How would you improve Microsoft Edge?
Program managers at Microsoft have a mix of technical, design, and product management experience in many cases. Interviewers ask this question to test a candidate's ability to blend these areas of expertise to identify new feature opportunities for a major product.
Remember to explain the value you would expect to see from the improvement you suggest. Additionally, remember to provide a description of the stakeholders that would be affected the most by the change(s) described in your answer.
"I find the Edge browser to be a useful tool, and I appreciate how well it integrates with all of the Microsoft apps. However, I would simplify the layout of Edge and the information that is presented to the user by default. While I realize that there are user personas who understand all of the features that are presented, I initially found it to be a bit busy when I switched back to Edge after using Chrome for a period of time.
Also, I recently reintroduced my mother who is in her sixties to Edge. She was overwhelmed by the number of features on the page and immediately asked me to download Chrome. I spent some time customizing her view for her to make things look more simplistic, but it took me some time to convince her that Edge was a better choice for her needs.
I think a simple design is the intent of the focused layout feature, but I think it could be taken one step further by initially asking the user what style they prefer. The system could show an example of a minimalistic search bar with a few main links and then compare it to a portal-style layout offering a much richer experience. That way, users who are not savvy, or do not prefer to integrate their news into their default browser window will immediately know that Microsoft has a solution for them."
