Product Critique Outside Tech: An Everyday Item's Strengths, Flaws and Fixes

Choose a non-technical product that you use yourself. Talk through what it does well and where it frustrates you, then explain the changes you would make to improve it. ```hint Judge it through its users' eyes Pick something you use often enough to hold specific opinions about. Then test each like and dislike against what the product's main users are trying to get done; an opinion that maps to no user need is weak grounds for an improvement. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "non-technical" rule out anything with electronics, such as a kitchen appliance or a car, or only software and online services? - Should the improvement serve people like me, or the product's largest group of buyers? - Must the improved product stay close to today's price, or can I propose a premium version or a different way of selling it? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A product choice explained briefly, with who uses it and what it does for them. - Likes and dislikes that are specific and tied to user needs, not taste alone. - Improvements aimed at the most important dislike, prioritized by impact on users against cost, feasibility and the risk of losing what users already like. - How you would confirm the problem is widespread and judge whether the improvement worked. ### Follow-up Questions - Your main improvement raises the cost of making the product. How would you decide whether buyers will pay for it? - As the product manager at the company that makes it, how would you confirm that your top complaint is shared by many buyers and not only by you? - How would your improvements change if the target user were a child or an older adult?