing is having it context-based, not just nudging. It might say something like, it's a beautiful day outside with 75 degrees. Perfect day for a walk. How about a 10-minute walk?

Or maybe your grandchild is visiting this afternoon. It can connect to the calendar and sees your grandchild is visiting this afternoon, so it says, why not go and bake the chocolate chip cookies they love so much?

This could also be reactive, where the user initiates with a question like, what might I do this afternoon? So this solves another small pain point. It should be very gentle in suggestions and also adapt over time, learning which suggestions might work better.

What's good about this idea is that it can create actual behavioral change, which again is very important for maintaining abilities in old age.

Now we have 3 solutions here that I’ll prioritize using the RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) framework. 

For the first solution, the proactive check-in conversations, reaches very high. It's relevant for almost everybody. Impact is also high. It's a very foundational need. Confidence here, I think, is also high. It's not something that has not been done before, and the effort is minimal. We can easily use existing models with a few policy tweaks and guidelines. 

Next, the deep conversation companion reach would be medium. I'm not sure every user would be interested in these very deep conversations. Impact is medium to high as it's a second layer of interaction. The need is not as deep. The confidence again is medium to high, and the effort is not low, it's kind of medium, with both confidence and effort that challenge the personalization part and how the companion would actually know what there is to know about the user's personal knowledge and interests.

Lastly, the activity coach. Reach is low to medium. I'm not sure everybody would collaborate with this. Impact is high since it really gets into that physical area. Confidence is low to medium because it does require actual behavior change, and effort is low to medium, I would assume. 

Given all this, I would first prioritize the proactive check-in conversations, given their high reach and impact and confidence and the low effort. It's kind of a no-brainer that this is the one that we would prioritize first. 

But I do think this really calls for a phased approach. These solutions can easily be layered, starting with engagement, moving on to the depth, and finally to behavior change. So over time, we would probably choose to implement all three of them in a phased approach.

Now I want to briefly discuss metrics.

In order to discuss the metrics, I want to remember the product goals we mentioned in the beginning, which were driving some daily engagement, building deep user trust, and improving measurable well-being outcomes. 

Here I would focus on two metrics: one for quantity and one for quality. 

So as I mentioned, I would not want to optimize for deep engagement. I would want to get users not to engage too much with the product. I think a very good balance would be that they use it once or twice a day and almost every day. 

So what I would measure is the number of users that have more than five interactions a week. This way, my team would not be incentivized to generate over-engagement because this metric does not care if you use the product 200 times a week or just the five-times threshold. I think it really strikes the right balance. 

Next, for the quality. Here it's actually quite simple. Usually we need to use CSAT or NPS to measure user satisfaction. Here I would just measure the average score. I would ask the users, how are you feeling this morning? And I would measure the average score of the answer to this question. 

So optimizing for these two metrics will help direct the team towards a good and well-balanced product that really aligns with our product goals. 

4. 10 product design interview questions with answer ideas↑

Now that you’ve seen a framework to answer product design questions as well as a sample answer that illustrates it, let’s get into some other questions that you can use to practice. 

Below, we’ve listed ten product design interview questions that were asked in PM interviews at Google and Facebook, according to Glassdoor data.

For each question, we’ve included a few bullets and jumping-off points to consider as you craft your answers. 

You’ll find important questions and clarification points under each Business objective, three possible pain points under User problems, and three possible solutions under Solutions.

Of course, these lists are not exhaustive, and you should add your own insight as you work through them. They’re designed to get your wheels turning and offer some hints if you’re stuck. 

If you'd like to learn about the other types of questions you may face, you can also visit our ultimate guide to product manager interview questions.

Now that you have a list of sample questions to work with, it’s important to consider how you will practice with these questions, as well as some specific product design questions from top tech companies.

5. More product design questions from top tech companies↑

We researched more product design questions from these top tech companies to give you more in-depth information on the specific questions they ask.

Meta:

Apple:

Amazon:

Netflix:

Google:

AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, NVIDIA)

Microsoft:

TikTok:

6. Product design mock interviews↑

It’s useful to watch mock interviews of other candidates or experts answering product design questions. You can see how it plays out in a real-life interview setting. You can also watch experts answer questions and see how it should be done.

We’ve reviewed product design mock interview videos and compiled the 10 best examples of how to answer product design questions here. You can watch and learn from them:

If you only watch one product design mock interview, we recommend the one below - it's a great example of how to approach these kinds of questions, complete with interviewer feedback.

7. More information about product design interviews for PMs↑

7.1 What does the product design interview look like for AI PM roles?

The product design interview for AI PM roles may or may not look different from the standard ones, depending on the company.

As we’ve briefly mentioned in Section 1, if you’re applying for an AI PM role, you’ll likely get a product design question in one of two ways:

• You’ll be asked to design a product with a specific AI feature from scratch
• You’ll be asked a standard design question, then probed on how you’ll integrate AI into the solution

AI PM interviews, like Anik (Amazon Lead PM), start with situational product questions and then introduce the AI factor. "This helps me understand the candidate's strategic thought process for integrating AI into a solution, rather than just forcing an AI-first answer."

Either way, when answering an AI product design question, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you’re building a product in a probabilistic world because the system's outputs are unpredictable. This is in contrast with the standard product design questions with predictable software and deterministic output.

"It's not just about designing features. It's more about designing guardrails inside which the models work," ex-Google sr. PM Gal says.

The challenge is usually not simply to drive growth in daily active users. You would never want to let the model loose and just try to create as much engagement as possible. It's more about finding the right balance between the model capabilities and strict ethical and safety boundaries. 

7.2 What’s the difference between product design vs. system design interviews for PMs

The biggest difference between product design and system design questions is what interviewers want to test with each question type.

Product design questions test product sense. Interviewers want to see how you think through a user problem with empathy and business acumen, and how you identify solutions to address this problem.

System design questions, on the other hand, test architectural reasoning. Building a technically sound solution is key, but equally as important is your ability to consider business needs, user experience, and internal resources.

You’ll likely encounter both types of design questions if you’re applying for a technical PM (PM-T) role. 

Click here to learn more about system design interviews for PMs.

8. How to prepare for product design questions↑

With a lot to cover, it’s best to take a systematic approach to make the most of your practice time.

You’ll also find links to free resources and the four key steps that you can take to prepare for product design questions.

8.1 Study the company you're applying to

Get acquainted with the company you’ve applied to. In many cases, the product questions you’ll be presented with will be based on real-life cases the company is facing. If you’re applying to a specific team, study up on their products, the user, etc.

Take the time to find out which products you’ll most likely be working with, based on the job description, and research them. Look up relevant press releases, product descriptions, product reviews, and other resources in order to discuss what’s most important to the role: the company’s product.

If you'd like to learn more about a specific company's PM interviews, then we'd encourage you to check out our guide for that company below

• Google product manager interview guide
• Meta product manager interview guide
• Amazon product manager interview guide
• Microsoft product manager interview guide
• OpenAI product manager interview guide
• Anthropic product manager interview guide
• LinkedIn product manager interview guide
• Uber product manager interview guide
• Stripe product manager interview guide
• Lyft product manager interview guide
• Apple product manager interview guide
• TikTok product manager interview guide
• Coinbase product manager interview guide
• Airbnb product manager interview guide
• DoorDash product manager interview guide
• Netflix product manager interview guide
• Nvidia product manager interview guide
• Capital One product manager interview guide
• Spotify product manager interview guide
• Databricks product manager interview guide

8.2 Learn a consistent method for answering product design questions.

In this article, we’ve outlined a step-by-step method you can use to solve product design questions. We’d encourage you to first memorize the basic steps, and then try solving a couple of the sample questions on paper.

This will help you understand the structure of a good answer. This is a good first step, BUT just knowing the method is not enough; you also need to be able to apply the steps in interview conditions. 

8.3 Deep dive into PM topics

Beyond product design questions, you’ll also encounter different types of questions during your PM interviews. 

If you’re just looking for a jumping-off point, you can start learning about the different question types you’ll need to master in the following PM interview guides:

• Behavioral questions
• Product sense questions
• Product improvement questions
• Favorite product question
• Strategy questions
• Estimation questions
• Metric questions
• Prioritization questions
• AI product manager interview questions
• Meta project retrospective interview guide
• Meta product sense interview guide
• Meta product sense with AI interview guide

Once you’re in command of the subject matter, you’ll want to practice answering questions.

But by yourself, you can’t simulate thinking on your feet or the pressure of performing in front of a stranger. Plus, there are no unexpected follow-up questions and no feedback.

That’s why many candidates try to practice with friends or peers.

8.4 Practice with peers

If you have friends or peers who can do mock interviews with you, that's an option worth trying. It’s free, but be warned, you may come up against the following problems:

• It’s hard to know if the feedback you get is accurate
• They’re unlikely to have insider knowledge of interviews at your target company
• On peer platforms, people often waste your time by not showing up

For those reasons, many candidates skip peer mock interviews and go straight to mock interviews with an expert. 

8.5 Practice with experienced PM interviewers

In our experience, practicing real interviews with experts who can give you company-specific feedback makes a huge difference.

Find a product manager interview coach so you can:

• Test yourself under real interview conditions
• Get accurate feedback from a real expert
• Build your confidence
• Get company-specific insights
• Learn how to tell the right stories, better.
• Save time by focusing your preparation

Landing a job at a big tech company often results in a $50,000 per year or more increase in total compensation. In our experience, three or four coaching sessions worth ~$500 make a significant difference in your ability to land the job. That’s an ROI of 100x!