You're the PM for newsfeed and you have to decide whether to show more videos or more events. What do you do?

Introduction

The trade-off we're facing is whether to show more videos or more events in the newsfeed. This decision is crucial as it directly impacts user engagement, content diversity, and overall platform value. I'll approach this by analyzing the context, identifying key metrics, designing experiments, and providing a data-driven recommendation.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (3 minutes)

• What's our current ratio of videos to events in the newsfeed?

• Why it matters: Establishes a baseline for comparison
• Hypothetical answer: 70% videos, 30% events
• Impact: Helps quantify the magnitude of potential changes

• What are our key revenue streams from the newsfeed?

• Why it matters: Aligns decision with business goals
• Hypothetical answer: Ad revenue from both video and event content
• Impact: Influences which metrics to prioritize in our analysis

• Which user segments are most active in video consumption vs. event engagement?

• Why it matters: Identifies potential winners and losers in this trade-off
• Hypothetical answer: Younger users prefer videos, older users engage more with events
• Impact: Guides segmentation in our experiment design

• Are there any technical limitations to increasing either video or event content?

• Why it matters: Ensures feasibility of implementation
• Hypothetical answer: No major limitations, but video content requires more bandwidth
• Impact: May affect rollout strategy and user experience considerations

• What's the timeline for making and implementing this decision?

• Why it matters: Sets expectations for analysis depth and implementation speed
• Hypothetical answer: Decision needed in 4 weeks, implementation within 2 months
• Impact: Influences the scope of experiments and data collection period