Internet Product Innovation: Keep it simple, stay focused

Article Description: Simple features allow users to focus on creating.

I am a big mouth person, like to constantly tell others my feelings and thoughts.

When I just finished writing Minicms product introduction, found that the text of the spit is much longer than the product introduction, making the product introduction is not like product introduction. But there are a lot of words and do not vomit, so I would like to spit out the words and product introduction separate, as a separate page, to prevent some of the potential users because of my vomit slot and lost, hehe.

The function of Minicms is very simple, the purpose of developing MINICMS is also very simple.

I am bored with WordPress, I want a simple and easy to back up and migrate the personal site program, so I developed a, and also to practice PHP, because my PHP has always been very amateur.

But the process of developing minicms is not as simple as its function.

A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to participate and lead in the development of a code name for Blogmax blog program. At that time I have a lack of understanding of the product, simply think that there are good technology can be a good product. My superficial understanding of the product finally led to the project ending in development.

In the following years, I was engaged in Internet-related product technology research and development work, although not directly involved in product planning work, but with a variety of products to deal with a long time, and slowly began to understand from the perspective of technology to "identify" products.

Slowly, I found that good products are common, this commonality is no field difference.

A food, a good photo, a good program, a good song, a good film, a good Internet products, they have a common "taste", that is humanities.

Mr Jobs, through Apple's products, has repeatedly proved to the world how powerful the combination of humanities and technology is.

So I started planning to develop a blog program again.

But doing it, I found that I was doing another WordPress. What's the point of doing the same thing with someone else? If you don't jump out of other people's way of thinking and find your true direction, it doesn't make sense to develop this product.

This process has gone through 2-3 of times, whenever I have some free time, I will start to try, then give up, try again, and then give up.

Why do not understand any art of me, directly on the server command line interface with VI handwritten HTML and CSS, you can make a set of small refreshing interface?

Because I've tried so many times that my wife sees me doing minicms and says, "You're doing this again." ”。

The minicms and last attempt were about a year apart. This more than a year I have been busy developing the company's products, busy marriage, busy products online, busy fire everywhere, this year is really very busy, so that forget a lot of things, and sometimes forget is the most rare.

This time, when I was blogging again, I forgot I was going to make a product. This time the motivation becomes very simple, I want to make my blog a little bit better, so that I can do for some of my usual projects to create a separate page, and can write logs and articles, this is from the heart of the need, I do not have too much time to do too complex functions, I just want to finish early can use.

However, just beginning to do minicms I also encountered the problem of duplicating WordPress. I designed the first version of the background interface, I found completely another WordPress, let me tangle is, as if every function is necessary.

I sent my brother to see the interface, told him my distress, he said: "Sometimes it is harder to do subtraction than to do addition." ”

I think it's true. To do addition, simply learn to imitate other people's products, and do subtraction, you must understand what you want to do is what kind of products.

I reminded myself that I wanted to do a program that was adequate for myself at first, not to be a big and general program. And this program by the way to meet some of the same as my personal webmaster needs, we do not need a three-warm and 360-degree sea view of the premier office, we just need a place to calm down to record and organize ideas.

So I started chopping down functions.

The first to cut off is the user management function. Because my site is only one person in use, this feature I have never used.

Then cut off the themes and plug-ins. I think, if you need any specific function or interface, directly to the code to change is, and as a small number of construction station procedures, there can be no many people, or even have someone else for it to create themes and plug-ins, do these two functions is not romantic.

Then I cut off the classification function. Because of WordPress, I often struggle with how to classify and label, the tree-like structure of the classification is also very painstaking. Simply leave the most random label function, can be indexed by the tag article on the line, the site's hierarchy to the page system.

In the process of cutting off the function I slowly find the feeling, finally I summed up a point: the creation of content and content is the core function of the individual CMS, which is not related to the core functions, or decentralized users to use the core functions of attention, should be cut off.

In the end, I decided not to develop a comment function, because I didn't use it myself, and no one wrote a comment. And there is a third-party comment system such as Disqus that can provide comment functionality without having to build comments into Minicms, which makes minicms more concise.

Finally get the minicms background is very simple, only three tabs, respectively, "article", "page", "set."

I use WordPress when a little feel particularly inconvenient, is to back up the site.

Web site data and files are related, if you use the database can only export SQL files, and can not be backed up with files. And when you restore a database, you are often subject to a variety of restrictions or problems with coding.

So, I designed the minicms to be able to run only PHP, do not need the support of the database.

For the program, this is complicated, because you have to organize your data by yourself to ensure efficiency. But this is easy for users, easy to install and easy to back up.

I want users to upload minicms to the server to start using, backup site only need to back up the entire site folder on the line.

When I finished the overall function of minicms, the first thing I did was to copy my blog posts over the years to the new program.

Minicms with no extra function is much more efficient.

I recall using WordPress's feelings, and then compare the use of minicms feelings. I found that it is because the goal of WordPress is to do an extremely common site program, so that users in order to achieve a certain purpose is not the best way to achieve, but must take the compromise route.

Then recall the products and products used in the development, I summed up a point: the pursuit of product generalization, will make each demand can not be the best way to meet, because you want to be in a lot of demand between compromise and balance, the end can only be a mediocre product.

In fact, I found the same rule early on in the process, good programmers are always the most common in the process of seeking code to continue to grow, but the pursuit of a state of obsession will produce excessive design of things, unnecessary program versatility instead brings a lot of side effects, so I often say: "GM is often not easy to use."

The simple function lets the user focus on the creation, the good product should like "The morals Classics" to say: "On good if the water, the water is good, the benefit all things but does not contend"

Simple features allow developers to focus on addressing core requirements, and simple products are not for simplicity and simplicity, but are clearly aware of the core needs of users and are focused on addressing core requirements.

Keep it simple, stay focused, that's what I learned in the process of developing minicms.

Author: Dada