What privacy feature would you add to WhatsApp?

Candidate: Is the goal here to earn trust with the customers which would not help to increase the user base but also to improve the user satisfaction ?

Interviewer: Yes

Candidate: Will the privacy feature offered for a fee or free?

Interviewer: Free

Candidate: Will the feature be made available for both the business and personal accounts?

Interviewer: Yes

User segments:

1. Personal users

2. Business users

3. Global organization such as WHO that create bots

User journey

Download the app and create an account

Add the contacts of the family, friends, co-workers, etc

Receive the message/call (video or audio)/multimedia from contacts list or from sometimes outside contacts or from whatsapp groups

Send message/call/multimedia or status updates to entire contacts list or subset of the contacts list or to whatsapp groups

Pain points related to privacy/Solution

A) Users are required to share phone number in order to use the whatsapp service

Solution:

Allow the users to register with e-mail accounts;

Or allow the users to mask their phone numbers and register with app. This feature is especially useful when users use whatsapp to connect with the business and still they do not want to share their phone number

B) Users are unclear if their whatsapp data is used in anyway by other meta apps

Solution:

Create a privacy center where users can see how their data is used and give tools to users to shutdown camera

User can also ask a report as to how their information is used and list of others apps/websites, if any, which is using their data

C) Receiving the message/call/multimedia from anonymous people/stalkers/advertizing companies

Solution:

Create a privacy feature that users can turn on to stop receiving communications from unknown contacts

D) Users cannot control getting added to the group; that sometimes they get added to some groups without their knowledge

Solution:

Create a new settings wherein user can disallow others to add the user account to the group, without first sending a request for the same

E) Users cannot use the app in private mode, without activating the 'online' feature

Solution:

Allow users to use the app without activating the 'online' if they choose to

Prioritization

Solution	Effort	Impact
E-mail/masked phone number	High, need to re-architect the registration pipeline to ingest additional sign-methods	High, enhances user privacy
Report of usage of users data	Moderate, create a on-demand reporting system for users	High, earn trun with users
Block communication from unknown numbers	Low, simple feature and corresponding UI change	High, reduces online bullying, promotes digital well being
Disallow getting added to groups	Low, additional controls in the privacy center	moderate, users already have the option to exit the group that they do not like
Use app in private mode	Low, just hide the current status	High, gives more privacy control to users

Conclude

If I were to prioritize one privacy feature, I would allow the customers to use the whatsapp without having to reveal phone number. Customers can register with the app via e-mail or they can mask the phone number

This would allow users to use the app with having to have the SIM. Also it will help to protect their privacy since phone number is very sensitive information.

Leonardo Fernandes · Answer 2 · 2021-12-21T16:49:15+0000

Describe the Product
Whatsapp is a product that enables people to communicate with each other by messaging, voice-messaging, calling, or video-calling. There are some interesting features as well, such as building groups, fowarding messages, sharing content (photos, pictures, videos), and posting status (like Stories). Moreover, Whatsapp has also a business version in which businesses can add their catalog, website, number, and managements of conversations.
Clarify the Scope
I just wanted to clarify the question, which suggests me that Whatsapp is concerned about privacy. Therefore, we want to improve security for users, making them feel safer while using the app. Additionally, by "privacy feature" I understand that it could be something completely automatic, without user decision or action, or something that the user can choose to do. Does it make sense?
Choose the Goal
Great! So as the next step, I want to choose a goal to focus on.
Although we want to increase privacy, I believe that it is a means to an end. I believe that the goal is to increase engagement in the platform, since people's fear of privacy issues makes them spend less time in the platform, sharing less content, thus engaging less. Ultimately, this goal is aligned with Meta's of connecting people together all over the world.
Therefore, the goal is to increase users engagement by increasing privacy for users. Does it make sense?
List User Groups & Select particular Group/s
Talking about customers, I can list some User Groups:
- Professional + Personal: These people use whatsapp every day as part of their jobs to communicate with customers , and as part of their personal routine to talk with friends and family. They know about every feature of the app, and value practicality to send messages faster.
*Not considering business accounts. This group uses only one account.
- Frequent Personal: These people use the app every day for a long period of time. They care about promoting conversations with friends and groups, growing contacts, and sharing experiences most of the time.
- Regular Personal: These people regularly use the app, but they talk with few groups, their families, and close friends. They also like to keep updated about conversations in groups, not necessarily participating in them. These people tend to be more reserved, thus not sharing a lot of content.
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I would like to select the "Professional + Personal" group. Althoug this group is the most engaged, it poses the highest risk in terms of privacy.
List User Needs
Thinking about this group, I can come up with some pain points, such as:
a) Too many messages during the day from many different people
b) Not knowing if it's from personal or professional conversations
c) Manage the messages efficiently and effectively
d) Risk of sending messages to another person
e) Sharing company's information to personal network
f) Take photos and videos during the day --> mobile space
g) Wi-fi network stability
Solutions
Brainstorming some ideas, I could come up with:
a) Automatic recognition of personal or business contact based on behavior and past data
b) Recognizes business content shared with personal contact, thus asking permission/double-check to complete action
c) Choose to whether a determined content can be fowarded
d) Filter of business/personal contacts or even a new screen
------------
I would prioritize the solutions using RICE
Ideas R I C E Score
a) 5 5 0.8 3 6.7
b) 5 5 0.6 3 5
c) 5 5 0.4 2 5
d) 2 3 0.9 1 5.4
Sequence: a) - d) - b/c)
Solution a) enables the user to get a pre-categorized contact in the first interaction, thus making sure that messages and contents are directed in the best way possible. From this initiative, the other solutions would become more powerful. Solution d) enables business to filter types of contacts while interacting with them, decreasing the chances of sharing content or messaging wrong people.
Performance Metrics
To follow-on those solutions in terms of metrics, we could use:
- classifications on users chats
- confirmation of classifications (effectiveness)
- content shared on personal and business contacts (has it decreased?)
- content shared and deleted
- SLA to answer contacts
- usage of filter
etc...

Amit J · Answer 3 · 2021-11-29T07:29:50+0000

Lets understand the product "Whatsapp" first:

"Whatsapp is a messaging and voice-over-IP service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to send text messages and voice messages, make voice and video calls, create groups, and share images, current status, avatar, documents, user locations, and other content"

Clarifying questions:

1) are we talking about adding a privacy feature globally or limited to certain region (for ex: UAE doesnt support voice/video calls etc) - Lets assume its globally

2) are we also including whatsapp for Business in it? Lets assume its not, its specific to consumer

3) is it specific to desktop or mobile? Assume its mobile.

lets look a current different user persona / respective paint points / with impact to user

to simplify the problem (assuming user has installed the whatsapp)

1) User sends text/voice messages to friends/Family - User can't make certain messages as unread or there are lots of messages from certain friend , lets assume 100 but user has only read 20, remaining 80 messages should be unread - High

2) User create groups, share pictures, content etc - User don't have a privacy feature as private login for groups - High

3) User share temporary status/profile picture with pictures and videos - User don't have flexibility to not to share the status with certain contacts who have whatsapp - Medium

4) user dont have option to hide/unhide the content within the group/individual chat other than deleting them - low

With above pain points, i will priortize #1 and #2 and will recommend solutions/efforts to build

User want to make certain messages unread

a) Add a feature which lets user to conver certain messages from read to unread - Low

b) When there are more than 10 messages which goes over mobile screen and user has to scroll to read the messages, give user an option to mark new messages as read or unread - Medium

User don't have a privacy feature as private login for groups

c) provide an option to lock/unlock the user groups, allow user to use same passcode or different passcode for different groups - Low

With above solutions, I would recommend solution #a and #c and below will be success metrics for those features:

1) % of user using feature a/ total users

2) % of user using feature c/total users

Counter-metrics

1) % of user forgetting passcode for feature c / total users using feature c

2) % of user disabling feature c after enabling it / total user using feature c

Ideas	R	I	C	E	Score
a)	5	5	0.8	3	6.7
b)	5	5	0.6	3	5
c)	5	5	0.4	2	5
d)	2	3	0.9	1	5.4