Taller Stories Tray on Facebook: Weighing Stories Engagement Against Feed Space

You are the product manager for Stories on Facebook. A teammate proposes making the Stories bar in the Facebook app taller; the bar is the row of story previews that sits near the top of the home feed. Explain how you would think through whether to make this change. ```hint Space on the first screen is shared Whatever grows at the top of the screen pushes something else down. Ask what problem a taller bar is meant to fix, and who gains and who loses from the space it takes. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - What prompted the proposal: fewer people watching stories, fewer people posting them, or a broader design refresh? - Does "taller" mean larger previews of the same stories, or extra room for new content in the bar such as captions or a second row? - Which outcome should the decision serve: Stories engagement on its own, overall engagement in the app, or total revenue across feed and Stories ads? - Is the change meant for every phone, including small screens, or only some devices? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - The problem a taller bar would solve, checked against the current Stories funnel rather than assumed. - The cost of the space it takes from the feed: feed posts, feed ads and overall engagement. - Effects on both story viewers and story creators, and on segments such as small-screen devices and people who rarely watch stories. - Cheaper alternatives to compare, and an experiment with a primary metric, guardrails and a decision rule. ### Follow-up Questions - In the test, story views rise but feed ad impressions fall. How do you decide whether to ship? - More people watch stories, but the number of people posting stories does not change. Is that a success? - How would you handle small phones, where a taller bar pushes most of the first feed post off the screen?