A method for open-ended product questions

Asked to design a product for people who cook at home, one candidate spends 45 minutes listing features and leaves the interviewer almost nothing to score; another spends the same 45 minutes on six steps and gives evidence for every signal of the rubric. The difference is not the ideas but their order: choosing a goal and a user before generating anything.

Below is the track’s six-step method for open product questions, the clarifying questions worth asking, a time plan for a 45-minute round and the common weak answer rewritten. By the end you can answer any open prompt in order, against the clock, saying why at each step.

Six steps turn an open prompt into a decision

Open product questions, such as “Design a product for…” or “How would you improve…?”, leave everything to you, and that is the test: whether you can bring order to a problem with no edges. The track’s method is MySmartCoPilot’s own, built from what rubrics reward rather than from any book’s mnemonic, and it has six steps:

1. Clarify the goal and the constraints.
2. Choose a user group and say why.
3. Name that group’s most important problems.
4. Generate a few distinct solutions.
5. Decide with stated criteria.
6. Define success metrics, guardrails and the main risks.

Step through one invented prompt answered with the method. Each step shows what the candidate says and why:

The drawing shows the whole scene; its 9 steps are listed below.

Every step as text

1. The prompt. The prompt: design a product that helps people who cook at home waste less food. The six steps turn it into a decision, and the candidate checks in with the interviewer after steps 1, 2 and 5.
2. Clarify. Two questions whose answers change the plan: is this a new product or a feature of an existing app, and for which market? The interviewer says a new phone app, one city, users of your choice. The candidate states one assumption aloud: success means households that keep using it.
3. Choose a user. Three groups could use it: families, students sharing a flat and people who live alone. The candidate chooses people who live alone, because packs sized for families leave them food they cannot finish, and checks in before going on.
4. If the goal is unclear. Had the interviewer not said what success means, there would be no reason to prefer one group over another. That is the moment to go back to step 1 and ask, rather than choose a user at random.
5. Name the problems. Three problems for that group: packs too big for one person, forgetting what is in the fridge until it spoils, and no idea what to cook with leftovers. Forgetting matters most, because shopping differently cannot fix it.
6. Generate solutions. Three distinct ideas for that problem: a fridge list built from shopping receipts that warns two days before an item spoils, a recipe finder for what is left, and a board for swapping surplus food with neighbours.
7. Decide. Three criteria: the effect on forgetting, the effort and the risk. The fridge list attacks forgetting directly; what it costs is that people must scan their receipts. The recipe finder can come later. The candidate checks in again.
8. Measure and risks. Success is the share of tracked items used before their date, measured against the first week. The guardrail is people turning the warnings off. The main risk is that scanning stops after a week, so the first test checks exactly that.
9. The answer, end to end. Six steps, three check-ins and a reason for every choice: a new app for people who live alone, the fridge list first, judged by how many items are used in time. Each step answered one question before the next one began.

Every step produced evidence for a signal of the previous lesson: the questions and check-ins for structure, the chosen group for user focus, the criteria and the trade-off for judgement, the metric for data. The order is what makes it work, because each step answers the question the next one needs. Estimation, strategy, execution and technical questions keep the same opening, clarifying and stating assumptions, and change the middle steps; modules 3 to 5 of this track teach those.

A clarifying question is worth asking only if it changes the plan

A clarifying questionclarifying question: A question asked at the start of an open interview question, about the goal, the product, the market or the constraints, whose answer would change how you answer the rest. earns its time when a different answer would change what you do next. Four kinds usually do:

Ask about	Why the answer can change the plan
The goal: more users, more use or revenue	Each goal points at a different user group and a different metric
A new product or part of an existing one	An existing product has users and data to start from
The platform and the market	A phone app for one city and a web tool for many countries serve different people
Constraints: time, team, budget, rules	A three-month limit rules some solutions out before you generate them

Questions whose answers would change nothing spend time and show nothing: how many engineers the team has, when no constraint depends on it, or “Can I assume whatever I like?”, which hands the work back to the interviewer. Ask two to four questions that matter, then say the rest as assumptions and move on, as in “I’ll assume one city and a phone app, and that success means people who keep using it; tell me if you’d like it otherwise.” That limit is MySmartCoPilot’s recommendation.

Asking is welcome. Google’s interview tips say that rephrasing a question or asking for clarity is okay, as is telling the interviewer that you want a few moments to collect your thoughts, and suggest writing it out if that helps. A pause of half a minute to note the goal and two user groups costs less than ten minutes of answering the wrong question.

A 45-minute round, minute by minute

A good method can still run out of time. MySmartCoPilot’s recommendation for a 45-minute round is about 5 minutes to clarify, 10 on users and problems, 10 on solutions, 5 on the decision and 5 on metrics and risks, which leaves 10 for the interviewer’s follow-ups. Walk through the phases:

1. Minutes 0 to 5

   Clarify and state assumptions check-in

   Two to four questions whose answers change the plan, then the rest said aloud as assumptions. Check in: "Does that scope work for you?"

2. Minutes 5 to 15

   Users and problems check-in

   Name two or three user groups, choose one with the reason, list its problems and pick the one that matters most. Check in before any solution.

3. Minutes 15 to 25

   Solutions

   Three distinct ideas for the chosen problem, each in a sentence or two. Distinct means they attack the problem in different ways, not three versions of one feature.

4. Minutes 25 to 30

   Decide check-in

   Compare the ideas on stated criteria, choose one and say what the choice gives up. Check in before measuring.

5. Minutes 30 to 35

   Metrics and risks

   A success metric with a starting value and a target, a guardrail that would show harm, and the main risk with the first test that would reveal it.

6. Minutes 35 to 45

   The interviewer's follow-ups

   About ten minutes are left for the questions the interviewer saved. A plan that ends at minute 35 leaves room for them; one that runs to minute 44 does not.

The timeline has 6 events, from Minutes 0 to 5 to Minutes 35 to 45.

For a round of another length keep the shares. A 30-minute round becomes about 3, 7, 7, 3 and 3 minutes, with 7 left for follow-ups; a 60-minute round about 7, 13, 13, 7 and 7, with 13 left.

Check in at the end of each step with a sentence such as “I’ll go with people who live alone; does that work for you?” It costs seconds and catches a misunderstanding while it is cheap to fix. Atlassian’s handbook says its interviewers look for judgement in how you balance enough context against the time left in the interview, so a check-in that keeps you on time is evidence too. And think aloud: the reasoning is what is scored, so narrate each choice (“I’ll focus on first-time sellers because…”) instead of announcing only its result.

Countdown Timer Set 45 minutes and answer a prompt aloud, glancing at the clock at each check-in.

The feature list without a user, rewritten

The most common weak answer to an open prompt is a list of features. Asked to improve a podcast app, a candidate says: “I’d add a sleep timer, offline downloads, playlists, comments under episodes and short summaries of each episode.” Every feature is reasonable, and the answer still scores low, because nothing says who the features are for, which problem they solve or why one comes before another. Here is the same answer rewritten with the method:

Step	Weak answer	Rewritten
Goal	Not said	More listening by people who already use the app
User	Not said	Commuters who listen on the move
Problem	Not said	Losing their place when the signal drops
Solutions	Five features at once	Downloading the next episode on Wi-Fi, resuming across devices, a lighter streaming mode
Decision	All of them	Downloads first: they fix the drop-outs with no new habit to learn
Measure	Not said	Minutes listened per commuter each week, with complaints about phone storage as the guardrail

The rewrite keeps one of the weak answer’s features, offline downloads, and drops the rest, and each choice now has a reason the interviewer can score.

Practise: answer one prompt against the clock

Order the six steps, choose clarifying questions and pitch a time plan, one question at a time, starting with the idea you have answered least well:

Practice that adapts to you

Practise this lesson

9 questions about 4 ideas of this lesson. Each answer is explained at once, and what you get right is kept in this browser.

1. Question 1 of 9 Put the six steps of the method in order.

   Give each item its position, from 1 (first).

   1. Choose a user group and say why Position… 123456
   2. Decide with stated criteria Position… 123456
   3. Name that group's most important problems Position… 123456
   4. Clarify the goal and the constraints Position… 123456
   5. Define success metrics, guardrails and the main risks Position… 123456
   6. Generate a few distinct solutions Position… 123456

   Show the answer: Question 1 of 9

   Answer:

   1. Clarify the goal and the constraints
   2. Choose a user group and say why
   3. Name that group's most important problems
   4. Generate a few distinct solutions
   5. Decide with stated criteria
   6. Define success metrics, guardrails and the main risks

   Each step answers the question the next one needs: the user needs a goal, the problems need a user, the solutions need a problem, the decision needs options and the metrics need a decision.

2. Question 2 of 9 "How many people in a city of 2 million use a gym each week?" Which part of the method carries over to this estimation question?

   Choose one answer.

   All six steps, unchanged None of it The opening, clarifying and stating assumptions; the middle steps change Only the success metrics

   Show the answer: Question 2 of 9

   Answer: The opening, clarifying and stating assumptions; the middle steps change

   Estimation, strategy, execution and technical questions keep the same opening and change the middle steps. Module 4 teaches estimation's own steps.

3. Question 3 of 9 What makes a good assumption statement in an open product question?

   Choose one answer.

   It is about the interviewer's preferences It is specific, said aloud, and invites a correction It covers everything at once, so no questions are needed It is kept to yourself, so you look certain

   Show the answer: Question 3 of 9

   Answer: It is specific, said aloud, and invites a correction

   After two to four questions that matter, say the remaining scope as specific assumptions and invite the interviewer to correct them.

4. Question 4 of 9 Prompt: "Improve the app of a city's bike-sharing scheme." Which question changes the plan most?

   Choose one answer.

   How many bikes does the scheme have? Who designed the current app? Which phones does the app support? Is the goal more riders, more rides per rider, or fewer bikes left broken?

   Show the answer: Question 4 of 9

   Answer: Is the goal more riders, more rides per rider, or fewer bikes left broken?

   The goal decides the user group, its problems and the metric, so ask it first. The same method works on any prompt: which answer would send you down a different path?

5. Question 5 of 9 Why narrate each choice aloud, as in "I'll focus on first-time sellers because…"?

   Choose one answer.

   The reasoning is what is scored, and the interviewer can only score what you say It makes the answer longer, which scores higher It lets the interviewer choose for you It fills silence, which interviewers dislike

   Show the answer: Question 5 of 9

   Answer: The reasoning is what is scored, and the interviewer can only score what you say

   Structured interviews score evidence. A choice with its reason is evidence of judgement; the same choice made silently is not.

6. Question 6 of 9 In the 45-minute plan, about how long is left for the interviewer's follow-ups?

   Choose one answer.

   About 25 minutes About 2 minutes About 10 minutes None, because the six steps fill the round

   Show the answer: Question 6 of 9

   Answer: About 10 minutes

   About 5 + 10 + 10 + 5 + 5 = 35 minutes for the steps, leaving about 10 for follow-ups.

7. Question 7 of 9 It is minute 20 of a 45-minute round and you are still listing problems. What do you do?

   Choose one answer.

   Finish every problem carefully, then rush the rest Skip straight to metrics Ask the interviewer for more time Say where you are, sum up the problems in a sentence, pick one and move to solutions

   Show the answer: Question 7 of 9

   Answer: Say where you are, sum up the problems in a sentence, pick one and move to solutions

   The plan puts problems at minutes 5 to 15. Five minutes behind, re-plan aloud ("I'll pick the biggest problem and move to solutions") so the decision and the metrics still fit before minute 35.

8. Question 8 of 9 What is the common weak answer to an open product question?

   Choose one answer.

   A list of features without a user or a goal An answer that chooses one user group An answer with a success metric An answer that asks too many clarifying questions

   Show the answer: Question 8 of 9

   Answer: A list of features without a user or a goal

   The feature list skips the goal, the user and the problem, so the interviewer has nothing to judge the features against.

9. Question 9 of 9 Why does a list of good features still score low?

   Choose one answer.

   Nothing says who they are for or why one beats another, so user focus and judgement are not shown Good features are too easy to think of Interviewers dislike lists Lists take too long to say

   Show the answer: Question 9 of 9

   Answer: Nothing says who they are for or why one beats another, so user focus and judgement are not shown

   Features without a user, a problem or criteria cannot be compared. The rewrite kept one feature of the list and gave it a user, a problem, a reason and a metric.

Interview questions

Warm-up (fresher to 2–5 years): why ask clarifying questions before answering a product question, and when should you stop asking?

Because an open prompt can mean very different things, and a different answer to one question sends you down a different path. A goal of more users points at a different user group and metric than a goal of revenue, and a new product starts from nothing where an existing one has users and data. A few good questions also show the interviewer that you scope a problem before you solve it. Stop when the next question would not change your plan. In practice that comes after two to four questions about the goal, the product, the market and the constraints: say everything else as an assumption, such as “I’ll assume one city and a phone app; tell me if you’d like otherwise”, and move on, because time spent asking is time not spent on users, solutions and metrics.

Two more questions about the method under pressure. Answer each one aloud before you open its first step:

Key takeaways

• The method has six steps: clarify, choose a user, name the problems, generate solutions, decide with criteria, and measure with a guardrail and the main risks.
• Choose before you generate: the goal and one user group come first, because every idea is judged against them.
• Ask only the clarifying questions whose answers would change the plan, two to four of them, and say the rest as assumptions.
• In a 45-minute round, finish the six steps by about minute 35, check in after each step and say why at every choice.
• A list of features without a user or a goal scores low however good the features are; rewrite it from the goal down.

Terms in this lesson

clarifying question

A question asked at the start of an open interview question, about the goal, the product, the market or the constraints, whose answer would change how you answer the rest.