Autonomous Car Product Design: Choose a User Group, Map Needs, Prioritize Features

As a product manager, you are asked to design a self-driving car. The prompt is open on purpose: decide who the car is for and how they would use it, work out what those people need, propose and prioritize features, and explain how you would judge whether the product is succeeding. ```hint Start from the value of not driving Ask who gains the most when nobody in the car has to drive, compare a few groups on that question, and let the group you pick shape the business model and every feature after it. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is the car sold to individual owners, or run as a fleet that people hail through an app? - Should the design cover the driving technology itself, or the rider's experience around a driving system that already meets the safety bar? - Which market and which driving conditions (dense city streets, suburbs, highways, snow) are in scope for the first launch? - Are there fixed constraints, such as a required safety record before launch or a target cost per trip, that the design must respect? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A business model and mission settled before any features - User groups compared on how much they gain from not having to drive, with one chosen and the reason - Needs mapped across the whole trip, including the gaps left when there is no driver to help - Features prioritized with explicit criteria, including safety, regulation and technical feasibility - Success metrics with safety guardrails, plus the main risks and how to reduce them ### Follow-up Questions - How would you earn the trust of the first riders, and how would you measure that trust? - When the car meets a situation it cannot handle, what should the rider experience, and how does that change if nobody on board can drive? - How would you choose the first city for launch?