Product design for companies that have gone permanently remote

Many companies are deciding to stay remote for good, with employees working from home instead of returning to an office. What product would you design for these companies? Choose the type of company and the users you would build for, identify the problems that permanent remote work creates for them, describe the product and the features it would launch with, and explain how you would measure whether it succeeds. ```hint Ask what the office used to do An office did more than provide desks. List what employees got from it without anyone planning it, find which of those losses hurts one specific group most once nobody goes in, and design for that group. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Should the product work inside Google's existing workplace tools, such as Workspace, or can it be a standalone product? - What size of company should it target: small businesses, mid-size firms, or large enterprises with thousands of remote employees? - Who buys the product (IT, HR or team leaders), and how is that different from the employees who would use it every day? - Is the goal new revenue, or more use and retention of Google's existing workplace products? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A clear goal and a reasoned choice of company type and user group, based on how much permanent remote work hurts them. - Problems specific to permanent remote work rather than generic collaboration complaints, grounded in what in-person work used to provide. - A focused product concept with a prioritized first version and a reason it can win against the collaboration tools companies already use. - How the product is bought and adopted: the buyer, the rollout inside a company, and integration with existing tools. - Success metrics with guardrails for meeting load, working hours and employee privacy. ### Follow-up Questions - Employees worry that the product lets managers watch them. How do you design against that while still giving managers useful signals? - Onboarding and retention outcomes take months to show. How would you prove value to a buyer during a short trial? - Would you sell this as a separate paid product or include it in an existing suite, and why?