Build a trusted, locally relevant COVID-19 guidance product for the public
Company: Google
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
You are asked to design a product that keeps people informed about the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Explain whom it serves, what information it delivers and how, what goes into the first version, and how you would know it is working.
```hint Information is not what is scarce
During an outbreak people face a flood of news, rumors and changing official advice. Think about what makes it hard for a person to act on that information, and for which people that is hardest.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Is Google building this, so it can draw on Search, Maps, YouTube and Android, or is it a standalone product?
- Which stage of the outbreak is it for: early spread when little is known, a peak with lockdowns, or a later phase with widespread testing?
- Is the product limited to information, or are tools such as a symptom checker or exposure alerts in scope?
- Which country and languages come first, given that rules differed by country and even by city?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A goal framed around helping people make safe, correct decisions rather than consume more content, and a reasoned choice of target users.
- Pain points specific to an outbreak: overload, conflicting and fast-changing guidance, misinformation, and advice that is not local or not in the person's language.
- A prioritized first version that deals with source authority, freshness and local relevance, with trade-offs stated.
- Metrics for reach, accuracy and usefulness, with guardrails for misinformation, privacy and needless alarm.
- Risks such as being wrong at scale, giving what looks like medical advice, handling symptom or location data, and the people the product misses.
### Follow-up Questions
- National and local health authorities give different advice. What does the product show?
- How would you tell whether the product changed what people do, not just how many people looked at it?
- Would you add alerts for people who were near someone who later tested positive? What privacy design would that need?
Overview: A product design case about building something that keeps the public accurately informed about COVID-19. It tests choosing target users, handling misinformation and fast-changing local guidance, prioritizing a first version, and defining metrics and guardrails for accuracy, reach and privacy.