Round 4: Duration: 70 mins
Interview panel: Senior Director of Product Management and Director of Product Development. The interviewers started by describing the format of this final round of interviews. It was a case-based interview.
Case Study 1:
We have a product which is Curtis brand of the coffee machine, let’s assume it is a dump product. The goal is to have a digital platform connectivity solution running wherein we can track the real-time status of machines in a dashboard. How would you envision or approach a dump coffee machine to achieve smart product features?
In simpler language, the question was; design a smart coffee machine.
Case Study 2:
Current Platform Background:
Currently Curtis brand of coffee machine is utilizing Microsoft Azure standard protocols for data housing. All data is transmitted via the LTE network. Dashboards are managed through PowerBl (3-4 hour refresh cycle for dashboards). Plans for live data monitoring via Azure Workbook to be implemented by mid-year 2024. Roughly 60k+ units on the platform for the North American market at present, hopeful for 100k by EOY 2025.
Current Remote Capabilities:
- Old Generation Equipment: Digital platform capable of sending graphics only remotely with customer confirmation per machine to implement.
- New Generation Equipment: Digital platform capable of sending graphics/recipes/grinder adjustments and calibrations remotely with customer confirmation per machine to implement OTA software updates planned for release latest Q3 on New Generation equipment only.
- The current sales method for digital features is to pair with Preventative Maintenance or Managed Service contracts (previously low-market success selling digital features on their own).
Goal of Discussion (Questions):
- To minimize cost, what strategy would you recommend for the hardware solution on site, and what sort of flexibility would it need to have for future expansion?
- How would you recommend managing the network topology/data consolidation on site, given that the current platform for the other 2 brands sends data packets per machine via LTE to the platform backend?
In simpler language, the question was: To minimize cost without degrading the into of the product,
- What kind of data communication technology would you integrate into coffee machines placed in different cafes across the US? Give an understanding of how that tech would work.
- Explain how would you break down this technical problem of capturing real-time data from coffee machines across the US and utilizing that data in a dashboard.
The last question was: Do you have any questions for us?
Suggestion: Ask good and relevant questions.
For case study 1: Practice product design questions. Giving mock interviews is highly recommended.
For case study 2: Having some technical expertise/background would help. Some fundamentals of networks and communication, data structures, and database management would help.
Good Luck
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