Google Product Sense: Choosing a Segment and First Version for a Location-Sharing App
Company: Google
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
Google plans to launch a new app whose core is location sharing technology. As the product manager, decide which user group you would build it for, then walk through how you would design the product for that group: the problem you choose to solve, the solutions you would consider, what you would build first, and how you would know it is working.
```hint Find the gap
Letting contacts see where you are is already common in some form. Look for a group whose problem is not solved by an always-on dot on a map, and ask what Google in particular brings to it.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Does "location sharing" mean people sharing their own position with contacts they choose, or could it also cover anonymous, aggregated location data such as how crowded a place is?
- Must this be a standalone app, or may it plug into existing Google products such as Maps for directions, places and travel times?
- Is the product for adults only, or are children in scope, which brings extra consent and legal requirements?
- Is the first-year goal adoption and engagement, revenue, or both?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- Several candidate user groups with genuinely different needs (for example families, friend groups, people traveling alone, businesses with field staff) and an explicit choice based on stated criteria such as unmet need, frequency and fit with Google's strengths.
- Pain points specific to the chosen group, and solutions that use location for more than showing a position on a map.
- A prioritized first version with a reason, and what is deliberately deferred.
- Consent, safety and protection against stalking or covert tracking treated as core requirements, not a settings page.
- Success metrics that suit how often the product would naturally be used, with guardrails.
### Follow-up Questions
- Many friend groups mix Android and iPhone users. How does that change your design and launch plan?
- How would you stop the app from being used to track a partner or an employee without real consent?
- If people use the app about once a week rather than daily, how do you judge whether it is succeeding?
Overview: A Google product design prompt: choose a target user group for a new app built on location sharing and explain how you would design it. It tests segmentation, picking an unmet need, consent and anti-tracking safeguards, prioritizing a first version, and success metrics that fit how often the app would be used.