Product sense: building roommate discovery into Facebook

You are a product manager at Meta asked to design a new Facebook feature that helps people find roommates. Set a goal for the feature, decide who it serves, identify their biggest problems, propose and prioritize solutions, and define how you would measure success. ```hint Follow one participant Roommate search involves more than one kind of participant. Walk one of them through finding, vetting and agreeing on a roommate, and note where Facebook already knows something useful that a stranger's post elsewhere cannot show. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "roommate" mean sharing a home for months or longer, or should short stays such as a summer sublet count too? - Is the feature for people with a room to fill, people looking for a room, people who want to team up and search together, or all of them? - Should it live only in the Facebook app, or can it build on Marketplace, Groups and Messenger? - Which markets come first, and should Facebook handle money such as deposits and rent, or only make the introduction? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal tied to Facebook's mission and to a measurable roommate outcome rather than engagement alone - The participants in a roommate search compared, with a chosen focus and a plan for serving the other side - Pain points ranked by severity, with trust and safety addressed explicitly - Solutions prioritized by explicit criteria, using what Facebook already has and explaining how a new city gets enough listings - Success metrics with guardrails for scams, discrimination and privacy, plus the main launch risks ### Follow-up Questions - How would you launch in a city where almost nobody has posted yet? - Some people want to screen roommates by traits such as gender or religion. How would you handle preferences that touch protected characteristics? - How would you tell whether the feature produces good roommate matches rather than just more messages?