Facebook News Feed Success: Setting Product Objectives and a Measurement Plan

News Feed is the first thing most people see when they open Facebook: a ranked stream of posts from friends, groups and Pages they follow, recommended content, and ads. As a product manager at Meta, define the goals News Feed should serve and the metrics you would use to judge whether it is meeting them. Make clear which metric you would treat as the main measure of success and how the others support or protect it. ```hint Start from the job Feed does Before naming any metric, say in one sentence what Feed does for the person scrolling it. Then ask who else needs Feed to work and what success means for them. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is the scope the main Feed in the Facebook app on mobile and web, or should Stories, Reels and other formats that appear inside Feed be included? - Are these metrics for tracking the health of Feed as an ongoing product, or for judging specific changes such as a ranking update? - Should ad revenue be one of Feed's goals, or a constraint the Feed team must not hurt while it optimizes for the people using it? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A purpose for Feed tied to Meta's mission, stated in terms of the value it gives the person scrolling - The groups whose success Feed depends on, and what success means for each of them - One primary metric, defined precisely enough to compute, with the reason it reflects real value - Supporting metrics and guardrails that catch the primary metric being inflated at users' or advertisers' expense - How the metrics would be read in practice: segments, short-term versus long-term effects, and experiments on ranking changes ### Follow-up Questions - A ranking change lifts your primary metric but also raises hides and reports on Feed posts. How do you decide whether to ship it? - How would you tell whether more time spent in Feed reflects value or compulsive scrolling? - Recommended posts from accounts people do not follow keep growing as a share of Feed. Which of your metrics would show whether that helps or hurts?