

Early January 2021: As the world was witnessing bizarre scenes on Capitol Hill, social media and messaging apps came under even more intense scrutiny.
Back home in India, a series of ‘leaked chats’ were doing the rounds with some telling details.
About this time, Whatsapp started sending out updates to their Privacy Policy in the form of a message we all have seen: with only an option to accept. Failing which, in a month’s time, one’s account would stop working (8th Feb)
We all know what happened after that, but if we were designers or product managers at Whatsapp, in that moment: what would we have done?
That is the context of this challenge.
You need to put yourself in the shoes of a PM or designer at Whatsapp and answer a few basic questions:
- From a product perspective, how could Whatsapp have handled the situation and fallout better?
- Even now, what can Whatsapp do better in its communication of the changes?
- Remember you need to approach your solution from a product perspective: what this means is that saying, ‘Improve PR’ will not do.
Your submission can be a document listing out the improvements (please limit to the top 3) or a set of mocks that show the improvements or both. Either way, make sure your suggestions are both pragmatic and impactful.
The larger context of this challenge is Privacy by Design, and bonus points if you can connect elements from it, in your submission.
Please Note:
- Again, your suggestions must be related to product and design improvements and not just PR
- If you want, you could work on better copy as part of your submission
- This challenge is NOT hosted by Whatsapp and is only a learning exercise
- Hint: the solution need not be restricted to the app alone
Weekly Leaderboard:
The points you score will be added to the Weekly Leaderboard, making you eligible for the final prizes at the end of the season. So, even if half done, make sure you atleast submit your solution, to gain some points.
Fireside Chat:
- We’ll have a fireside chat with the winners next Saturday
- The chat will also be open for all for any other topics of interest
Useful Links: