Facebook product sense: making the app work better for commuters

You are a product manager asked to make Facebook better for people who commute. Decide what the improvement should achieve, choose which commuters you are designing for, find where Facebook falls short for them during the commute, propose and prioritize changes, and explain how you would know they worked. ```hint Follow one commute Trace a single commute for the group you chose, from the moment they leave home to the moment they arrive, and note where using Facebook breaks down or stops feeling worth their time. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Do "commuters" include people who drive themselves, for whom any screen use is a safety problem, or only people riding transit or being driven? - Is the aim to win back people who no longer use Facebook, to deepen engagement among current users, or to grow ad revenue? - Is the scope the core Facebook app only, or can the answer lean on Messenger and other Meta apps? - Which markets matter first: car-heavy countries, or cities where most people ride buses and trains? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A stated goal for the improvement, tied to what Facebook is for, and a working definition of who counts as a commuter - Commuter groups compared by how they travel and what they can safely do with a phone, with one chosen and the reason - Pain points from that group's commute, ranked by severity, separating problems Facebook is well placed to solve from those other apps already own - Solutions prioritized against explicit criteria, including safety and privacy - A primary success metric with guardrails, a way to tell which sessions happen during a commute, and the main risks ### Follow-up Questions - How would you test your top idea when you cannot be sure whether a given session happened on a commute? - If commute-time engagement rose but total daily engagement on Facebook stayed flat, would you call the launch a success? - What, if anything, would you build for people who drive to work?