Design a Product That Takes Over the Work Service Dogs Do

Service dogs do important work for many people: they guide people who are blind, for example, and they work alongside police. As a product manager, decide what you would build to replace them. Explain which users you would serve, which of the dogs' jobs your product would take over, what the product is, and how you would know it succeeds. ```hint List the dog's jobs For one group of handlers, write down what the dog actually does over a typical walk or shift, then check which of those jobs current technology can already do reliably and which it cannot. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Which users should the product serve: people who are blind or have low vision, police and other working-dog handlers, people with other disabilities, or several of these? - Should the product replace the dog entirely, or take over specific jobs while people keep using their other aids? - Are there limits on cost, form factor or timeline, for example software only versus new hardware? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - The jobs service dogs do broken down, with the ones the product will take over named - A user group chosen, from those in the prompt or beyond, and the reason - Product concepts compared on safety, independence, cost and practicality, with one prioritized - Failure modes, safety design and how the product earns users' trust - A primary metric with safety guardrails, and how the product would be tested with real users ### Follow-up Questions - What would make a user trust your product enough to go out without their dog, and how would you measure that trust? - How would your design change if you chose police work instead? - A blind rider has to find the right car at a busy pickup point. How would your product help with those last few meters?