Microsoft Interview Question
Program ManagersThis is an extremely difficult one to get "right" and many people seem to ask it. Understand that any design you come up with they will poke holes in so take every variable into account that you can think of. Radio? Multiple alarms? How to set the time? Station? How will it tell you the time? How will you find it in a room? How do you grab it in the morning and not knock it off the table? And so on.
There are 2 ways to approach
Sound feedback : It gives an audio feedback for every action i.e presing of a button , time etc
Touch Feedback : tricky one , the user can feel every thing i.e. hands of the clock etc
I feel tthe combination of both would be an ideal solution rather tyhen going ahead with one design
This should be voice activated - that is the best way to design an alarm clock for the blind. The best way for the blind guy to identify the alarm clock would be through a secret voice code. Once it is activated, you can use voice commands to set the alarm, time or whatever you want to do. The feedback is given through voice too.
In these kinds of design questions, the prudent thing to do is to ask questions (lots of them) to figure out what the real requirement is. Some questions that spring to my head are:
1. Where is this clock going to be used? (In a home for the blind, someone's private house, a bigger "watch" that the blind person is expected to carry around etc.)
2. What kind of environment do we have available to us? (Can we hang it on a wall, does it have to be on a table etc.)
3. Are there any other requirements other than the alarm? (Stopwatch etc.)
Some of these questions will sound silly but should be asked to signal to the interviewer that you are thinking on those lines and seeking clarifications instead of making assumptions which may not hold true for the end user. Depending on the responses you get, design the system and seek feedback from the interviewer.
Questions:
- SH May 22, 2012-Is this person partially or fully blind? Could use bright lights to guide partially blind
-Is the customer accustomed to using an alarm regular alarm clock? If they're familiar with a regular alarm clock, we can improve on the existing design and maintain familiarity
-What is the budget? This would be important to see if we have to build a nuts and bolts alarm clock or one powered by software that could respond to voice/sound commands or even a motion detector
-Where would the alarm clock be located? Next to the bed (most likely but don't assume) or across the room?
-How will it be powered? Manual key or electric
Other factors:
-It's easy for a blind person to knock off an upright alarm clock, so we may want to design something with a flatter design
-Regardless of design, we would use Braille lettering
-Simple actions for alarm on-off or easy to locate buttons
Alternatives:
-If it responds to voice/sound or motion detector that opens up other design possibilities