Product Improvement Case: The Shared Coffee Maker in a Corporate Workplace

You are a product manager asked how you would improve the coffee machine that employees share in an office. Decide what the improvement should achieve and for whom, find the problems worth solving, propose and prioritize changes, and explain how you would tell whether they worked. ```hint Follow one coffee run Trace a single trip from a desk to the machine and back, and note each moment where the person could get stuck, give up or get annoyed, before you think about features. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Are you the product manager at the company that makes the machine, or at the workplace that buys or leases it and pays for its supplies? - Does "improve" mean a better drink, a quicker and smoother coffee run, lower cost and waste for the office, or something else? - Is the change limited to the machine itself, or can it include software such as connected features or a companion app? - What setting should you assume: a single machine for a small team, or many machines across a large office? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A stated goal for the improvement and the reason it matters to whoever pays for the machine and whoever uses it - User segments compared, with one chosen and the reason for the choice - Pain points drawn from a real coffee run, ranked by how often they happen and how much they hurt - Several solutions compared on impact, effort and cost to the office, with a clear first choice - Success metrics with guardrails, a way to pilot the change, and the main risks ### Follow-up Questions - How would your plan change for a large multi-floor office with many machines instead of a small team with one? - If the office manager says your improvements raise the cost of supplies, how would you respond? - How would you pilot your top idea, and what would you compare it against?