Uber Wearable Product: Pick the Users and Scope a Glanceable Watch Experience
Company: Microsoft
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
You are a product manager at Uber and have been asked to design an app for smartwatches. Decide who the app is for, which problems it should solve on the wrist that a phone handles poorly, and what the first version should include. Explain how you would prioritize its features and how you would know the app is succeeding.
```hint Where the wrist beats the phone
Uber already reaches every one of its users through a phone. Look for the moments in a rider's, eater's, driver's or courier's journey when pulling out or tapping a phone is awkward or unsafe, and let those moments decide the segment.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Should the watch app extend Uber's existing products (rides, food delivery, the driver and courier apps), or is a brand-new watch-only service in scope?
- Can the app rely on a paired phone being nearby, or must it work on its own over cellular? Which watch platforms are in scope?
- Which outcome matters most to leadership: rider engagement and retention, the productivity and safety of drivers and couriers, or something else?
- Is there a target market? Smartwatch ownership varies widely by country and income, which changes how many riders, drivers or couriers could use the app.
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A goal for the app tied to Uber's two-sided marketplace, not just "ship a watch app".
- Segments spanning riders, eaters, drivers and couriers, with an explicit reason for the one chosen, including how many of them actually own a watch.
- Pain points tied to concrete moments in that segment's journey, and solutions built for glances, haptics and single taps rather than a shrunken phone screen.
- A prioritized first version with success metrics and guardrails for distraction, battery life and health-data privacy.
### Follow-up Questions
- Most of the users you picked do not own a smartwatch. Does that end the idea, and what would you do next?
- How would you keep the app from pulling the attention of someone who is driving or riding a scooter?
- Watch owners differ from everyone else. How would you measure the app's real effect on your success metric?
Overview: A product sense prompt asking an Uber product manager to design a smartwatch app: choose which riders, eaters, drivers or couriers it should serve, find the moments where the wrist beats the phone, and scope a first version. It tests segmentation, prioritization, safety thinking and success metrics.