Imagine youre a PM at Meta. How would you make users feel less guilty about using Instagram while also increasing revenue?

Introduction

As a PM at Meta, we're facing a challenging trade-off: how to reduce user guilt while using Instagram and simultaneously increase revenue. This scenario touches on user experience, engagement, monetization, and ethical considerations. I'll analyze this trade-off by examining user behavior, potential product changes, and revenue implications.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• What specific user behaviors or feedback indicate guilt while using Instagram?

• Why: Understanding the root cause of guilt is crucial for addressing it effectively.
• Hypothetical answer: Users report feeling anxious about time spent, FOMO, and comparison with others' lives.
• Impact: This will guide our focus on specific features or content types to modify.

• What are the current primary revenue streams for Instagram?

• Why: Knowing the revenue model helps us identify areas for growth without compromising user experience.
• Hypothetical answer: Advertising and shopping features are the main revenue drivers.
• Impact: We'll need to balance any changes to reduce guilt with maintaining or enhancing these revenue streams.

• Are there any ongoing initiatives or recent product changes aimed at user well-being?

• Why: This helps avoid duplication of efforts and builds on existing work.
• Hypothetical answer: Instagram has introduced time management tools and is testing hiding like counts.
• Impact: We can leverage and expand on these initiatives in our solution.

• What user segments are most affected by feelings of guilt?

• Why: Targeting specific segments may be more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Hypothetical answer: Younger users (13-25) and heavy users (2+ hours daily) report the most guilt.
• Impact: We may need to design different solutions for different user segments.

• What's the current average session length and daily active user (DAU) count?

• Why: These metrics will serve as baselines for measuring the impact of our changes.
• Hypothetical answer: Average session is 30 minutes, with 500 million DAUs.
• Impact: Any solution should aim to maintain or improve these engagement metrics while reducing guilt.