Keep New Messenger Users Coming Back Through Their First Week

You are a product manager on Messenger at Meta. Leadership wants more of the people who start using Messenger to still be using it a week later. How would you raise 7-day retention for new users? Walk through how you would define the metric, which new users you would focus on, why they drop off in their first week, what you would build, what you would ship first, and how you would know it worked. ```hint Compare who stays with who leaves Before proposing features, ask what new users who are still active on day 7 did in their first few days that the ones who left did not. Aim your ideas at closing that gap, and remember that in a messaging app the experience depends on other people too. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Who counts as a new user: someone creating a brand-new account, an existing Facebook user opening Messenger for the first time, or anyone installing the app, including people returning on a new phone? - What counts as retained: opening the app on day 7, or a meaningful action such as sending a message or joining a call? - Which platforms and markets are in scope, for example mobile apps only, and markets where another messaging app is already the default? - Must the gain hold beyond the first week, for example at day 30, or is day 7 the only target? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A precise definition of a new user and of day-7 retention that cannot be inflated by notification-driven app opens - A segmentation of new Messenger users by how they arrived and how many of their contacts already use Messenger, with a reasoned focus - A diagnosis of first-week drop-off grounded in a funnel and in what retained users did early, not in guesses alone - Prioritized solutions that help the chosen users reach real conversations quickly, weighed by impact and effort - Success metrics with guardrails on notification fatigue, privacy of contact data, the experience of the people new users message, and longer-term retention ### Follow-up Questions - Your best idea raises day-7 retention, but day-30 retention for the same cohort does not move. What do you conclude, and what do you do next? - A feature that nudges new users to message friends also changes the experience of those friends. How would you design the experiment, and what would you measure on their side? - How would your plan change for a market where almost everyone already uses a different messaging app?