Product design case: a new app that helps with food allergies

Design a new app for food allergies. Decide whom it serves and which problem it solves, propose and prioritize features, and explain how you would measure success. ```hint Walk through a week of eating Pick one person affected by a food allergy and trace a typical week of shopping, cooking, eating out, school or work, and travel. Look for the moment where a mistake is most likely and most costly. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is this a standalone app, or part of an existing product or platform? - Who is the main user: someone with the allergy, a parent managing a child's allergy, or businesses such as restaurants and schools? - Is the aim to reach as many people as possible with a free product, or to build something people or businesses pay for? - Which countries will it launch in, given that allergen labeling rules differ between markets? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A segment chosen among the people affected by food allergies, with the reason - The moments where allergies cause the most risk or friction for that segment, ranked - Features prioritized by impact, effort and the harm done if the app's information is wrong - A success metric with guardrails - Risks such as liability, data accuracy and health-data privacy, with mitigations ### Follow-up Questions - How would you get reliable allergen information for restaurant dishes that have no published ingredient list? - How would you make money without weakening users' trust in the app's safety information? - What would you do after a user reports a reaction to a product the app showed as free of their allergen?