Should we build social features?

Last updated: September 15, 2025

Quick Overview

Your team is considering building a social feed. How would you evaluate this decision?

Jane Street
Product / Decision Making
Data Scientist
Jane Street
September 15, 2025
Data Scientist
Onsite
Product / Decision Making
Hard

45

4

2,138 solved


Your team is considering building a social feed. How would you evaluate this decision?

Jane Street asks this during the Onsite to assess your product sense and structured thinking. They want to see how you define the problem, identify the target user, prioritize features, and measure success.

What the Interviewer Expects
  • Demonstrate strategic product thinking beyond feature-level decisions
  • Analyze second-order effects and long-term ecosystem impact
  • Balance multiple stakeholder needs with clear trade-off rationale
  • Design experiments to validate key assumptions before building
  • Consider platform effects, network effects, and marketplace dynamics
  • Propose a phased rollout strategy with go/no-go criteria
Key Topics to Cover
Success metrics and KPIs
User research and problem identification
User segmentation and personas
Product strategy and vision
How to Approach This
  1. Start with the user. Who are they, what problem do they have, and what is their current workaround?
  2. Use a prioritization framework: impact vs effort, RICE scoring, or ICE scoring.
  3. Define success metrics using the AARRR framework: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, Referral.
  4. Consider second-order effects. A feature might boost short-term engagement but hurt long-term retention.
Possible Follow-up Questions
  • What competitive response would you expect and how would you prepare?
  • How would you handle pushback from engineering on feasibility?
  • How would you decide to kill this feature if it's not working?
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