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Product sensewarm-up
Design an umbrella for a city where it rains every day.
How to approach it
Ask about the city: wind, crowded sidewalks, and how people get around. Daily rain makes durability and storage the real problems.
How a strong answer opens
“If it rains every day, people already own umbrellas, so the problems are durability, wind and storage. I'd like to know how people get around this city before designing anything.”
Outline of a strong answer
Try answering out loud for a few minutes before you open this.
- Clarify climate, commute style and price point
- Pick daily commuters on public transit
- Pain points: broken frames in wind, dripping on trains, forgetting it
- Ideas: wind-proof frame, drip-catch cover, lost-umbrella tracker
- Prioritize durability plus drip cover
- Measure replacement rate and buyer satisfaction
Where this question usually goes wrong
Designing a gadget-heavy umbrella for occasional rain instead of the daily problems of broken frames and dripping on crowded trains.
Learn the method
Generate solutions worth discussing in Module 1, Product sense and design.
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