DATE: 2018 (pitch) - 2020 (launch)
PRODUCT: Online activities marketplace for Meta Portal.
ROLE: Led this project from the conception of the idea—in partnership with design leads and marketing research—to the assembly of an XFN team to bring it to market. This project was an exercise of perseverance, adaptability, and influence. It endured re-orgs, leadership changes, and competing initiatives.
IMPACT: We identified this opportunity for Portal years before the pandemic changed behaviors at scale. The convergence of Smart Camera, Spark AR technology, Portal TV hardware, and the use at home, created the conditions for developing a monetization stream where other paths were struggling. Portal Classes leveraged the Facebook ecosystem (Pages, Groups, Events, chats, etc.) for a vertical solution for SMBs and individual providers. Empowering them to reach out to a broader audience craving the convenience of services delivered online at home.
Affordable one-to-one classes, with tools for facilitating personalized feedback.
MVP landing page on Portal devices.
Learn from professionals around the world in the convenience of your home
Busy schedules, hectic lives, pandemic. Working-from-home parents, people with disabilities, or living in places where it is hard to find a local class you are interested in. Having breaks during the day to drive across the city for a 1h class is only viable for some. What if we could have the convenience of schedule, location, and inventory to match our lifestyles?
Portal Classes is a services-oriented online marketplace connecting people to experts in the convenience of their homes. It is a marketplace of knowledge seekers and knowledge providers.
Portal Classes is a services-oriented online marketplace connecting people to experts in the convenience of their homes. It is a marketplace of knowledge seekers and knowledge providers.
Grid view. Instructors have tools to help run the class, like a timer, manual camera framing control, rep counter, and agenda.
In this view, the instructor (top right) focuses on one student for personalized feedback.
Example of a class detail page.
Providing value through integration and dedicated hardware
Portal could become an invaluable business and teaching partner for SMBs by leveraging Paid Rooms, the FB reach, and the superior teaching experience it enabled.
Portal contributed with the Smart Camera, Spark AR technology, Portal TV hardware, and the focus on usability and home.
Facebook contributed with Pages, Groups, Events, chats, Messenger video calling, and of course, with the scale of users.
This vertical solution could become the go-to platform for community-based learning by supporting the entire learning journey, from discovering new interests and topics, to mastering new skills with a community and differentiated hardware, to creating economic opportunity through teaching and professional opportunities on the platform.
Powerful camera framing control for keeping up with the action and focusing on details.
Working prototype with squat counting and AR feedback.
Mobile Classes app, with focus on community and async communication.
Strategy overview
As we mapped out the competitor landscape, we determined Meta’s opportunity to stand out was in the community-based, continuous learning space.
More specifically, for Portal, we saw the opportunity to become a lower-cost solution for an almost professional audio-visual offering for SMBs and individual service providers. For households, it would provide the best learning experience, using the TV, enabling free movement while staying in the frame, and many ways to get feedback from the tools or the instructor.
There's a range of ways for users to engage in classes: alone with a preset script,
with friends with a defined routine, and fully a personalized experience with a live instructor.
with friends with a defined routine, and fully a personalized experience with a live instructor.
