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Google·Technical Product Manager·Onsite - System Design / Architecture·Staff

Staff
May 2026

Summary

Google TPM onsite focused on system design. One question, medical imaging pipeline with ML in the loop. Pretty open-ended and I spent way too long on the storage layer before realizing they probably cared more about the ML integration and access control side of things.

Questions Asked (1)

Q1

Design a system that allows doctors to upload X-rays and receive ML-generated preliminary diagnosis results.

System DesignTechnical Trade-offsCross-functional Alignment
Author's notes

I went deep on blob storage and upload flows first, which felt safe but probably wasn't what they wanted to spend time on.

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AI HintsAI Generated

Suggested Approach

Start by clarifying the product goals, users, and constraints, then propose a high-level architecture covering data ingestion, ML pipeline, and result delivery. Emphasize trade-offs between accuracy, latency, and compliance, and discuss cross-functional alignment with medical, legal, and engineering teams.

Pro tip: Frame the solution around patient safety and regulatory compliance (e.g., FDA, HIPAA) from the start, and propose a phased rollout with human-in-the-loop validation to build trust and mitigate risks.

1. Clarify Requirements and Constraints

Ask questions to understand the scope: types of X-rays, expected turnaround time, accuracy requirements, integration with existing systems, and regulatory constraints. Identify key stakeholders: doctors, radiologists, ML engineers, compliance officers.

2. Define Success Metrics and MVP

Propose metrics like diagnostic accuracy, time-to-result, doctor satisfaction, and adoption rate. Define a minimal viable product focusing on a specific condition (e.g., pneumonia detection) to validate the approach before scaling.

3. Design High-Level Architecture

Outline components: secure upload interface, data storage (DICOM), preprocessing pipeline, ML model inference, result generation, and notification system. Consider cloud services (e.g., Google Cloud Healthcare API) and integration with EHRs.

4. Address Trade-offs and Risks

Discuss trade-offs: model accuracy vs. interpretability, latency vs. batch processing, build vs. buy ML models. Mitigate risks: data privacy, bias, false positives/negatives, and regulatory approval.

5. Plan Cross-functional Execution

Outline collaboration with medical experts for labeling and validation, legal for compliance, and engineering for implementation. Suggest a phased rollout with feedback loops and continuous monitoring.

Key Points to Mention

  • Regulatory compliance (HIPAA, GDPR, FDA clearance for medical devices)
  • Data privacy and security (encryption, access controls, audit logs)
  • ML model lifecycle (training, validation, deployment, monitoring, retraining)
  • Human-in-the-loop validation and doctor feedback mechanisms
  • Integration with existing healthcare systems (EHR, PACS)
  • Scalability and latency considerations for real-time diagnosis

AI-generated suggestions, not part of the candidate's original notes. May be inaccurate — verify before relying on them.