Company Context

Instagram is one of Meta’s largest consumer products, with billions of users across Feed, Stories, Reels, DMs, and creator surfaces. It is highly successful with younger audiences, but Meta sees an opportunity to make Instagram more relevant, approachable, and valuable for adults aged 50 and over without weakening the core product for existing users.

Problem

Meta’s research suggests that many 50+ users join Instagram to stay connected with family, follow hobbies, and discover communities, but they often find the product visually dense, hard to learn, and overly optimized for creator entertainment rather than meaningful connection. Internal data shows that users 50+ have lower 4-week retention than younger cohorts, lower Reels creation rates, and higher drop-off during onboarding and privacy setup.

The challenge is not simply to make Instagram “simpler.” Different 50+ users have different needs: some are passive viewers, some want private sharing with family, and others want to explore interests like travel, gardening, or fitness. Your redesign should improve product-market fit for this segment while preserving Instagram’s broader ecosystem and avoiding a fragmented experience.

Deliverables

1. Define the most important 50+ user segments on Instagram and the jobs they are hiring the product to do.
2. Identify the biggest unmet needs or friction points in the current Instagram experience.
3. Propose a product vision and redesign strategy for Instagram for users aged 50 and over.
4. Prioritize the features or changes you would launch first, and explain key trade-offs.
5. Define success metrics and how you would know the redesign is working.

Constraints

• Assume you have one cross-functional team and need an MVP in 6 months.
• You may redesign onboarding, Feed, Reels, DMs, notifications, privacy, or discovery, but cannot build a separate standalone app.
• The solution must work globally and should not rely on heavy manual customer support.
• You should avoid changes that materially reduce engagement for Instagram’s broader user base.