Good product Manager: The basic 5 Principles of Product Manager

Article Description: Tencent product intern rookie first experience.

Every year there are a considerable number of interns into Tencent internship, sit next to my lovely mm is. Internship can make university study and company work smooth docking. The same cute Tencent product intern small wood students found: work with passion, but also self-control, analysis, but also self discovery. All the students who are going to work will come to see, especially looking forward to entering Tencent.

When I have not entered the field of products, the product manager in my heart is like a creative designer, with a wild mind, boundless imagination, can do a lot of novelty and fun things. But in the actual work and learning process, I found a product, or a function, or even a very small icon, are not casually patted the head can be thought out. Divergent thinking contributes to innovation, but innovation is not necessarily a useful product. Good products are often based on a large number of research, data analysis, demand analysis and so on a series of complex processes ultimately designed.

If you want to make a good product, or want to be a good product manager, then in the process of product design and implementation, must pay attention to the following basic principles:

(i) Clear objectives

Clear goal, this is to do the product must remember one of the most fundamental principles. In fact, whatever it is, it is a very important principle.

First of all, to be clear why to do this product (function), the starting point is what, the purpose is what, expect to achieve what kind of effect;

Secondly, to determine the goal is concrete, is achievable, and can ultimately be measured;

Finally, we should define the time goal and determine the expected completion deadline.

If you do not know the target, it will be like a headless fly-like disorderly flight, even if only the design of a very small function, may be less than, or even completely wasted effort. If the above three points are clear, then you can carry out a detailed planning in mind, the next work can be carried out in an orderly manner.

(ii) Attention to data

Research is the most important preparatory work in product planning, research other similar products, research market and the needs of users, and so on, often after the product planning and product design of the compass. The research is divided into two kinds, one is qualitative and the other is quantitative.

We are often accustomed to qualitative analysis and description, by virtue of their own feelings and experiences, think of 1234 and so on.

Feeling is important, but individual thoughts and feelings tend to be biased, and may get into some kind of misunderstanding because of certain habits or other factors. Therefore, the quantitative investigation and analysis is very necessary. Whether in the early stage of product planning or on the product line, data statistics are very important.

We all know that the user browsing the web, generally f-type, but I counted a page, but it is the right side of a very narrow and very small area of the click Rate is much higher than the area of twice times the right side of the list, the right clicks at least twice times the left. The area with high clicks in the right-hand module also accounts for only 1/2 of the module's own area. If it's not back-end data feedback, I might never have imagined that a small module on the right side of the page clicked more than the other modules around it.

Therefore, please the Product Manager must pay attention to the data, no matter in any work link.

(iii) reasonable control of time

Time is a very important factor. "Fast" is the rule of Internet survival. But a good product takes time to grind. So it is very important to control the time and the relationship between speed and quality.

How to plan, make the whole team operate efficiently in a limited time, how to allocate, spend the precious time in the most worthwhile place ... These are important capabilities that are required as product managers.

First, the product manager needs to allocate time reasonably to UI design, requirements design, development implementation, functional testing, quality evaluation, and so on, and to determine the start and end of each work time, as well as the time between the input and output of the work.

Second, always communicate with the person responsible for each task or interface to track the progress of the work and ensure that it is completed on time.

Third, always check whether the current work is in line with the target, meet the needs, and be consistent with the expectations. If you do not agree, you need to find out immediately, so as not to waste everyone's time and energy.

In addition to grasping this large time point, but also to control the small point of time. The product manager spends most of his time communicating with people and meeting regularly. Therefore, when presiding over the meeting, the rhythm of the control meeting to ensure that the problem in the shortest possible time to resolve, but also one of the basic quality of product managers.

Before the meeting, the first thing to do preparation, in advance will be the topic of the meeting, to discuss the content as far as possible a day in advance to the participants, so that everyone understand in advance. In the meeting, we will go through the same questions as soon as possible, identify and then deal with contentious issues, discuss them one at a time, and try to solve more problems within a limited period, if the individual issues are more controversial, you can put them in the final discussion, or put them under discussion for further discussions, and do not open more than 1 hours of meetings. If some of the problems are not related to all the participants, but also suggested that after the final meeting, with the relevant students separate discussion, so as not to waste other students time.

In short, whether it is their own time or others time, product managers should be very clear, and make reasonable arrangements and use.

(iv) efficient and accurate communication

Communication ability is the basic ability that the product manager needs.

Documents, forms and PPT, emails, online chat tools and telephones, as well as interviews, meetings, etc., are all necessary weapons for product managers. There are many ways to communicate, but the goal of communication is consistent----------to facilitate the rapid transfer and synchronization of information in the team, and to ensure the symmetry of information (understanding without ambiguity).

First of all, we must learn to summarize. For document, PPT, mail, online chat a kind of text flow communication, must learn to write a summary. The abstract must be concise, so that the recipient of the information to scan a glance to understand the situation, and then can be used to understand the details of the matter. Lest let others read a half-day also do not understand you to say what, waste a lot of time, finally still confused. The interview, the meeting is also the same, but the text flow into a speech, the first summary of the talk, so that everyone has a spectrum, the follow-up listen to the details of the description is easier to understand.

Second, be coherent and logical.

Writing documents, writing emails is the daily work of product managers, requirements documents, meeting minutes, evaluation plans, and so on, these seemingly trivial, in fact, the whole product design, development, testing, evaluation and other aspects of the important basis of work. Clarity and logic are essential to document and message readability. If there is no logic, chronological the same casually narrative, confusion may be a period of time they can not understand, not to mention others. In the process of communication, it is easier for people to understand their point of view and more easily to convince others if they are clear, logical and have strong language organization ability.

For a simple little example, a description of the requirements of a function, described in order according to the objectives (overall requirements), structural framework, functional description, data source, content requirements, interactive design and visual design, statistical requirements, and so on, so that different people only need to look at their relevant parts. Otherwise, it will greatly increase the cost of reading the requirements document for the students who work in each link.

Finally, ensure consistency, no ambiguity

Documents, forms, PPT, and Mail are the carriers of information to ensure that it is readable and understandable without ambiguity, to save the time spent on reading by developing and testing students, reducing the cost of communicating again, and avoiding the extra overhead of rework due to misunderstanding. There are no two identical leaves in the world, so it is normal to see inconsistencies in understanding. However, timely communication is essential to ensure the consistency of the two sides. Therefore, whether in the discussion in the Conference, or in the written communication, and finally have to repeatedly confirm the understanding of consistency, there is no ambiguity.

(v) Focus on every detail

The design of the product can not be just an overview, think about it roughly like that. Product managers must focus on every detail: make sure that all the results that are triggered by each operation are considered, avoid omission, and confirm the final requirements design and implementation of each detail; nothing can be ignored or skipped, even if it is the spacing between rows and lines of the page, and the spacing between words and words must be confirmed. It may be these small places that ultimately determine the success or failure of your product. Sink destroyed in the nest, do not because of small negligence and all their efforts to destroy.

These are the most basic and important principles of being a product manager, and I hope to be of some help to my classmates in the field of product.