Invent a new Facebook crisis-response product: pick the crisis, the users and the metrics

You are a product manager on Facebook's crisis management team. Propose a new product for the team to build: decide what kind of crisis and which people it is for, identify the problems they face, design and prioritize a solution, and explain how you would know whether it works. ```hint Pick a phase and a group Crises unfold in stages: warnings beforehand, the first hours and days, and a long recovery. Who turns to Facebook, and what they need from it, differs at each stage, so choose one stage and one group instead of designing for everyone caught up in an emergency. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "crisis" mean real-world emergencies that affect people, such as natural disasters, attacks or disease outbreaks, or a crisis for Facebook itself, such as harmful false information spreading during a major event? - Should the product build on the team's existing crisis features, such as marking yourself safe or asking for and offering help, or stand on its own? - Is the product for people directly affected, their friends and family elsewhere, local volunteers, or response organizations and authorities? - Must it work everywhere, including places where networks are weak and phones are basic? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A scoped choice of crisis type and phase, with a reason Facebook is well placed to help and awareness of the crisis features that already exist. - A segmentation of affected people, helpers and responders, with one chosen segment and pain points specific to emergencies. - A prioritized solution designed for crisis conditions: weak connectivity, stress, urgency, scams and false reports. - Success metrics that capture help delivered and speed, with guardrails for misinformation, misuse of location data and harm. ### Follow-up Questions - In an emergency, false reports can spread faster than accurate ones. How does your product keep unverified information from causing harm? - Crises are rare, and you cannot ethically withhold help in an experiment. How would you test and improve the product? - How should the product behave for someone with a weak connection and a nearly dead battery?