Framework to Follow:
Here is a step-by-step guide/framework, you should follow while answering product design interview questions:
Describe the Product
Ask clarifying Questions to narrow the scope
Define the Goal you want to achieve
List the User Segments and choose one segment to focus on
List and prioritize the Pain Points
List out your Solutions
Evaluate the solutions and prioritize them
User Journey
GTM
Risk and Mitigation
Define the Success Metrics
Summarize your answer
Describe the Product
Flipkart is a leading Indian e-commerce platform, and “launching videos on Flipkart” refers to integrating video content into the Flipkart product experience. This could mean adding video streaming content (like movies or shows within the Flipkart app) or introducing video commerce features (such as product demo videos, short shoppable clips, or live-streamed shopping events). Before designing the solution, it’s important to clarify what kind of video experience we aim to provide and how it aligns with Flipkart’s shopping platform.
Ask Clarifying Questions
Are we focusing on entertainment videos (e.g. a streaming service with movies/TV, similar to Amazon’s Prime Video) or on shopping-related videos (product demos, user-generated reviews, live commerce)?
What is the primary goal of adding videos? Is it to increase user engagement and retention in the app, to drive higher e-commerce sales conversions, or to add a new revenue stream (through ads or subscriptions)?
Which user segment are we targeting first? For example, is this aimed at Flipkart’s core shoppers or a new audience (like those seeking free entertainment content or Gen-Z users who prefer video)?
Will the videos be produced by Flipkart/partners (curated content, influencer videos) or user-generated (e.g. customers and sellers uploading product videos)?
We need to know if we’ll have a controlled content library or an open platform for anyone to post.Do we have any technical or business constraints (e.g. partnerships for content licensing, bandwidth concerns, moderation needs)?
For instance, streaming full-length videos might require licensing deals, while live commerce needs creator recruitment and moderation.
For this discussion, I’ll assume the goal is to enhance the shopping experience through video commerce rather than purely launching an entertainment service.
Define the Goal
The primary goal is to use video to make Flipkart’s shopping experience more engaging and trustworthy by boosting user retention, improving purchase decisions, and ultimately driving revenue.
List User Segments
Potential user segments for Flipkart’s video feature include:
Gen Z and Millennials (Urban and Tier-2+ cities):
Young, tech-savvy shoppers (18-30 years old) who consume a lot of online video content.
They are active on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok-like platforms and expect interactive, entertaining shopping experiences.
This segment is a prime target, as Gen Z is the largest generation (400M in India) and strongly prefers video content when shopping.Tier-2 and Tier-3 City Shoppers (Vernacular users):
Users in smaller cities/towns who have come online recently via affordable smartphones and cheap data.
Many are more comfortable with vernacular (local language) content and may find video demonstrations easier to follow than reading text.
Notably, 65% of Flipkart’s video engagement comes from Tier-2/3 markets where users show high interest in vernacular videos.Sellers and Brands (as indirect segment): This is a stakeholder group – brands and small sellers who want to showcase their products. They aren’t end-consumers of video, but enabling them to create video content is crucial. If we serve their needs (tools to upload videos or host live demos), they will supply quality content that attracts the consumer segments above.
Segment Focus: We will focus on the young Gen Z/millennial shoppers in Tier-2 cities as our primary user segment for the MVP.
For example, imagine a 22-year-old from a Tier-2 city who is new to online shopping. She spends a lot of time on short video apps, prefers content in Hindi, and trusts recommendations from influencers. She finds static product descriptions dry or hard to relate to. By targeting her needs – engaging, informative videos in a language she understands – we can design a solution that also appeals to millions of similar users across India (and this will incidentally cater to many in metros as well, since younger urban users have similar video consumption habits).
Pain Points
For our target users, the current Flipkart experience without video has several pain points and gaps. We’ll list and prioritize them:
Online shopping is inherently virtual – users can’t touch or see products in use. Static images and text reviews often aren’t enough to judge quality or usage. This leads to uncertainty about fit, size, look, or how to use a product. Our young Tier-2 user might hesitate to buy a fashion item because she’s not sure how it actually looks on a person, or a gadget because she doesn’t know if it will work as advertised. This erodes trust and lowers conversion rates.
The current browsing experience can be tedious – scrolling through grids of products and reading descriptions isn’t engaging for someone used to Instagram Reels or YouTube. Young users may lose interest quickly on Flipkart and only use it transactionally. There’s a missed opportunity to make shopping fun and interactive so that users stick around longer. If Flipkart doesn’t engage them, they might go to platforms that do (or just browse without buying).
Many users (especially in smaller cities) find product specs and long descriptions confusing or not localized. They may skip important details, leading to wrong purchases or no purchase. They need simpler, visual explanations. For example, our user might not understand an electronics spec sheet in English, but a Hindi video demo could easily show what the product does. Without video, there’s a gap in educating the customer effectively.
While there are ratings and text reviews, they lack the immediacy and authenticity of seeing a person talk about or use the product. Users crave peer validation and expert opinions. Currently, they might have to leave Flipkart to search YouTube for reviews or unboxings of a product. That’s inconvenient and Flipkart loses that traffic. This pain point is pronounced in categories like beauty (e.g. how a lipstick shade looks on real people) and electronics (real unboxing experiences) where community input is valued.
Customers typically open Flipkart only when they have a shopping need. There is no strong reason to open it daily. This is a pain point from a business perspective – low frequency means fewer touchpoints to inspire new purchases. Without engaging content, Flipkart isn’t top-of-mind daily. Our target user might spend hours on video apps each week but only open Flipkart once a month when she needs something. This limits cross-selling opportunities and brand mindshare.
From the seller side (an indirect pain), sellers on Flipkart have limited avenues to showcase their products dynamically. They rely on images and text, which makes it hard for new or lesser-known brands to stand out or convey their product’s unique value. They can’t easily do the kind of storytelling or demonstrations that they might on social media or in-store.
Prioritizing these, the top pain points to address are (1) building trust via tangibility and authenticity, and (2) increasing user engagement. These directly affect conversion and retention. If we solve those with video content, we also naturally tackle the information and social proof gaps.
List Solutions
To address the above pain points, here are possible solution approaches for incorporating video into Flipkart. Each solution idea is aimed at making the shopping experience more immersive, informative, and engaging: