Mobile Product design Requirements Analysis: let users focus on core functions

Article Description: demand analysis of mobile product design.

Demand analysis of mobile product design

The first task of demand analysis is to clarify which requirements are the core needs of users, in our daily work, demand collection is a very important work, but in the face of multiple sources of demand (competition products analysis, user feedback, user research), how to grasp the user's core needs? And what principles can be followed?

The method of rhetorical thinking

In the face of a list of the many disorganized needs, we tend to be the first one, but often we have no bottom in our hearts, you say this demand is important, she said this demand is necessary, when encountered similar situation, you can use the "rhetorical question", so-called rhetorical thinking, is in the face of a functional description, The first thing to ask is, does adding this feature make sense for the product? I do not add him to the product has any loss? If you don't think about it for a while, then you can consider pass it off.

Rule 80/20

In the existing mobile device field, about how to capture the core needs of users, two famous design philosophy representatives Hig and Zen of Palm also did not give a clear answer, Zen of palm just gave a rule: 80/20 law, is the user spends 80% of the time to solve the problem, Make up the core requirements of the product; the remaining 20% will simply give up.

Less is more

The idea comes from the Bauhaus school, originally used in the field of construction, and later used in the field of industrial design, and jobs himself is very respected, especially in the mobile phone's use of the environment, by the natural screen restrictions, more functions, the product appears more complex, the face of the vastness of the function, then users will often choose to give up use And facing the fierce Battle of mobile phone desktop, so a little space, to maintain the simplicity of the product can not be considered.

Follow the principle of less is more, only focus on the core needs of users, it is perfect, the ultimate, is the basic principle of retaining users. Apple is a model in this regard. On this point "Zen of Palm" has two riddles, very image.

1. How do gorillas learn to fly?

How can gorillas fly? A flying gorilla or a gorilla? Of course not, so the orangutan should do what the orangutan should do, and the others will be given to the eagle.

2. How does a mountain fit into a bowl?

How could a mountain be put in a bowl? Do we really need so much earth? Of course not, so just find the diamond and put it in the bowl and throw the stone away! Why do you need so much Earth?

A reasonable organization

When we follow the gorilla rule, we list a long list of features that tend to fall into the next tangle of situations-how do you organize these functions? What are the core requirements of these core functions? Before that, take a look at a picture mentioned in the Zen of Palm:

This map points out the stakes in the functionality and user experience on PCs and mobile devices, in the early days of the product, the addition of functions can enhance the user experience, and when the more and more features, the product will appear redundant and complex, at this time it may be very good for a single feature, but the overall user experience is a kind of harm, It's not easy to add this core requirement and not hurt the overall user experience, is there a solution? In the simple rule I found the answer: A reasonable organization can make complex products to simplify, not only that, through a certain organization easier to let users focus on core functions.

The traditional CD Player button is too much, a possible solution is to take off the fast forward, rewind, the previous one, the next one, such as buttons, only left: Play/pause, but if this is not what I want to listen to the next one? So we can't take the last one or the next one off, but their status is not played, the pause is high, at this time after a reasonable organization, the feeling of the product is completely different, such as the ipod shuffle 5, the last one, the next one hidden in the volume "+" "-" inside, even press two is the next one, even press three is the last song , so that not only reasonable use of space, so that products appear smaller, lighter, and often these hidden functions are found, are surprises.

So after a reasonable organization, we can also summarize a requirement analysis principle: that is, only focus on the core functions, remove unwanted functions, the necessary functions to reduce it hidden. It's like a multi-function knife, when you have all the functions unfold, it can not do anything, and when you only expand one function each time, the other hidden, he became a multi-function knife, of course, according to the Gorilla philosophy, the best is a simple knife, no other function, But this is obviously not realistic for most products with a certain number of users.

To learn to balance

The above mentioned features and user Experience stakes, in the "Zen of palm" the perfect balance of functionality and user experience is called "sweet spot", this sweet spot is the best state, more and more, less is not enough. But a problem comes out, when the "sweet Spot" is reached, is not everyone's task done without any improvement? The answer is of course negative, to know in the IT industry, fast-changing, the competition is in days to remember, and this "sweet point" to follow the changes in the industry trend, at different stages of the "sweet spot" is different, that is, different stages of focus.

How can the "sweet spot" of this variable be grasped? This is the hardest point, it requires a lot of practice and a clear product at the stage, with accurate industry analysis can.