OpenAI Product Strategy: First Feature to Help People Without Tech Skills Use AI

OpenAI wants its AI tools to be easier to use for people who have no technical background. As a product manager, which product or feature would you put first to achieve this, and why that one rather than the alternatives? ```hint Find where people get stuck Map where people without technical skills drop out: never trying the tools, not knowing what to ask, getting results that are not useful to them, or not trusting what comes back. Let the largest of those gaps decide your single priority. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "accessible" mean reaching people who have never used AI, helping people who tried ChatGPT and stopped, or access for people with disabilities or limited literacy? - Should the answer focus on ChatGPT, or could it be a new standalone product or an offering that reaches these users through other companies' apps? - Is the goal adoption, retention or revenue, and is the compute cost of serving more free users a constraint? - Is there a market focus, for example English-speaking markets versus countries where many people are online only through a phone? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A precise definition of the non-technical segment targeted and the barrier that matters most to them - A shortlist of candidate products or features, with an explicit prioritization rationale for the one chosen first - How the chosen product works in enough detail to build, including the first-time experience - Success metrics tied to activation and retained value, with guardrails for accuracy, safety and cost - Risks specific to inexperienced users, such as over-trusting wrong answers, and how the design reduces them ### Follow-up Questions - What evidence would make you drop your first choice and move to your second? - How would you keep inexperienced users from over-trusting answers on health or money questions? - How would your plan change if the cost of serving free users were the main constraint?