After 10 years of interviewing PMs at my own startup and across companies like Meta and Google, I noticed something:
Most candidates jump straight to ideas — without slowing down to think like a product manager.

That’s why I created this.

The GAPS framework is the simplest, most practical way to answer any product design or product sense interview question — whether it’s improving Instagram, designing a travel app, or creating something new from scratch.

And once you learn it, you can use it everywhere.

What Is the GAPS Framework?

Let’s break it down:

G – Goal
A – Audience
P – Pain Points
S – Solutions

That’s it. G-A-P-S. It’s memorable. It’s structured. And it forces you to slow down, think clearly, and speak in a way that helps the interviewer trust your process.

Use it for:

• Product design questions

• Product sense or improvement prompts

• Any open-ended “what would you build?” scenario

Step-by-Step: How to Use GAPS in an Interview

1. G – Goal

What’s the business or user goal here?

Start by asking clarifying questions. Don’t assume.
Good PMs always pause to understand the “why” before jumping into the “what.”

📌 What to say out loud:

• “Let’s clarify the goal first.”

• “What’s the company’s mission here?”

• “Are we focused on engagement, revenue, or solving a user's pain?”

❌ Bad answer: “Let’s increase engagement.” (Too vague.)
✅ Good answer: “Let’s help Gen Z travelers discover local experiences faster, which aligns with Airbnb’s mission of creating meaningful travel.”

Tips:

• Align your goal with the company's mission or market context

• Avoid buzzwords without specificity

• Set the scope for everything that follows

2. A – Audience

Who are we building for? And why them?

Don’t stop at “the user.” Every product has multiple audiences. Your job is to explore them — then choose one to focus on.

📌 How to think about users:

• End users

• Service providers

• Internal teams

• Partners

• Ecosystem players

❌ Bad answer: “Our users are travelers.”
✅ Good answer: “We’ll focus on remote workers who travel internationally and book stays longer than 2 weeks. They often need better planning tools and flexible booking.”

Tips:

• List multiple user types first

• Choose one and explain why

• Build a simple persona

• Walk through a quick user journey (bonus points)

3. P – Pain Points

What’s frustrating, confusing, or missing for this user?

Now you’re in the empathy zone. Think about needs, blockers, and unmet desires — emotional and functional.

📌 Ask yourself:

• What’s hard about their journey today?

• What’s missing or inefficient?

• Where do they feel friction?

❌ Bad answer:  “They can’t find places to stay.”
✅ Good answer: “They struggle with hidden fees, unclear refund policies, and no clear way to connect with local communities during long stays.”

Tips:

• Brainstorm at least 5 pain points

• Use criteria to choose one (impact, urgency, alignment with company goals)

• Explain why that’s the one you’ll focus on

4. S – Solutions

What can we build to solve the top pain point — and why this?

Now’s the time to be creative — but grounded. Think big, but tie your ideas back to the user problem and business goal you defined earlier.

📌 Do this in steps:

• List a few potential solutions

• Talk through the pros and cons

• Choose one and explain your reasoning

• Sketch it (if asked), or describe it in clear, simple language

❌ Bad answer: “Let’s build a map with local activities.”
✅ Good answer: “Let’s create a planning hub that combines local recommendations, co-working space ratings, and community Q&As tailored to long-term travelers. This builds trust, keeps users engaged longer, and increases repeat bookings.”

Tips:

• Use effort vs. value to explain prioritization

• Avoid tiny, copycat tweaks

• Don’t forget to define success metrics

How to Practice Using GAPS

Here’s how I recommend building muscle memory:

🧾 Notion Worksheet

Create a Notion doc with 4 headers: Goal, Audience, Pain Points, Solutions.
Practice filling it in with:

• Apps you use daily

• Products you love (or hate)

• Random prompts from mock interview decks

🗣️ Practice Out Loud

Structure matters, but so does delivery.
Interviewers want to hear how you think on your feet — so rehearse speaking through GAPS clearly and calmly.

Bonus: Communication Tips That Matter

What separates a good answer from a great one? Delivery.

✅ Do:

• Take a few seconds of silence before answering

• Set a structure out loud: “I’ll use GAPS to walk through this.”

• Be open to follow-up questions

• Justify your choices calmly and confidently

❌ Don’t:

• Ramble or talk in circles

• Talk to yourself instead of with your interviewer

• Jump into solutions without context

• Get defensive — this is a dialogue

Final Thought

The GAPS framework doesn’t just help you pass interviews.
It helps you think like a PM.

It slows you down, sharpens your logic, and keeps your answers grounded in the two things that matter most: users and clarity.

And the more you practice it, the more natural it becomes — in interviews, and on the job.

Try This Today:

Open Notion and pick one of these prompts:

• “Design a better job board for freelancers”

• “Improve Spotify for remote workers”

• “Create a feature for Gen Z students planning their finances.”

Now walk through GAPS:

1. What’s the goal?

2. Who’s the audience?

3. What are their pain points?

4. What solutions are worth building?