Breakthrough Thinking · Part 3
The Breakthrough Wasn't the App. It Was the Question.
What Instagram’s early product evolution can teach us about asking better questions.
I recently came across a social media post about Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger and the early days of Instagram. One question in the story stuck with me: What are people actually using the app for?
That question reminded me of the Purposes Principle in Gerald Nadler and Shozo Hibino’s Breakthrough Thinking.
The following is my own analysis of Instagram’s early product decisions through the seven principles. It is not a claim that its founders used this framework.
From Burbn to Instagram
Before Instagram, Systrom worked on Burbn, a mobile social application with location and photo features. As Systrom and Krieger refined the idea, they chose to focus the experience on mobile photography and sharing. Instagram launched in October 2010 and Facebook announced an agreement to acquire it in April 2012.
Those broad milestones are documented in accounts of Instagram’s early history. What is harder to establish from a dramatic social-media retelling is the exact conversation, single decisive metric or motivation behind each decision. So I will not treat those details as verbatim history.
The breakthrough wasn't merely removing features. It was reconsidering what the product was meant to accomplish.
Seven principles, one product decision
Here's how I interpret the transition from Burbn to Instagram using the BTT lens:
| Breakthrough Thinking principle | Instagram example — my interpretation |
|---|---|
| Uniqueness | Burbn’s actual usage suggested an opportunity different from its original concept. |
| Purposes | Focus on helping people share photographs rather than improving check-ins. |
| Solution-After-Next | Imagine a photo-first experience, not just a better check-in app. |
| Systems | Simplify the path from taking a photo to sharing it. |
| Limited Information Collection | Learn from observed behavior before investing in more features. |
| People Design | Let what people do and say inform the product direction. |
| Betterment Timeline | Launch a focused product and continue improving it. |
The Purpose Principle changes the question
“How can we improve our check-in app?” encourages better check-ins. “How can we make it effortless for people to share moments through photos?” suggests a very different product.
Removing features can be powerful, but cutting features is not automatically a breakthrough. It matters why they are removed and whether the remaining experience better serves people.
What I would ask at Pennington Labs
Before adding another feature to one of my applications, I want to ask: which task are users actually trying to complete, and which parts of the product help or hinder that task?
That question applies to a shopping list, an incident accountability tool, or even a simple tip calculator. The answer should come from observing and listening to users—not just from what I assume they need.
Try this on your next project
If you removed everything except the one thing your users value most, what would remain?
Sources and further reading
For the historical background, see Mike Krieger’s account in WIRED, Kevin Systrom’s Masters of Scale interview, and Facebook’s April 2012 acquisition announcement. These links are supplied for independent reading; this article does not reproduce the Facebook post.
Previously: Breakthrough Thinking Meets Agile →
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