Free Pandemic-Relief Mobile App: Choose a COVID-19 Disruption and Design the MVP
Company: Google
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
Design a mobile app, offered to users at no cost, that helps people cope with at least one problem the COVID-19 pandemic created. The problem you pick does not have to be medical: any disruption to daily life that the pandemic caused is fair game.
Walk through how you would choose the problem, whom you would build for, what the first version would include and how you would measure whether it helps.
```hint Survey before you commit
The pandemic disrupted food, work, school, social contact and more. Compare a few of these problems on how severe they are and how well existing tools already cover them before you choose one.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Does "free" only mean no price to download and use, or also no ads and no data monetization? Is there any goal for the builder besides helping users?
- Which phase of the pandemic is this for: strict stay-at-home orders, reopening, or the lasting after-effects?
- Which geography launches first, given how widely restrictions and infrastructure differed between countries?
- Is Google building the app, so it can draw on existing Google services and sign-in, or is it a standalone product?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A structured survey of pandemic-driven problems, non-medical ones included, and a reasoned choice of one problem and one user segment.
- Depth on the chosen users' pain points and on why existing alternatives fail them.
- A prioritized first version that can ship while the need is still acute, with its trade-offs stated.
- Success metrics suited to a free product, centered on whether the users' problem actually gets solved, plus guardrails for safety, privacy and misinformation.
- Risks and sustainability: abuse, trust, running costs with no revenue, and what becomes of the app once the pandemic eases.
### Follow-up Questions
- With no revenue, how would you justify the investment to leadership, and what happens to the app when restrictions lift?
- Which people does a smartphone-only product leave out for the problem you picked, and how would you reach them?
- Public guidance and local rules changed from week to week. How would the app stay accurate and avoid spreading harmful information?
Overview: A Google product design prompt asking a PM candidate to design a free mobile app that eases at least one problem the COVID-19 pandemic caused, medical or not. It tests problem selection, user segmentation, MVP prioritization without revenue, and outcome-based success metrics.