Emergency Assistance Capability for Meta's Portal Smart Display

You are a product manager at Meta working on Portal, the company's smart display for video calling at home over Messenger and WhatsApp. Design a feature that people can use when an emergency happens. Explain who the feature is for, what problem it solves, how it works on the device, and how you would know it is succeeding. ```hint Start from the moment of need Picture the first minute of a real emergency in a home that has a Portal: where the person is, whether they can reach or speak to the device, and who could actually help. Let that moment, not the device's feature list, decide what you build. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Which emergencies are in scope: medical events at home such as a fall, household dangers such as a fire, or large events such as storms and earthquakes? - Can Portal place calls to emergency services today, or only to Messenger and WhatsApp contacts, and is adding emergency-services calling on the table? - Is the business aim to sell more devices, deepen use in homes that already own one, or position Portal as a device families trust when caring for a relative? - Should the feature work for someone who cannot reach the screen, cannot speak clearly, or has closed the camera cover? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A defined scope of emergencies and a goal that fits Portal's role as a fixed, always-on family calling device in the home - A reasoned choice of user segment (the person in danger, a remote family member, or both) with concrete pain points in the first minutes of an emergency - A feature design that uses Portal's camera, microphones, screen and voice control, including how help is actually reached and escalated - An MVP-first prioritization, plus success metrics and guardrails for false alarms, missed emergencies and the privacy of a camera in the home - Life-safety risks: power or internet loss, legal limits on emergency calling, and giving users a false sense of security ### Follow-up Questions - How would you stop a TV show or a playing child from triggering a help call without making a real call for help slower? - Would you add camera-based fall detection for people who cannot speak, given how people feel about a Meta camera watching their home? - Real emergencies are rare. How would you know within the first quarter whether the feature works?