Intercom · Product sense · Mid · 45 to 60 minutes

What should open first in the Messenger?

Intercom makes customer messaging software that businesses use on websites and in apps for support, sales, and engagement. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

Product sense
Prioritization
Analytical reasoning
User empathy
Written communication

The situation

Intercom's Messenger currently opens to a utilitarian list of conversations. Your VP of Product for Messenger asks you to recommend whether the first screen should stay conversation-first or be rethought. Recent analysis shows that most interaction with a conversation happens within a day of the last message, which raises doubts about giving the full conversation list permanent prime real estate. At the same time, article suggestions shown after someone types a message perform well, and even a small self-service link placed above the conversation area gets meaningful usage. But the repeat experience feels broken, because users must click into starting a conversation to find help before asking a question. Some customers are also building their own custom entry experiences, suggesting the Messenger may need to do more than host chats. Meanwhile, the team is developing a framework for lightweight apps inside conversations, but its broader role is undecided. The hard part is that customers are not explicitly asking for a new home screen, and changing the first screen of the Messenger is a fundamental product bet. You need to decide what job this surface should do, for whom, and how much flexibility businesses should get without making the Messenger cluttered or weakening the core conversation experience.

What to produce

Write a 1 to 2 page product strategy memo.

Your answer must

State the primary product problem and the user behaviors that make it important now.
Define the main user segments and jobs to be done, including visitors and signed-in customers.
Evaluate at least two options for the Messenger first screen, with pros, cons, and key tradeoffs.
Recommend a near-term MVP, including the role of customization and how conversation history should be handled.
List 3 to 5 success metrics, 1 to 2 guardrails, and a rollout or experiment plan.

Constraints

Must preserve a fast path to active conversations for people in ongoing threads.
Must work across Messenger on both websites and inside mobile apps.
Any near-term solution must fit inside the existing Messenger shell and can only lightly extend the app framework already being built for in-conversation use.

Format

Use headings: problem, users, options, recommendation, metrics, risks.

How Intercom actually played it

Intercom explains the thinking behind the customizable home screen of its Messenger, which acts as a front desk for each company. It cites data that over 95 percent of interaction with a conversation happens within 24 hours of the last message. A good look at turning data and concept into a product surface.

Use behavior data to decide what a surface should show.
Think of a screen as a role, such as a front desk.
Customization lets one product serve many use cases.

Built from Product thinking: behind our new Messenger home screen by Brian Donohue.