20160702 How to be a product manager of a startup team?

There are a lot of methodologies for Product manager work, how to analyze a demand, how to build a product, and so on. However, many times, especially in the start-up team work pm often ignore a most basic problem, that is the entire project development of the various nodes of the process specification.

Whether you are from bat or have been self-taught, everyone has built up their own knowledge system. This article mainly stands in the perspective of the start-up team on the overall product floor has been a process of combing, I hope that some have not experienced a complete project planning and choose to enter the start-up team for the product work of the students have certain help.

Whether it's an agile development process or a complete development process, the following steps are essential in the product lifecycle:

Requirements Collection > Requirements Analysis > Requirements Review > Project development > Project Testing > Project Launch > Feedback Collection

Of course, each company's situation is different, need to make corresponding adjustments according to their own resources.

1 Demand Collection

At the beginning of a product planning, its core is to translate user requirements into solutions and deliver them to the user, to solve the user's needs and improve their efficiency. Demand collection often comes from a lot of people, similar products, users, and even your boss, then we need to pay attention in the demand collection phase to better understand the needs of users?

▍ Analysis of similar products

This side of the analysis refers not to the product structure, but through the other side of the public channel to query user feedback, see similar products in the process of the use of those parts are the user spit groove.

▍ Network data collection

Get to know your target users and markets with all the search engines and big platform data, although the openness of the platform data may not be accurate, but there is a quick understanding of the market and value of the entire demand side.

▍ User Survey

Whether it is a questionnaire or a small-scale sample of the user's research, is very intuitive to understand the target user base, but it should be noted that:

The first use of research needs to have the purpose, only after the purpose is clear, you can investigate it;

The second use of research is to focus on its core psychology rather than behavior, the behavior is the best solution that the user can think of, but the ability of the product needs to provide the solution according to his own psychological demands.

2 Demand Analysis

Demand analysis is one of the most important modules in the overall architecture of the product, although we collect many requirements through various channel paths, but there may be pseudo-requirements, some of which are not in line with the current stage of product value.

Demand is almost a matter of life and death for a startup team, especially an early start-up team, so what are the ways we should make judgments about demand? It can be analyzed in several ways.

▍ Product Positioning

users put forward their own needs, from the user's point of view are correct. But in more cases it is based on personal expectations that are not in line with product positioning. The core of demand analysis is the process of excavating the real psychological appeal of user content and translating it into a product solution. Is the psychological appeal consistent with the positioning of the product itself? This needs to be analyzed by the product manager.

▍ Human Nature

Any product in the final analysis of the user is a person, product managers in their needs to analyze the need to produce the psychological appeal behind the study clearly. The trace of human nature can be analyzed by two two basic models.

Maslow's demand theory;

Seven Deadly Sins. Know what the user needs inside? To really make the products that users like.

▍ User Scenarios

Although the user's underlying psychological appeal is rooted in human nature from desire, but in different environments, because of the different forms, behavior will produce a variety of user scenarios, based on these user scenarios to achieve a certain goal.

However, the solution offered by different scenarios for the product is not the same, what is the requirement based on the scenario?

Take the most cited example of the pony: if it is a horse race of course users need a horse, if it is quick to go to another place, then he actually wants a faster means of transport.

So a lot of times when the product needs analysis must be based on user scenarios to consider, different scenarios so the corresponding solution provided by nature is different.

▍ Global View

It has always been thought that product managers, especially start-up team product managers, are not a closed-doors career, and this position is important for a comprehensive information acquisition capability. In the initial stage of the start-up of all resources are insufficient, how to product demand according to product positioning, research and development cycle management is very important.

How to determine whether a requirement is P0 in the current phase. It can be considered from the target user base of the demand, the user's frequency of use, the project development resources, the market environment time and so on.

3 Requirements Review

For many products, the process of demand review is always full of "bloody" but in the final analysis the team members in the needs of the review process put forward a different opinion in the final analysis or a common goal, that is to do the product well, so as a product or need to maintain a positive Russian mentality to the opposite review.

Because of the limited resources of the start-up team, how should we conduct the demand review as a product? From the working habits generally will be divided into two rounds to proceed.

First round: What specific requirements are required for the product to determine during the development cycle. generally invited research and development, design, operation, market participation.

The main points of the review communication are:

• What are the requirements? Where do you come from?

• Where is the value of the product?

• What are the requirements for development?

• How do operations and markets export product value to users?

The stage is mainly to stand at the strategic level of its development cycle involved in the requirements of a holistic review, the requirements of this stage of the product prototype requirements are not high, or even only need a general framework to explain the requirements.

The main purpose of this is to the entrepreneurial group of resources, time is very important; B. Bringing together colleagues from all relevant collaboration departments to consider the overall product in the early stages of a demand solution development is also a great way to promote team building and efficiency for start-up team building.

Second round: products in the first round of demand after the end of their specific needs to do a more detailed optimization, the output of high-fidelity prototype, will invite research and development, design for the second round of needs review.

The demand review of the round is more from the point of view of demand realization, the development cycle, design cycle, the allocation of resources, potential problems will be discussed in this round of review.

In general, research and development in the first round after the second round of review in fact, the overall demand for the product has a general understanding, so that the second round of the issue is more clearly organized. Two rounds of demand assessment down, the various cooperation departments for products in this phase of the demand has a more profound understanding also reached a consensus. But there are still some problems to be aware of in the Requirements review: field control, time efficiency and so on.

Although in this case the first round of review will pull the various cooperation departments to carry out the needs of the review, but as a product manager before the review or need to stand in front of each side to consider the rationality of product requirements, is not to say that nothing needs to consider waiting for the needs of the review when everyone together to spell.

The last thing to remember about the requirements review: to provide users with a neutral perspective of demand solutions , each cooperation department is to better solve user needs and play a different role, rather than the product manager in an overwhelming manner to the various cooperation departments to export your views. people are equal, and teamwork is more collaborative.

4 Product Development

After the requirement review is formally entered into the project development phase, the general product manager in the start-up team is also the role of the project manager, for the product manager during the project development period after the completion of the whole project schedule, the daily need to do progress and control work, If there are some problems in the development progress, timely to communicate and coordinate the resources of all parties.

Of course, as a product manager of the entrepreneurial team at this stage should also enter a new round of demand collection phase, for the next stage of product iteration preparation.

5 Product Testing

Project testing is relatively a professional position, but for the general start-up team may not have a professional testers, product managers in a sense to act as a certain test role, this time can generally be divided into two situations test:

1. According to the product function point combined with error flow writing functional test case test, see if the results of research and development are consistent with the envisaged results;

2. The whole team blind test, team members use different models of different ways to use the product, will detect some of the problems.

Of course, with so many third-party services now, the startup team can also use a third-party test platform to assist with testing, which is really a great help for the development of Android apps.

At this stage, the product manager needs to follow up the test feedback of the product timely, and timely feedback to the research and development department to modify. This phase is mainly a leak-check phase is also the product manager and research and development contact the most stage, how to close and develop the relationship, it depends on how you do.

6 Products on-line

Through a product cycle, we have finally transformed the initial requirements into concrete solutions through the efforts of the entire team, coming soon. What should a product manager do at this stage?

In fact, in the pre-demand review phase as a product manager in the first round of review requirements and operations, the market discussed the overall demand market. For products in the requirements review phase should be and operations, market output of this product cycle to reflect the product value, operation and market in the product development phase should be in accordance with the product value point output market operation plan, And at the time of product launch and the Department with the logical implementation of the product value better delivery to the user, tell the target users, we can help you solve the xx problem.

To some extent, the market operation as the external window media must be very aware of their products want to embody the core value points, product managers in the communication with the market must communicate in place can use the scenario of the way the market operations as the target users to export their product value, In this way, the operation of the market will be in the process of understanding the core value of the product and will not run off, external output and product-independent information.

7 Feedback Collection

After the product on-line, will inevitably have a variety of user feedback back, in general, a kind of feedback belongs to the initiative of passive feedback. The initiative feedback is to provide feedback information directly through various channels, such as product Feedback portal, the major application market commentary, Weibo \ Customer service and other external windows; Passive feedback is the user behavior analysis through user behavior data, The user operation to determine whether the target user group to operate the product function and conversion. This is why a lot of product manager recruitment information will require product managers to be sensitive to their data, to be able to analyze the product's functionality by the market is acceptable.

Product managers in fact belong to a global co-ordination of the post, the personnel involved must have a certain understanding of the various aspects of their product cycle, so as to be more from the overall aspect to consider some problems.

Some people will say that I do not need to consider some comprehensive problems in a large team, I have the leadership to coordinate, I just need to do their own things. About this I personally think that whether you are in a business team or in a large enterprise, in the consideration of the issue of a comprehensive consideration of the issue will make you more objective and understanding of the product every aspect more comprehensive, even the modular product also needs to consider the market value of this module in the demand analysis rather than say the function to do it.

Finally, regardless of the world of products have a variety of views, feel the industry is how impetuous, willing to do products you always keep a heart, because love and to do your hand.

20160702 How to be a product manager of a startup team?