You're on the team for Instagram, and Stories engagement is doing well, but post engagement is going down. What would you do?

Introduction

Instagram's declining post engagement amidst thriving Stories performance presents a complex product challenge. To address this issue, I'll employ a systematic approach to identify, validate, and resolve the root cause while considering both immediate and long-term implications for the platform.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• What specific metrics define post engagement, and how have they changed over time?

• Are there particular user segments or content types more affected by the decline?

• When did we first observe this trend, and has it been consistent or fluctuating?

• Have there been any recent changes to the feed algorithm or post visibility?

• Are we seeing any shifts in user behavior between Stories and posts?

• Has the definition of post engagement remained consistent, and are our measurement systems reliable?

Why this matters: Understanding the specifics of the engagement decline helps focus our investigation and solution development.

Hypothetical answer: Post likes and comments have decreased by 20% over the past quarter, primarily affecting casual users and lifestyle content. The trend began gradually but has accelerated in the past month. No major algorithm changes were implemented, but Stories have seen increased prominence in the UI.

Impact on approach: This information suggests we should focus on casual users and lifestyle content, investigate recent UI changes, and examine the relationship between Stories and post engagement.