Imagine you are a PM at Meta, How would you build a dog walking app Imagine you are a PM at Meta, How would you build a dog walking app Response Before diving in, I want to state my assumptions We are not tied to a specific Meta surface. We can start inside Groups or Messenger but can expand later.
We will assume U.S. as the initial market. Pet ownership is high, and walking services are common.
We will focus on consumers (dog owners) first, while acknowledging that walkers, shelters, and service providers will come into play later.
The primary company goal here is increasing daily active usage (DAU) by solving a recurring daily need. We are not tied to a specific Meta surface. We can start inside Groups or Messenger but can expand later. We will assume U.S. as the initial market. Pet ownership is high, and walking services are common. We will focus on consumers (dog owners) first, while acknowledging that walkers, shelters, and service providers will come into play later. The primary company goal here is increasing daily active usage (DAU) by solving a recurring daily need. increasing daily active usage (DAU) I will structure this answer in four parts: Why, Who, What, and How. Why, Who, What, and How Why (motivation, company fit, north star) Trends and why now. Pet ownership increased significantly during the pandemic. As people return to offices, they need trusted and reliable help for their pets. Demand for walkers is high during work hours and when owners travel. Trends and why now. Company fit. Meta’s core strengths are community building, social graphs, distribution, and trust and safety. Dog care is social by nature, involving neighbors, parks, and local groups. Meta’s ability to anchor services in real identity and social proof is a strong differentiator. Company fit. Mission alignment. Meta’s mission is to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. This product supports that by helping neighbors care for each other’s pets and strengthen local ties. Mission alignment. North Star. Daily active users engaging with walking workflows such as browsing, booking, tracking, and rating. Guardrails include trust and safety incidents and customer satisfaction after walks. North Star. Who (ecosystem and segment choice) Ecosystem. Ecosystem. Demand: Pet owners such as busy professionals, parents, seniors.
Supply: Walkers including neighbors, students, professionals, small businesses.
Enablers: Vets, shelters, dog parks, and service providers. Demand: Pet owners such as busy professionals, parents, seniors. Demand: Supply: Walkers including neighbors, students, professionals, small businesses. Supply: Enablers: Vets, shelters, dog parks, and service providers. Enablers: Priority segment for version one. Families with kids. This group experiences high time pressure, has willingness to pay, and can drive strong community adoption. Priority segment for version one. What (problems and choice) Top pain points for families with kids: Trust: Uncertainty around giving a stranger access to their dog.
Convenience: Difficulty with last minute scheduling and access logistics.
Transparency and safety: Need for live updates, location tracking, and incident handling.
Community: Limited ability to discover nearby owners, walkers, and routes. Trust: Uncertainty around giving a stranger access to their dog. Trust: Convenience: Difficulty with last minute scheduling and access logistics. Convenience: Transparency and safety: Need for live updates, location tracking, and incident handling. Transparency and safety: Community: Limited ability to discover nearby owners, walkers, and routes. Community: Primary focus. Solve for trust and convenience first, paired with transparency. Primary focus. How (solution, MVP, growth, moonshot) Product: Neighborhood Walks (inside Facebook and Messenger) Core value. Find trusted walkers from your social graph, book with two taps, receive live walk tracking and automatic updates. Core value. Key features Key features Trust graph: Mutual friend badges, verified identities, years in neighborhood, ratings, and “walked for your friend” tags.
Booking and payment: Request flow, smart availability, recurring schedules, Meta Pay.
Live feed: Real time route, distance, check ins with photos, arrival estimate.
Safety: GPS tracking, SOS option, incident reporting, insurance coverage, in thread support.
Community layer: Routes, parks, referrals, and nearby owner groups. Trust graph: Mutual friend badges, verified identities, years in neighborhood, ratings, and “walked for your friend” tags. Trust graph: Booking and payment: Request flow, smart availability, recurring schedules, Meta Pay. Booking and payment: Live feed: Real time route, distance, check ins with photos, arrival estimate. Live feed: Safety: GPS tracking, SOS option, incident reporting, insurance coverage, in thread support. Safety: Community layer: Routes, parks, referrals, and nearby owner groups. Community layer: MVP (four to six weeks scope) Hypothesis. Combining trust signals from the graph with live transparency will lead owners to book more often and return weekly. Hypothesis. Surface. Launch inside Facebook Groups and Messenger. Owners can request walks from a lightweight mini app, book vetted walkers, and receive live location sharing with photo check ins. Payment and ratings occur directly in Messenger. Surface. Super MVP. Pilot in a few neighborhoods. Manually onboard trusted walkers from shelters and Groups. Validate demand and experience before expanding. Super MVP. MVP success metrics. MVP success metrics. Activation: percent of owners who book within 48 hours.
Habit: at least two bookings per owner in the first month.
Trust: customer satisfaction score of 4.7 or higher, incident rate below 0.2 percent.
Engagement: daily and weekly active usage on walk days, high open rate for live updates. Activation: percent of owners who book within 48 hours. Habit: at least two bookings per owner in the first month. Trust: customer satisfaction score of 4.7 or higher, incident rate below 0.2 percent. Engagement: daily and weekly active usage on walk days, high open rate for live updates. User journey Imagine a busy parent who needs a walk at 2 pm. In their local Dog Owners group on Facebook, they tap “Book a Walk.” Suggested walkers show mutual friends and trust badges. They choose Sam, confirm thirty minutes, and pay with Meta Pay. At 2 pm, Messenger shows “Sam picked up Rocky.” A live map displays the walk with photo updates from the park. The parent sees when Rocky returns home, tips Sam, and sets a recurring schedule for three days a week. The next week, they receive a reminder asking, “Same time tomorrow?” and confirm. Imagine Go to market Seed top neighborhoods in major cities using active pet Groups.
Partner with shelters and vets to verify walkers.
Incentivize referrals: book three walks and gift one to a friend.
Promote shareable walk moments through Reels. Seed top neighborhoods in major cities using active pet Groups. Partner with shelters and vets to verify walkers. Incentivize referrals: book three walks and gift one to a friend. Promote shareable walk moments through Reels. Monetization Take a small percentage from each walk.
Subscriptions for owners that include discounts and priority matching.
Tools for walkers including calendars, recurring clients, and insurance bundles. Take a small percentage from each walk. Subscriptions for owners that include discounts and priority matching. Tools for walkers including calendars, recurring clients, and insurance bundles. Risks and mitigations Safety and liability: Use background checks, insurance, and incident escalation.
Quality: Rely on ratings, re verification, and minimum fulfillment standards.
Privacy: Limit data sharing, hide home addresses, and provide user control. Safety and liability: Use background checks, insurance, and incident escalation. Safety and liability: Quality: Rely on ratings, re verification, and minimum fulfillment standards. Quality: Privacy: Limit data sharing, hide home addresses, and provide user control. Privacy: Roadmap Version two: Smarter matching, weather based scheduling, discovery of parks and routes, pooled walks with neighbor dogs.
Version three: Expand to sitting, boarding, grooming. Add verified business profiles, service ads, integrations with smart devices.
Moonshot: An AI agent that learns routines, books walkers automatically, and coordinates supply when needed. Version two: Smarter matching, weather based scheduling, discovery of parks and routes, pooled walks with neighbor dogs. Version two: Version three: Expand to sitting, boarding, grooming. Add verified business profiles, service ads, integrations with smart devices. Version three: Moonshot: An AI agent that learns routines, books walkers automatically, and coordinates supply when needed. Moonshot:

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