Strategy question
Suppose you're a PM for Instagram and someone suggests that all Instagram content formats (posts, Reels, stories, live, etc.) be shown in a single feed, instead of in separate tabs as they are now. How would you decide whether or not to implement this idea?
- Meta
- Strategy
- Hard
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What this question tests
Ability to evaluate a specific product proposal (merging content formats into one feed) using user impact, business impact, and a testable decision process rather than gut instinct.
How to approach it
- Clarify the intent behind the proposal: is the goal to simplify navigation, increase cross-format discovery, or increase total time spent.
- Identify the risk: different formats serve different intents, e.g. Stories for quick check-ins versus Reels for extended browsing, so merging could confuse expectations and hurt both.
- Propose validating with user research first, understanding how users currently move between tabs and whether tab-switching is actually a pain point or a helpful mental model.
- Design a testable rollout: an A/B test with a unified feed variant against the current tabbed experience, measuring engagement and satisfaction, not launching directly to 100%.
- Define the decision criteria upfront: which metrics must move, and by how much, to justify the change, given the risk of disrupting a working, familiar structure.
What a strong answer includes
- Questions the proposal's premise directly rather than accepting it at face value, a sign of strong product judgment.
- Names the real risk, mismatched user intent across formats, specific to Instagram's actual content types.
- Proposes a concrete, staged validation process (research, then A/B test) instead of a binary yes/no opinion.
Common mistakes
- Simply agreeing the idea sounds good without questioning whether users actually want combined formats.
- Proposing a full launch without a staged test, risky given how disruptive this change would be to established user habits.
Likely follow-up questions
- What metrics would need to move, and by how much, for you to fully ship this?
- How would you roll this back if the A/B test showed engagement dropping?
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Learn the skill behind it
Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.
- Chapter 4: Discovery and strategy for AI products
- Chapter 9: Prove it paid off: outcomes, economics, and pricing
- Chapter 14: Get the job: the AI PM interview loop