Product Management interview question [Product Design]: You are a product manager at LinkedIn. Design a product for people with disabilities to find a good job.

Clarify Scope -

• What disabilities do the users have?
• Is it an app for people with specific disabilities or an app that runs according to the user input of the kinds of disabilities they have?
• Is this an app only for job search or does this have other related features like creating resumes, connecting with other people like LinkedIn, online learning etc?
• Is it a software or a hardware product?
• Does this gets integrated in LinkedIn or is it an entirely new product?
• Is this software product web based or app based?

Goals -

Let’s assume the answers to the questions mentioned above as 1. The app is for users with partial vision, speech, color blindness disabilities. We are going to build a software product for just job search.

User Journey -

The user opens the app, signs up for the app by entering a few basic contact details including the kind of disability they have. (this helps us with providing them with useful features). They search for the job role they want to work in and the location at which they prefer to work in. They upload/create their resume and cover letters on the application

Assumptions -

I assume that the users mentioned can use a phone despite their disabilities.

Pain Points -

1. As a partially blind or color blinded person it is hard to interpret the logos and the buttons.
2. Difficult to sign up without the speech option (for the visually impaired).
3. It is hard (read nearly impossible) to consume visual content (posts/images/videos) for the visually impaired.
4. Although it is not difficult to watch a video, it is extremely difficult to understand it, without the audio for deaf people.
5. It is impossible to communicate (chat) with the recruiters for a visually impaired person.
6. Creating a resume is an extremely difficult task for the visually impaired.
7. Not having the option to save cover letters just like resumes.
8. Having to type answers to all the questions is an extremely difficult task for the visually impaired.
9. Getting relevant suggestions of jobs that are suited for the impaired people.
10. Switch between multiple applications to get a follow-up.
11. Can type and send anything (like gibberish) if not careful.

Solutions -

1. After the sign-up if the person suffers from color blindness then change the theme to monochromatic to support them.
2. If the person suffers from partial blindness then change the theme to a vibrant one, to support extra colors to support them.
3. Have a sophisticated voice recognition system to help the users during signup.
4. Image to text/audio conversion network to be embedded in the system to help the users understand if any important information is being shared.
5. Auto subtitle generation for videos.
6. Video to audio conversion.
7. Audio recording/voice notes mode in chat box.
8. Huddle-like feature for phone call interviews/ answer quick questions.
9. Allow audio responses for questions.
10. Allowing to create an audio resume rather than a conventional text resume and save it.
11. Allowing to create a 2 min audio/video cover letter and save it on the platform to use as and when required.
12. Add an additional flag in the job posting so that it is accessible to the impaired people via a filter.
13. Adding a similar flag to the company page as well so that people know that the organization supports the impaired.
14. Integrate a secure mailing system to show the mails in the application itself rather than switching between apps.
15. A toggle to disable keyboard option in the chat box and only use voice notes if the users wants to.

Prioritize -

Using Impact-Complexity framework to prioritize the solutions -

Summary -

We discussed the pain points, and possible solutions for the same and prioritized them according to their Impact and Complexity to build an application to find relevant jobs for people with impairments.

Success Metrics -

Active users — DAU/MAU

Number of jobs posted per month

Average number of hires per month

Average number of applicants per job posting