Design airport experience for Google ✈️
Asked in Google PM Interview
Welcome to the second interview question in this series! 🚀
This one follows a similar pattern to the last question. I encourage you to take a shot at solving it first—that’s the only way to develop your problem-solving muscle. 💡
Once you’re done, come back and check out the solution. Let’s go! 🔥
But before that, as a cricket fan, I am extremely excited to see India winning the ICC Champions Trophy after 12 years! As a cricket fan, so many memories have haunted me (in fact, all of us) over the years—November 19, 2023, Dhoni getting run out on a direct hit in the 2019 World Cup semi-final, the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 final, and the 2014 T20 World Cup final.
At times, life doesn’t reward you despite putting in 100% effort, and that’s where luck plays a significant role. Anyway, let’s jump to the question.
Do add your solution in the comments—I’ll be reading all of them!
1. Clarifying questions to ask the Interviewer 🤔
Before diving into the solution, clarify the scope:
What do you mean by "airport experience"?
(Interviewer: Interpret yourself.)Airport experience covers the journey from arriving at the source airport to leaving the destination airport.
Why does Google want to build this?
(Interviewer: Interpret yourself.)Google’s mission is to simplify the world’s information and make it accessible & useful.
Google already offers multiple travel-related products that can enhance the airport experience.
2. Google's mission & existing product fit 🎯
Google aims to simplify & organize information, making it accessible & useful.
Google's product suite already plays a role in enhancing the airport experience:
Google Maps 🗺️ – Identifying key landmarks (restrooms, lounges, cafeterias).
Google Pay 💳 – Enabling seamless payments at duty-free shops, cafes, transport.
Google Travel 🛫 – Providing real-time flight status, boarding gate info, luggage drop-off gates.
3. Additional clarifying questions ❓
Will this be a global or localized product? 🌍
What is Google's incentive for building this? (Revenue, adoption, branding?) 💰
Should this be a standalone app or integrated into existing Google products (Maps, Pay, Travel)? 📲
How does Google plan to handle partnerships with airlines and airports? 🤝
What are the privacy & compliance concerns for tracking, biometrics, and payment integration? 🔐
4. User personas 👥
Business Travellers 👔 – Frequent flyers, need quick access to VIP lounges, fast WiFi.
Solo Travellers 🎒 – Time-conscious, prefer efficient navigation & quick updates.
First-time Travellers 🆕 – Need assistance in check-in, security, immigration, and boarding.
Family Travellers 👨👩👦 – Prioritize comfort, restrooms, feeding rooms, and seating.
Elderly Travellers 👴 – Need assistance, minimal walking, and speedier processing.
Disabled Travellers ♿ – Require guided navigation, wheelchair assistance, and speedier processing.
5. User persona prioritization 🔝
Business & Solo Travelers – Frequent flyers, need less assistance but demand efficiency. (prioritised based on frequency)
Families, Elderly & Disabled – Require assisted guidance & faster services.
6. Key user pain points 🚨
🚶 Long Queues – High wait times at check-in, immigration, security & baggage collection.
🗺️ Navigation Issues – Large airports can be overwhelming, especially for first-time travelers.
🔕 Missed Updates – Hard to track gate changes, delays, and boarding announcements.
😰 Anxiety & Stress – Language barriers, immigration, and baggage collection create uncertainty.
🛍️ Limited Shopping Avenues – Lack of guidance on duty-free areas, cafeterias, and shopping options.
7. Solution approach 🚀
Must-have features ✅
✔️ Reducing Long Queues:
Digital Check-in with Google – Biometric & digital authentication.
One-click Boarding Pass Generation – Auto-filled based on user preferences.
RFID-based Baggage Tracking via Google Maps 🧳📍
Real-time Queue Insights – Immigration & check-in wait times displayed in Google Travel.
✔️ Enhanced Navigation:
Google Maps for Airports – Indoor navigation with landmarks, pathways, restrooms, lounges, and gates.
✔️ Real-time Updates:
Gate Changes, Flight Delays & Announcements – Alerts via Google Travel & AI assistant.
✔️ Google Pay Integration:
One-tap Payments at Airports – For food, lounges, transport, and duty-free shopping.
Cashbacks & Rewards on Google Pay transactions.
✔️ Reducing Travel Anxiety:
Camera-guided Language Translator – Helps at international airports for communication.
Should-have features 🤩
⭐ AI-based Flight Delay Predictions – Alerts users about possible delays based on data trends.
⭐ One-click Lounge Booking via Google Travel & Google Pay.
⭐ Audio Guides for elderly & disabled travelers.
⭐ Duty-Free Shopping Guide – Product catalog, express checkout, and delivery at the spot.
⭐ Airport Exit Guide – List of all transport options & best recommendations via Google Maps.
8. Trade-offs & product strategy ⚖️
🚀 Standalone App vs. Google Maps Integration
Standalone App – Better user experience but slow adoption.
Google Maps Integration – Faster adoption but adds UX clutter.
Decision:
💡 Start with Google Maps integration (MVP) and track adoption before expanding into a standalone app.
9. Risks & challenges ⚠️
🔹 Local Regulatory Compliance – Privacy laws for tracking & biometrics.
🔹 Partnerships with Airports & Airlines – Need access to real-time flight & passenger data.
🔹 Privacy Concerns – RFID luggage tracking, facial recognition, and data security.
10. Success metrics 📊
✔️ User Experience: NPS of users using the app/feature.
✔️ Adoption Rate: # of users actively using the app/feature.
✔️ Efficiency Gains: Reduction in queue times, improved navigation & faster check-ins.
Summary 💡
By leveraging Google's strengths in AI, Maps, Travel, and Payments, this product can transform the airport experience into a seamless, stress-free journey for travelers worldwide. 🌎✈️
Feedback
Strengths ✅
Clear Structure & Logical Flow – The response follows a structured approach (clarifying questions → personas → pain points → solution → trade-offs → risks → success metrics).
Alignment with Google's Strengths 🚀 – The solution smartly integrates Google Maps, Travel, Pay, and AI, making it realistic and feasible.
User-Centric Approach 🎯 – Good breakdown of personas, prioritization, and pain points.
Practical Execution Trade-offs ⚖️ – The trade-off between a standalone app vs. integration into Google Maps is well-articulated.
Consideration of Privacy & Compliance 🔐 – Addresses privacy concerns, an important aspect for Google.
Areas to Improve & deep dive 📌
1️⃣ Clarifying questions – Add business & technical depth
Beyond “What do you mean by airport experience?”, also ask:
What is Google's business goal? (E.g., monetization via Google Pay, adoption of Maps, brand reinforcement)
What data does Google have access to today? (Airlines, airports, existing Google Travel integrations)
Are we optimizing for all airports or only major hubs initially? (Market segmentation)
Are we targeting B2C (travelers) or B2B (airports, airlines, vendors)?
2️⃣ Competitive landscape & differentiation 🏆
Who are we competing with?
Apple Maps, TripIt, airlines’ own apps, airport apps (like Heathrow’s).
How do we differentiate? (Better real-time navigation, predictive AI, deep Google Pay integration).
Should we partner or compete with existing players? (E.g., should we power airline apps instead of launching our own?)
3️⃣ Always add moonshot idea as a Googler 🏆
Fully Automated Travel Experience:
Facial recognition for check-in, security, and boarding (passport-free experience).
Smart AI-driven airport assistance (personalized real-time recommendations).
AR-powered navigation using Google Lens (real-time path guidance).
Drone-based baggage transport within the airport.
4️⃣ Add GTM strategy & MVP stages
Phase 1 (MVP):
Integrate navigation & real-time queue updates into Google Maps.
Enable check-in reminders & flight updates via Google Travel.
Partner with select airports for queue insights.
Phase 2:
Expand biometric-based check-in & baggage tracking.
Integrate lounge booking & duty-free shopping into Google Pay.
Phase 3:
Introduce AI-driven personalized recommendations.
Develop an airport-exclusive standalone app if adoption scales.
Prioritization framework 🔝
Prioritize Features with a Framework like ICE (Impact, Confidence, Effort):
High Impact, Low Effort (MVP) → Queue time prediction, Indoor navigation, Gate updates.
High Impact, High Effort (Phase 2) → Biometric check-in, RFID baggage tracking.
Low Impact, High Effort (Deprioritize) → Audio guides (already covered via Google Translate).
5️⃣ Monetization & business Impact 💰
How does Google benefit financially from this? Possible models:
Google Pay Commissions – Revenue from duty-free, lounges, airport taxis.
Ads & Partnerships – Featured restaurants, lounges in Google Travel.
Enterprise Offering – Selling queue management & navigation tools to airports.
6️⃣ Success metrics – More actionable 📊
Adoption → % of travelers using at least 1 feature (navigation, Pay, queue insights).
Efficiency Gains → Avg. reduction in check-in & security wait times.
Monetization → Google Pay transaction volume growth at airports.
Final refinements ✨
Make it more Google-like: Google favors scalable, AI-driven, data-centric solutions.
Add an AI-based personalization layer – Recommends best airport routes, shops, food based on past behavior.
Leverage Google Assistant – Ask “Where’s my gate?” via voice.
Deeper Trade-offs:
Why NOT a standalone app? – Limited visibility vs. Google Maps’ 1B+ users.
Why NOT just improve Google Travel? – Different core use case (booking vs. real-time assistance).
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Do add your comments! I will go through all of them.
Great and thorough solution.
Another big pain point to consider is long boring idle time for travelers after check-in. We can improve the user experience in innumerable ways - for example - digital treasure hunts, / VR / AR etc.