Microsoft Product Manager Mock Interview: Design Fridge for Kids

Watch our mock Microsoft PM interview. Stephen asks Diego Granados, Microsoft PM a product design question on building a fridge for kids.

Chapters -
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:56 Question
00:01:25 Clarifying questions
00:02:50 Answer
00:04:21 Types of users
00:06:33 Pain points
00:09:37 Possible solutions
00:21:46 Success metrics
00:23:42 Summary
00:26:16 Tips

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[PMDiegoGranados]

Thank you Exponent for inviting me! I had a lot of fun doing this interview!

[itsrajk]

Thanks Stephen and Diego for this engaging mock interview. Loved the way Diego kept laying out what was he thinking and why he made the choices that he made.

Couple of feedback (if I may):
- I think the first question to ask here is - Why? Why do we want to design a fridge for kids? Answer could be:
- The company has done some market research and found that there is a huge potential market for such a product.
- Or, a competitor has launched a kids fridge and my company wants to respond to it.
- Or may be the CEO woke up one morning and asked to do this ;)

Further course of the interview should be driven by this answer to this "why".


- The next fundamental question I would ask - what is the immediate goal of the organisation with this product? In other words, what is my mandate as a product manager? Looking for answers like:
- We want to launch this product as a low cost trial (may be to be launched in a small market without much marketing $) and then see how we go. Then based on response we’ll decide the course. So, the current objective is to design a product that will help is test the waters
- Or, may be we are so confident that there is a market for this that we want to do a big bang launch. And the objective is to deliver and launch a strong product that can win the market

Another thing I would do is, as Diego identified, while kids are the users, parents are the customers/buyers. And we should look at pain points (or Jobs to be done) for both. For example, for parents, it could be - they want to know what are the kids stacking in the fridge and what are the consuming. On the other hand, kids might want a low height fridge so the they can reach all the compartments (including freezer).

One more thing I would do it - see if there are any “must have” features. These could be related to safety, compliance, legal etc. For example, I’ll perhaps consider ‘no topple’, better electrical safety etc. and prioritise those.

[tomlendr]

my first question "Size wise, what is the maximum number of kids do you need to store in the fridge, at any one time?"

[mcolemanxc]

I actually think this is an example of where the typical PM interviewing framework over indexes on brute analysis over user centricity - which can actually obscure obvious insights. If we start from the mind and behavior of the user first (the child in this case) we’d likely identify very different “pain points” and solutions than the ones presented in this mock. Why do kids need their own fridge, or a child-friendly fridge? In practical terms, they don’t (kids have managed just fine with normal sized fridges for decades). Kids also don’t “need” their own ovens, but easy-bake ovens exist and are successful products because they’re toys that get children excited about baking. This tells us that we are really designing a toy fridge for entertainment and maybe even educational purposes (even the PM term “pain point” doesn’t really work in this context, semantically). Borrowing from what we know about toys that children love, our fridge should spark joy, be safe and easy to use, and get children excited about playing. Children often model adult behavior - with our fridge, just as with easy bake ovens, we can assume there’s a large segment of children that would love to pretend to stock and manage their own fridge, just as their parents do. We can also imagine component products that could be sold with the fridge or as add-ons, like toy grocery bags, Tupperware, ice cube tray molds, fun shapes milk / juice bottles, etc.

Only after establishing this ground truth about the user persona is it useful to jump into more analytical frameworks like specific customer segmentation to narrow in on, success metrics, competitors, etc.

[vasum]

Anything designed for kids should have some basic principles. This include safety measures (paint, rounded corners, does not easily topple, etc) attractiveness (colors/designs, light/sound indicators), user friendliness (size, container/shelf positions), customizable look and feel (stickers, changing light colors, change music/tones)... etc.

[nickjoseph]

Not only was this a great video about handling ANY interview (not just PM), but also: what a fridge! I would totally buy that thing! The whole "kids eating veggies = more points for stuff later" idea is brilliant...

[towfiqa]

The most valuable advice in this interview was at the beginning when he explained what his experience with fridges and kids was. Because it set up the entire premise of the potential pain points and solutions. Because if you're a parent with kids you know your solutions here would be very different than those presented. But everything was so we'll explained which made this interview top notch.

[ganrev]

Considering how kids pretty much outgrow the things that are bought for them at a very quick pace, one policy to incentivize the parents to go for such a product would be to implement a trade-in policy (think Apple for instance) when they seek to upgrade to a regular fridge in the future. This could make the kids' fridge to be a worthwhile investment at the present.

[anamikajati]

I have some more ideas here:
1. The fridge can have 3 chambers with different doors, one with a freezer for ice creams, etc, one for vegetables and fruits, and the third for miscellaneous and non-veg cooked items.

The fridge can be customized by the parents wherein in one day the chamber with ice cream will only open once and kids can be restricted from having too much ice cream. The fruits and vegetables and cooked food chamber will accessible throughout the day.

Also, with this, the fridge should be able to judge which chamber is empty and that chamber can automatically go on power saver mode. This makes the fridge more power efficient.

The fridge will be shorter and broader(than the regular fridge) in size so all the chambers of the fridge is within the reachable average height of the elementary-age kid. As I identify this as another pain point since the kids are not able to reach the freezer because of its height.

[BharatParmar-hrlh]

Great Interview!! Really helpful to know the thought process which goes behind answering each question. Also, great questions by Diego at the beginning to understand the problem statement better.

One problem which I've observed is children leaving the Refrigerator door open most of the time. We may add a feature which notifies the parent if the Refrigerator door has been open for a longer span of time.

[mohammedhafeez]

This is easily one of the best interviews on the channel. Stephen, keep bringing him back! It was awesome as you say:)

[edenadler]

Thanks so much for this interview! I have some different perspectives/ideas to add (Exponent/Diego I’d love to know your thoughts!):

Some other potential user segments:
(i) kids who enjoy cooking at a young age and want to be independent
(ii) kids who love science and mixing weird things together and parents don’t want those experiments to be kept in the same fridge that the family eats from

Important issue to address:
The most important thing that I think was missing and which prompted me to comment was that I think there was a missed opportunity here to more deeply empathize with the kids and bring up the issue of **eating disorders**. While I think the idea of gamifying the foods is interesting, I think the idea of labeling foods as “bad” or “good” can lead to really unhealthy/problematic behaviors for children. Instead, I think the kids fridge could be a great opportunity to create a fun experience for fresh produce similarly to how dry goods can be fun to dispense. For example, inside the fridge could be things like a twirly slide that dispenses foods like veggies - the slide could even light up or make noise as the food slides down, a chopper that cuts fun shapes out of things like cucumbers or cheese like a cookie cutter, and many other creative ways to make dispensing the food exciting. From this perspective, the goal of the fridge would be to make eating fresh foods as fun (if not more fun!) and accessible as dry goods.

--> Follow up question:
When thinking about how I’d answer this design question, one thing that I would have mentioned is my limited expertise and who I would recruit to help me gain the insight I’d need.

I would have probably said something like: “There’s a lot of things to keep in mind when designing products for kids. Since I’m not an expert, to ensure the success of the product I’d want to consult with different experts such as developmental psychologists, pediatricians, dietitians, child toy/game designers and manufacturers, etc. to help me create a fun, healthy, and productive product for kids.”

Since it’s an interview and I can’t go and consult with those people, I then would say something like “That’s what I’d do in real life, but for the sake of this interview, I’ll give you my thoughts…”

I don’t often hear people mention other experts or point out their limited expertise in PM mock interviews, but I think that humility, self-awareness, and resourcefulness are important qualities for a product manager to have.

—> What are your thoughts on how an interviewer would react to getting a more human-centered design focused answer like this?

Would love to know your thoughts/reactions to these ideas. Thanks so much!

[ddevotion]

Diego, you rocked in all way. This proved why Microsoft is so successful company, it is because the people like you that have given so much in all the ways. I wish I get the opportunity to work in Microsoft.

[lololol]

I actually think he misses the big question, which is why do children need their own fridge? What is it that we cannot get for them that they need a fridge? Give them points for picking up a healthy snack? If you don’t want them to get the ice cream then don’t put in any ice cream.

[TheNellyLover]

Liked the solution..one angle of approach would be to also clarify whether it would be a standalone product or an addon to normal fridge

[Aryan-ggmm]

Usually kids left open the gate of the fridge after they use it. So we can think of automatic locking system that will save electricity and will helps the fridge to not loose cooling and may prevent food from spoiling

[YasirD]

Great video - thank you!
If you get this question in an interview, here are a few more dimensions that may be asked about:
1. What assets in the company (that you're interviewing at) could be leveraged to accelerate development of the kid fridge?
2. If we wanted to launch this in the USA, what is your estimate for the market size? How many potential buyers are there?
Good luck

[shrirajmisra]

This was of great help especially when Diego walked us through the thinking behind answerign the various stages of the interview and the fact that he suggested not to memorize the framework especially when curveballs are thrown which don't fit into the framework boundaries . Gracias Exponent & Diego !

[patrickjdarrow]

My first question would be to ask if it's safe to assume that this addresses a proven problem -- and whether a fridge is a proven solution.

[yifan]

That Duke basketball in the background!