Interview Question for Explore Microsoft at Microsoft:

Super vague question. Looking back, I realized that they were looking for me to ask a LOT of questions to make the question clearer and to see my thinking process.

put a female mammal in there

spill some and it was always be there

Depends on the position one is applying for - who do you want to be directly responsible for it and who will have oversight and authority to implement the plan? the owner of the fridge? Then establish a system to prompt the owner to check milk level and process for him/her to obtain the milk. the interviewee? Take direct responsibility to check and obtain or delegate the responsibility to an appropriate person, e.g. set up automatic delivery schedules....

Administer a drug to the interviewer that makes him mortally dependent on milk that is six days old.
If he/she is going to ask ridiculous questions, ones answers should be equally outlandish.

Just start vomiting....

Put in a container of milk and never drink any.

Have a slot for a gallon or half gallon of milk that measures the weight of the container. One the milk runs low the refridgerator could light up a light, order milk online, text the owner, etc. The control scheme would have to take into account the possibility that the milk was removed for use or discard. An adjustable time delay with a default of 2 hours would work. Greater than 2 hours and the indicator/message is tripped/sent.

the one about putting a female mammal in the fridge is delightful and completely out of the box (pun intended)...but end result is that thats ensuring a (live) animal is in the fridge and not neccessarily milk :-)

how bout directly piping in milk from a dairy once a day / periodically based on expected consumption (the functional nature of the fridge is then changing, of course...)

Get a bunch of UHT long-life milk. Can easily be stored outside the fridge without spoiling

Get a bunch of UHT long-life milk. Can easily be stored outside the fridge without spoiling

Er, go to the store before you run out?

Live in the supermarket.

Going back to the initial comment made by "Interview Candidate", solving this type of problem, where there are varying level of solutions, it comes down to the requirements for the solution. You could get fairly outlandish, as many of the responses show. How strict is the requirement for "always", for example. A solution that is 90% effective is VERY different in scope and cost to a solution that needs to be 99.999% effective.

The solution can vary from a post-it reminder to get milk to an application that automatically places an order for milk to a grocery deliverer (as mentioned by "Former Msoft Candidate"). There's the marketing aspect of it as well. Who's the solution targeted to? For Bill Gate's personal use? Or for mass marketing (if so, what's the target market segment)?

Even though the interview was for Microsoft, with past history for enigmatic interview questions, my first response would be to try to determine the intent of the question. Does the interviewer want outlandish responses to show that you are a creative thinker? Or do they want to figure out the steps that you would follow to solve a problem?

Going back to the initial comment made by "Interview Candidate", solving this type of problem, where there are varying level of solutions, it comes down to the requirements for the solution. You could get fairly outlandish, as many of the responses show. How strict is the requirement for "always", for example. A solution that is 90% effective is VERY different in scope and cost to a solution that needs to be 99.999% effective.

The solution can vary from a post-it reminder to get milk to an application that automatically places an order for milk to a grocery deliverer (as mentioned by "Former Msoft Candidate"). There's the marketing aspect of it as well. Who's the solution targeted to? For Bill Gate's personal use? Or for mass marketing (if so, what's the target market segment)?

Even though the interview was for Microsoft, with past history for enigmatic interview questions, my first response would be to try to determine the intent of the question. Does the interviewer want outlandish responses to show that you are a creative thinker? Or do they want to figure out the steps that you would follow to solve a problem?

As Interview Candidate said, this is clearly a question designed to explore your problem solving skills rather than to elicit a specific unitary answer. The "left field" nature of this sort of question can really throw those unfamiliar with the technique - I am reminded of the "good cop / bad cop" routine that I endured once in ignorance that it was a recognized interview technique (ironically, they offered me the job, but I declined because I didn't want to work with jerks like that).

As for the milk question, I agree that the "correct" response is to explore the requirements in more detail.

Make the refrigerator "Moo" when the milk slot is empty. It would get on your nerves so badly that you would run out and buy more.

As Interview Candidate said, this is clearly a question designed to explore your problem solving skills rather than to elicit a specific unitary answer. The "left field" nature of this sort of question can really throw those unfamiliar with the technique - I am reminded of the "good cop / bad cop" routine that I endured once in ignorance that it was a recognized interview technique (ironically, they offered me the job, but I declined because I didn't want to work with jerks like that).

As for the milk question, I agree that the "correct" response is to explore the requirements in more detail.

Put powdered milk in the fridge

By all means I will find out the extent and expense perimeters allowable for my solution, but I will have to assume that the question is open to my own interpretation and not bound by creative limits. Thus, a generic technocratic solution (considering that I am applying for a job with a technology company) to cater to all parameters is sought here. My proposed answer would go along the lines of:

Build or customise a modern refrigerator that can be connected to the internet (deluxe fridges with internet connectivity are already available), is chock full of sensors and nanosensors, and can be programmed (via the Windows Mobile operating system of course!) to issue reminders to the household members via SMS, email, onscreen display at the fridge door, and text--to-speech verbal reminders, all issued before milk runs out.

Presumably, to ensure higher accuracy, reliability and user flexibility in ensuring milk supply, this fridge provides a special container for milk to be poured into it for dispensing. The front of the fridge contains a standard dispenser mechanism for the milk.

The milk container is antibacterial and nanoparticles on the plastic ensure minimal bacterial proliferation of the milk over time. Sensors detect the level of milk protein in the container, as well as the level of lactic acid buildup. This ensures that only milk is poured and kept in the container. Milk that is starting to go bad is detected, and warning messages are issued ahead of time to remind household members to clear and clean the container (as well as the antibacterial tubing and liquid flow path of the milk leading to the dispenser unit) and refill it with a fresh supply of milk. To provide flexibility and automation, the system allows the user to program the Windows Mobile interface to automatically place an order for milk delivery with a local internet-savvy supermarket or grocer. Other programming options include giving household members a choice of flavours when ordering from the e-grocer the next time around (to have a change of flavour or to cater to different domestic uses) or for the household members to send a specific message to the e-grocer concerning milk or any other food item that is monitored by the fridge.

This is the basic schema for a typical household for one standard type of milk to be stored in the fridge. If household members desire more than one kind of milk to be kept in the fridge at any one time -- for example, milk of different flavours or animal origin -- the fridge can be customised with two sets of milk container/dispenser mechanisms.

put milk in and weld it shut

Get a job so you can buy fresh milk regularly. Put it in the fridge before the previous container is empty.

Alternatively, get a VERY large fridge and install a cow, a warming-blanket for the cow, fresh air supply, feeding and waste disposal, and a milking machine. Get a job so you can ensure a supply of bull semen to impregnate the cow and replace the cow as needed.

My experience tells me that this question is not about the question at all. Therefore,I would ask enough questions to determine the point of the question. As others have said and I concur, I'm pretty sure that problem solving skills are at least part of the point. Another aspect to this line of questioning might be that the interviewer/interviewing team may just want to see how I think, how fast I think, how creative I am, and how far do I delve into answering the question. Are they looking for complex abstract inventions or is a post it note on the fridge enough to cover the problem. If I'm talking to techno wizards or technical experts, they may want to hear a very intellectually abstract answer. If I'm sensing that the person/team just wants to get to the bottom line of keeping milk in the fridge, then I would keep it short and sweet. Bottom line for me would be to probe enough to get some kind of feel for or sense of what they are looking for and then give it my best shot.

The heck with the milk. If someone can devise a way so my refrigerator is always full of beer, please post back!

This is similar to the problem of always making sure that we get water in out bathrooms. For this we need to make sure that there is always some water in the tank on the roof top. We have an automated motor which pulls up water from ground in to the tank if the level of water in the tank drops below a threshold value. The motor gets turned off automatically when the water level reaches its max in the tank.