INTERVIEWEE: Okay. The way I will go about answering this question is to first understand who the user or users are and what activities they would like to do relative to bookshelves. There may be some activities that no bookshelf serves today which could lead to innovative designs. After selecting some use cases, I will describe solutions and how to build them. Then I will wrap up with my final recommendation.
Describing use cases as attributes that a solution should have instead of using sentences that describe what activities or tasks the user may do related to the product. For example, for the question “How would you design a bookshelf for children?”, saying something like, “the bookshelf should be durable, without sharp edges, and not too tall” is only listing attributes. The interviewer has forgotten to describe the use case that calls for those attributes. A better answer would be, “children have a tendency to stumble and fall, so the bookshelf should not have sharp edges.” Remember, the interviewer is looking to see if you think like a PM, and a PM doesn’t come up with so…