The interviews assessing you for your design critiquing skills. They want to see how well you can use a product and provide constructive criticism.
One of the most common interview questions you will face is: What is your favorite product, and how would you improve it? Variations include asking about the most recently installed app, the product you use most often, or even a product you dislike but must still use.
The actual job here is to demonstrate your ability to analyze a product critically and thoughtfully. Recruiters are looking for your design critique skills — not just what you like or dislike, but how well you can identify areas for improvement. They want to see constructive criticism rooted in understanding the product’s users and the domain it operates in.
If you say your favorite product is a finance app, your interviewer is also assessing your grasp of the broader finance domain and its user needs. Similarly, if you pick an e-commerce app, your knowledge of that industry’s challenges and opportunities comes under scrutiny. This is not a trivial detail — your familiarity with the product’s ecosystem influences the quality of your critique.
The interviewer's perspective: design critique as a skill
When interviewers ask about your favorite product, they’re not fishing for a brand name. They are testing your ability to:
- Use the product as a user would
- Identify pain points and friction areas in the user experience
- Understand the product’s value proposition and constraints
- Suggest improvements that are feasible and impactful
This question is a proxy for your product sense: can you see beyond the surface? Can you empathize with the user and balance trade-offs?
A framework to structure your critique
What I tell PM candidates is: do not answer this question as an unstructured rant. Instead, use a framework that helps you organize your thoughts clearly.
Here’s a simple approach you can apply:
1. State what the product is and who it is for
Begin by defining the product and its target users. This sets the context.
Example: "My favorite product is Razorpay's dashboard for merchants, which serves small and medium businesses managing payments."
2. Describe what works well
Highlight strengths. This shows you can appreciate design and product decisions.
Example: "The dashboard provides real-time transaction updates, and the UI is clean and responsive on mobile."
3. Identify key pain points or gaps
Focus on 2–3 specific issues that affect user experience or value delivery. Avoid vague complaints.
Example: "However, the reporting feature lacks customization — merchants can't generate reports filtered by customer segment, which limits insights."
4. Suggest concrete improvements
Propose actionable changes that address the pain points, ideally backed by user impact or data.
Example: "Adding customizable filters and export options would empower merchants to make data-driven decisions and reduce support tickets."
5. Optional: Discuss trade-offs or constraints
If relevant, acknowledge technical or business constraints that make the problem challenging.
Example: "I understand that adding flexible reporting may increase backend complexity, so a phased rollout starting with top-requested filters could balance effort and impact."
Using this framework signals that you are thoughtful, user-focused, and solution-oriented.
Why domain knowledge matters
The interviewer is also testing whether you understand the product’s domain deeply enough to critique it meaningfully. For instance:
- If you pick a fintech app, can you speak about regulatory compliance, transaction security, or customer trust factors?
- If you pick an e-commerce app, do you know about inventory management, logistics, or customer retention challenges?
- If you pick a social media app, are you aware of engagement metrics, content moderation, or network effects?
Your critique must reflect this domain awareness. Otherwise, it risks sounding superficial.
Example: Critiquing a popular Indian product
Let’s say you choose Meesho, a social commerce platform popular in tier 2 and 3 cities.
- What works: Meesho’s vernacular support and simple onboarding make reselling accessible to non-English speakers.
- Pain point: The product search is limited by users’ typing ability and often returns irrelevant results.
- Improvement: Introduce voice search and AI-powered recommendations to improve discoverability, especially for users with low literacy.
- Domain insight: Given Meesho’s user base, low bandwidth and intermittent connectivity must be considered when designing new features.
This kind of critique demonstrates both product thinking and India-grounded context.
Common pitfalls to avoid
- Being too generic: Saying "I would improve the UI" without specifying how or why is unhelpful.
- Focusing only on features: Product design includes flow, feedback, error handling, and emotional impact.
- Ignoring constraints: Proposing impossible or expensive fixes can undermine your credibility.
- Lacking empathy: Critiques should be respectful and constructive, not dismissive or emotional.
Demonstration: Interview snippet on favorite product
Product management interview with a hiring manager in Mumbai
Interviewer: “Tell me about your favorite product and how you would improve it.”
Candidate: “My favorite product is Swiggy because it solves the last-mile food delivery problem efficiently in Indian cities. The app’s real-time tracking and payment options work well for users.”
Candidate: “One area for improvement is the search experience. Users often struggle to find local restaurants due to inconsistent naming and spelling variations.”
Candidate: “I would propose adding a voice search feature with natural language understanding to capture colloquial names and improve accuracy.”
Interviewer: “Interesting. How would you validate this idea?”
Candidate: “I would start with user interviews and usability testing to confirm the pain point, then prototype a voice search MVP targeting a subset of users in tier 2 cities.”
Interviewer: “Good. What challenges do you foresee?”
Candidate: “Handling noisy environments and accent variations will be challenging. We might need to partner with local language experts and invest in model training.”
The interviewer is testing both product sense and user empathy.
Practicing your critique
Field Exercise: Critique your favorite product (15 min)
Pick one product you use daily — an app, website, or physical product.
- Write down:
- What is the product and who is it for?
- What works well in the product?
- What are 2–3 specific pain points you have noticed?
- For each pain point, propose a concrete improvement.
- Reflect on any constraints or trade-offs involved.
- Bonus: Consider how your suggestions impact different user segments, especially in India.
This exercise builds the habit of structured critique — invaluable in interviews and on the job.
Why this question matters beyond interviews
This question is not just a filter for interviewers. It reveals your mindset as a product manager. The ability to observe, empathize, analyze, and improve is the core of the role.
I have trained thousands of PM candidates, and the pattern is consistent: those who master this question quickly stand out. They show they can think like a product manager before even joining the team.
Test yourself: Favorite Product Critique
You are interviewing for a PM role at a fintech startup in Bangalore. The interviewer asks: 'What is your favorite product and how would you improve it?' You choose to talk about the PhonePe app.
The call: How should you structure your answer to demonstrate product sense and domain knowledge effectively?
Your reasoning:
You are interviewing for a PM role at an e-commerce startup in Mumbai. The interviewer asks: 'Tell me about your favorite product and how you would improve it.' You decide to discuss the Flipkart app.
Your task: How do you apply a structured framework to critique Flipkart effectively?
your reasoning:
Where to go next
- Practice structured product critiques: Product Interview Questions
- Learn frameworks for product design and improvement: Design Thinking for PMs
- Develop domain expertise: Understanding Indian Fintech Products
- Sharpen user empathy skills: User Research Methods