Pitch a New WhatsApp Feature Built Together With Google Maps
Company: Microsoft
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
You are a product manager on the WhatsApp team at Facebook (now Meta). Recommend a new integration for WhatsApp. There is only one constraint: the idea has to be genuinely new, and it has to connect WhatsApp with Google Maps. Explain who the integration is for, what problem it solves, how it would work across the two products, and how you would know it succeeded.
```hint Look for the app switch
Find moments when people are already talking in a chat about a place or a trip and then jump to a map app, or the other way round. WhatsApp can already share a pin or a live location, so aim for something the two products cannot do on their own.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- What should the integration do for WhatsApp first: deepen everyday use among friends and family, or grow WhatsApp Business and conversations with companies?
- Can we assume Google partners with us and builds its side of the feature, or only that we can use the public Google Maps APIs open to any developer?
- Should the first launch target markets where WhatsApp is the default messenger, such as India, Brazil or Indonesia?
- What is Google allowed to see, given that WhatsApp messages are end-to-end encrypted and Meta and Google compete in advertising?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A goal for WhatsApp, and a reason the partnership benefits both companies despite their rivalry.
- One chosen user segment and a specific moment where messaging and maps meet, with the friction it causes today.
- Several candidate ideas compared on user value, novelty and feasibility, ending in one recommendation that is clearly different from existing location sharing.
- A concrete flow across the two apps that keeps end-to-end encryption intact and gives users control over their location.
- Success metrics with guardrails, and risks such as dependence on a competitor, privacy backlash and misuse of location features.
### Follow-up Questions
- Google would learn where WhatsApp users plan to go. Which data terms would you negotiate, and which would you refuse?
- How would you test demand for the idea cheaply before asking Google to build anything?
- If Google declined to partner, which parts of your idea could still ship using only the public Maps APIs?
Overview: A product design prompt where a WhatsApp product manager proposes a new integration that connects WhatsApp with Google Maps. It tests choosing a user segment and a real coordination problem, designing a cross-app flow that respects end-to-end encryption, prioritizing ideas, and defining metrics and partnership risks.