Facebook's early COVID-19 response: a health app's users, features and metrics

You are a product manager at Facebook (now Meta) at the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design a healthcare application that Facebook could launch in response: decide whom it should serve and which of their problems matter most at this early stage, choose what goes into the first version, and explain how you would know it is working. ```hint Anchor on the moment Think about what people needed in the pandemic's first weeks rather than months later, and about which of those needs a social network can meet better than a hospital or a government agency can. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Should this be a standalone app, or features inside Facebook and Messenger, where people already spend their time? - Is the main aim to spread reliable health information, to help people and communities cope with lockdowns, or to connect people with clinical services such as testing? - Can Facebook partner with public health authorities, hospitals and testing providers, or must it rely only on what it controls? - Is this a global launch, or should it start in a few countries? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal that ties the product to Facebook's mission and strengths and fits the needs of the pandemic's opening weeks. - A segmentation of the people involved (the worried public, people with symptoms, high-risk people isolating at home, their families and neighbors, health authorities) with a reasoned choice of focus. - Pain points mapped to solutions and prioritized into a focused first version, including what Facebook should deliberately not build. - How the product handles health-data privacy, misinformation and the line between information and medical advice. - Success metrics with guardrails. ### Follow-up Questions - Months later, vaccines become available. What would you add, and what would you change in the first version? - Would you let people tell friends they tested positive? How would you handle the privacy and stigma risks? - How would you stop scams and false health claims from spreading through the product itself?