WhatsApp improvement: two features for everyday users and why they are missing
Company: Amazon
Role: Product Manager
Category: Product Design & Strategy
Difficulty: medium
Interview Round: Other
In a product manager interview, you are asked to propose two new features for WhatsApp aimed at ordinary consumers, people like you and the interviewer, rather than businesses. For each feature, also explain why you think WhatsApp has not built it yet.
```hint Let the "why not yet" shape your picks
Personal chats on WhatsApp are end-to-end encrypted and the app is known for staying simple. An idea that needs the server to read messages, or that adds clutter, needs a plan for those constraints, and that plan also feeds your answer on why the feature is missing.
```
### Clarifying Questions
- Is there a goal in mind, such as deeper engagement, better retention against rival messengers, or simply more value for existing users?
- Should I treat "users like you and me" as a specific segment, for example busy working adults in many group chats, or choose the segment myself?
- Am I scoping the whole app or one surface such as chats, groups, status or calls, and is there a time frame for shipping?
- Should I assume a feature does not exist today, or account for features that have recently launched in some markets or in beta?
### What a Strong Answer Covers
- A stated goal and a clearly chosen segment of everyday users, with concrete pain points
- Several candidate ideas prioritized with explicit criteria, ending in two specific features and how they work
- For each feature, a credible and specific reason WhatsApp has not built it (encryption, simplicity, device and network limits, abuse, competing priorities)
- Success metrics for each feature, with guardrails for privacy, spam and app simplicity
- Launch and testing plan, and the main risks
### Follow-up Questions
- If you could fund only one of your two features, which would you build first, and why?
- How would you design either feature so it works without WhatsApp's servers reading message content?
- What could make one of these features a net negative for users, and how would you detect it after launch?
Overview: A product improvement exercise asking you to propose two new WhatsApp features for everyday consumers and explain why the app has not built them yet. It tests goal setting, user segmentation, prioritization, and reasoning about encryption, simplicity and abuse constraints.
