Design a fitness app for Meta that connects people offline

Design a fitness application for Meta that connects users in real life while staying true to Meta's social mission.

Context

People stick with exercise when they do it with others. Strava and running clubs show demand, but most people lack a nearby buddy at the right level and time.

Clarifying questions to ask first

Standalone app or inside Facebook/Instagram?
Which activities: running, gym, sports?
Is safety of meeting strangers in scope?

How to approach it

Clarify the business goal and tie the product to the company's mission before touching solutions
Segment users by behaviour or need (not just age), cover the whole ecosystem, and pick one segment with explicit criteria
Walk the end-to-end journey and separate real pain points from feature requests
Brainstorm a range of solutions (quick fix, data/ML, moonshot) and prioritise with impact vs effort
Define a North Star, funnel metrics and guardrails, then call out risks, edge cases and mitigations

Framework: Goal & mission -> Ecosystem & segment choice -> Journey & pain points -> Solutions & prioritisation -> Metrics & guardrails -> Risks & edge cases

Sample answer

Segment by motivation: beginners needing accountability, regulars wanting a group, competitive athletes
Beginners drop off fastest and benefit most from a partner
Meeting strangers raises safety concerns, especially for women

Pains: no partner at my level, schedules clash, fear of meeting strangers
Solutions: friend-of-friend workout matching, local group sessions run by verified hosts, shared streaks
Metrics: North Star = weekly in-person sessions attended; guardrails = safety reports, no-show rate

Friend-of-friend matching for beginners plus verified local group sessions. Measure in-person sessions attended, guarded by safety reports and no-shows.

What interviewers look for

Mission tie-in
Motivation-based segmentation
Safety of meeting strangers
Retention vs engagement metrics