Multiple Feed Options to Reduce Instagram Overwhelm
Four selectable Instagram feed modes so users can match what they see to why they opened the app
✳The problem they went after
People follow Instagram to keep up with friends, chase hobbies, or enjoy memes, but the default feed serves an algorithmic mix tuned for engagement. Trending and repetitive posts gradually crowd out the accounts they came for, and the drift compounds over time. The result is digital fatigue and sessions that end less satisfying than they started.
✳What they actually did
The lead solution gives users four feed modes: Default, My Following, Surprise Me, and Build Your Own Feed. Rather than retuning the algorithm, it hands the choice over so the feed can follow the user's intent in the moment. RICE prioritisation ranked it first at 13.5, ahead of algorithmic alternatives that would take significantly more engineering effort. The metric set runs from adoption through content quality to revenue protection.
✳What you can take from it
Worth stealing
- Four named feed modes instead of algorithm tuning
- RICE score of 13.5 beats higher-effort alternatives
- Feed Selection Adoption Rate as the primary metric
- Ad revenue per user held as a guardrail
Read this if
Arguing for user control over a ranking rebuild, and needing the prioritisation case
The transferable bitThe winning idea is not the most sophisticated one; it wins on effort, because giving users a switch costs less than rebuilding ranking. When you present a RICE table, the sentence that carries weight is why the runner-up lost, and this write-up supplies it.
✳The submission itself
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