Short-video design for seniors: shape a TikTok experience for older adults
Company: TikTok
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
How would you design a version of TikTok, the short-video app, for elderly people?
```hint Older adults are not one group
Split the audience by how they arrive and what they want from the app before choosing features, and test every idea against both comfort and safety.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- What age range counts as elderly here, and should I assume people new to TikTok or older users already on it?
- Should this be a mode inside the main TikTok app or a separate app?
- Is the goal to bring in new older users, to keep the ones who try it, or to get more of them creating videos?
- Can the design rely on family members already on TikTok, such as grandchildren, to help with setup and sharing?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A reason, tied to TikTok's mission and business, for building for older adults
- A segmentation of older users and a justified choice of one segment
- Pain points across onboarding, comprehension, relevance, safety and connection, ranked by frequency and severity
- Prioritized solutions that respect older users without being condescending, including the choice between a mode and a separate app
- Success metrics with guardrails on scams, unwanted contact and excessive use
### Follow-up Questions
- How would you decide who is offered this experience without inferring age from users' data?
- What would make an older user stop using the app after the first week, and how would you detect it early?
- How would you encourage older users to start posting their own videos?
Overview: A product design prompt about adapting TikTok for elderly users. It tests whether a candidate can justify the audience strategically, segment older adults, rank pain points around usability, relevance, safety and family connection, prioritize solutions, and define success metrics with guardrails.