Facebook Product Manager Execution Interview: Comments & Reactions

Summary

In this mock product management interview, Peter Wu, a former Facebook PM, discusses the impact of Facebook Reactions on user engagement. With Reactions up by 20% and comments down by 10%, he outlines a structured approach to analyze the situation across different user personas and metrics. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the product's mission, the ecosystem's health, and the user journey to determine if the shift is expected or concerning. The interview provides a decision-making framework for product managers facing similar challenges.

Takeaways

• 😀 The mock interview scenario involves a PM for Facebook Reactions addressing the issue of increased reactions but decreased comments.
• 🔍 Peter Wu, with nearly 20 years of experience as a PM, emphasizes understanding the purpose and user problems the Reactions product is meant to solve.
• 🤔 The Reactions product was designed to offer users a variety of emotional responses to content, beyond the traditional 'like'.
• 👥 Key user personas for the Reactions product include content consumers, content producers, and the Facebook platform itself.
• 📈 Metrics to consider include active users, time spent, content sharing, interactions, revenue, and user satisfaction at the ecosystem level.
• 📊 At the News Feed level, metrics focus on serving relevant content, user interactions, and time spent scrolling, with an emphasis on meaningful social interactions.
• 📉 The decrease in comments could indicate a shift in user behavior due to the introduction of Reactions, which may be natural or a cause for concern.
• 🛠️ A framework for decision-making involves evaluating the impact across different layers of products and considering overall metrics.
• 🌧️ 'Rainy day' scenarios suggest a negative impact on News Feed and ecosystem metrics, requiring a deeper investigation into the cause.
• 🌤️ 'Cloudy day' scenarios indicate no significant positive impact, prompting a reevaluation of the product's design and assumptions.
• 🌞 'Sunny day' scenarios show positive impacts on ecosystem metrics despite the decrease in comments, suggesting a successful shift in user engagement.

Q & A

What is the primary purpose of Facebook Reactions according to the mock interview?

The primary purpose of Facebook Reactions is to provide users with an alternative to the Like button, allowing them to express a variety of emotions or feelings towards content shared on Facebook.

Who are the key user personas for the Reactions product as discussed in the interview?

The key user personas for the Reactions product are content consumers, who interact with the content on Facebook, and content producers, who share their content on the platform.

How does the Reactions product benefit content producers according to the interview?

The Reactions product benefits content producers by providing them with an easier and faster way to gauge feedback on their content compared to the previous method of checking comments.

What role does the Reactions product play in helping Facebook as a platform?

The Reactions product helps Facebook as a platform by providing more data and signals about users' preferences and reactions, which can be used to improve the news feed algorithm and serve more relevant content to users.

What is the first step a PM should take when analyzing the situation where Reactions are up but Comments are down?

The first step a PM should take is to understand whether the observed changes are part of an experiment for a small percentage of users or a natural phenomenon based on the product design.

What metrics should be considered when evaluating the impact of the Reactions product on the Facebook ecosystem?

Metrics to consider include active users, time spent on Facebook, content sharing, interactions with content, revenue, and user satisfaction.

How does the interviewee suggest measuring the success of the Reactions product from the perspective of content consumers?

Success can be measured by looking at impressions (how many times people see the reactions), engagement (clicking on a reaction), and reaction abandonment rate (seeing the reactions but not selecting any and returning to commenting).

What is the importance of considering the Facebook ecosystem metrics when analyzing the Reactions product's impact?

Considering the Facebook ecosystem metrics is important to understand the overall impact of the Reactions product on the platform, including user engagement, content sharing, and satisfaction, which can affect the platform's health and revenue.

What scenarios does the interviewee describe to determine if the cannibalization of Comments by Reactions is expected or concerning?

The interviewee describes scenarios such as a 'sunny day' where Reactions positively impact the news feed and ecosystem metrics, a 'rainy day' where Reactions negatively impact these metrics, and a 'cloudy day' where there is no significant impact.

What actions should the team take if the Reactions product does not incentivize people to post more content?

The team should conduct product diagnostics and debugging to understand why the product did not have the expected positive impact, isolate the problem by looking into different user dimensions, and challenge their own assumptions about the product design.