Product design question

Why do you think Instagram shifted its profile grid from 1:1 to 4:5?

Practice this question out loud. An AI interviewer asks it, follows up like a real interviewer would, and scores your answer. Type or speak.

What this question tests

Ability to reverse engineer a product change from observed user and business incentives.

State the observed change: profile grid thumbnails moved from square crop to a taller 4:5 ratio.
Consider content supply: most photos and Reels are now shot vertically, so square cropping cuts real content.
Consider engagement: taller thumbnails show more detail, likely increasing tap through from the grid.
Consider creators: matching Reels aspect ratio reduces cropping friction across formats.
State your best supported hypothesis and note it is an inference, not confirmed by Meta.

Grounds the hypothesis in a real supply shift, most captured content is vertical, rather than a vague claim.
Connects it to Reels aspect ratio, showing awareness of cross format consistency as a likely driver.
Notes a plausible tradeoff: taller grids show less content per screen.

Answering with only it looks nicer and no reasoning tied to content supply or engagement.
Presenting speculation as confirmed fact.

Chapters of the AI PM course that teach what this question tests.