Instagram Killed Burbn
A chapter about how Burbn abandoned almost its entire original product to preserve the simple experience of taking, filtering and sharing photos — turning an overloaded product into a clear promise
Using actual behavior to identify core value, removing low-use features and reducing friction between user intent and action
Burbn tried to become everything at once
Before Instagram, Burbn tried to combine check-ins, meetups, points, photo sharing and many social features. When everything mattered, users could no longer tell what the product’s core value was.
Actual behavior revealed the core value
Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger studied what users actually did rather than what the team wanted them to do. The answer was clear: people mainly took and shared photos, while most other features were ignored.
Almost the entire product was removed
Instead of adding more features to save the product, they did the opposite. Almost all of Burbn was removed, leaving a simple flow for taking photos, applying filters and sharing.
Clarity reduced friction
The cut did more than make the app easier. It made the product promise clear: users immediately understood what the app was for and why they should return.
Every deleted button respected attention
Instagram succeeded not by increasing value in a single session, but by reducing friction between intent and action. Every deleted button was a decision to respect attention.
People also lose focus by pursuing too many goals
Many good products fail because they solve too many problems. People do the same: when too many goals are pursued at once, energy fragments before meaningful results appear.
Look again at what hides your core value
Ask what is making your message unclear, which underused part still consumes resources and what should be removed so the core value becomes visible.
What others remember is what you choose to keep
Focus does more than help us do less. It makes core value clearer. What others remember about you is often what you decide to keep.
The next step is the story of Slack
The next chapter tells the story of Slack and how a failed product helped a team recognize which internal tool was truly worth preserving.