Suppose you're the PM for Facebook Stories and your teammate says we should increase the height of the stories bar in the app. How would you think through this decision?

Introduction

The decision to increase the height of the stories bar in the Facebook app is a critical product trade-off that could significantly impact user engagement and overall app experience. This scenario involves balancing visibility and user interface real estate, which are key considerations in mobile app design. I'll approach this decision by analyzing its potential impacts, defining key metrics, and designing an experiment to validate our hypotheses.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• What's the current height of the stories bar, and what increase are we considering?

• Why: Understanding the magnitude of the change helps assess potential impact.
• Hypothetical answer: Currently 150px, considering an increase to 200px.
• Impact: A larger change might have more significant effects on user behavior.

• What's driving this suggestion? Are we seeing any specific user behavior trends?

• Why: Identifies the problem we're trying to solve or opportunity we're pursuing.
• Hypothetical answer: We've noticed a decline in story views and creation.
• Impact: Helps focus our analysis on relevant metrics and user segments.

• How does this align with our current strategic priorities for Facebook Stories?

• Why: Ensures the change aligns with broader product goals.
• Hypothetical answer: Increasing story engagement is a top priority this quarter.
• Impact: Influences how we weigh different outcomes in our decision-making.

• What technical constraints or considerations should we be aware of?

• Why: Identifies potential implementation challenges or limitations.
• Hypothetical answer: The change is technically feasible but may impact load times.
• Impact: Adds performance considerations to our analysis and experiment design.

• Are there any upcoming feature releases or changes that might interact with this decision?

• Why: Helps anticipate potential confounding factors or synergies.
• Hypothetical answer: We're planning to introduce new story creation tools next month.
• Impact: May influence timing of the experiment or interpretation of results.