A designer who understands products

These days in the Internet time to read a few about the design, product and user experience of the article, roughly put some of the paragraphs and ideas and combining the actual situation in the work, write a blog and everyone to share.

In the day-to-day work, this situation is inevitable, you will certainly encounter, to do a project, product manager said already designed products, let us provide a bit of material, adjust the color, look at the pixel, we call art. I am opposed to this kind of call, instead the designer can become the product manager who understands the art and the user experience.

So how does a designer become a product manager?

1. Attention Everywhere

Now many designers do not understand the product, only know the product manager to come over what UE, try to do some landscaping, add some decoration, so that the design draft looks beautiful. Many people feel that they are only the design of the process of a performer, the overall idea of the product? To what people use, these people have what common characteristics, the function is reasonable, the interaction is efficient, in these are not clear circumstances began to do design, how can make good design?

So how does a designer become a product manager? In fact, it is simple, is to observe more attentively.

Many of our colleagues around us have become Baba hemp, they are in the process of childbirth every day on the Internet to check childcare information, and then become parenting experts, why? Because this is his baby, they daily with experienced Baba mother communication, learning, as long as the spirit of this, a layman can become an expert, There is no reason not to become a designer who understands products. I feel that the intention, responsible for their own products, is a product designer's basic premise.

We always look at ourselves too small, feel that we are a designer, the quality of products and their own not much relationship, those bugs are product managers and technology issues. If you look at the product with this mindset, you can't blame others for being an art designer. I've always thought that a design that can't catch Sihuo is not a qualified designer. Because in the process of dry sihuo, there is no sales to help you talk about customers, no product manager to help you organize the needs and planning functions, no UE to help you draw a sketch to communicate with customers, there is no front-end to help you make. It's all up to you to do it yourself, and then you're just a designer concept.

Designers should be like the product manager as a demand side, not the performer. The design of the language to show the product needs, so that the boss looks more intuitive, so that the technology does not have to look at the product documentation to understand. Only in this way can you make other links more respectful and willing to listen to your suggestions for the product.

2. Remove personal preferences

This is easy to say and difficult to do. Because everyone regardless of success, with their own experience of the increase, the experience of the promotion, what is the most spoken by everyone? Is I think, I think, I feel, we are too much of the time to do products, is to do for themselves.

We do products no matter how good the design feel, to the user is very cool design, in fact, to grasp a point, all user experience, what is called the user experience, why not call the Product Manager experience, not to call the boss user experience, because all experience from the user perspective, from the user to see products, you feel good product users do not necessarily buy, The user chooses a product reason and the industry expert chooses a product the reason, sometimes is very different. Users choose a product, sometimes very simple, how to learn from the user's point of view to think, in fact, it is difficult to do.

Many of us discuss products, in the fierce debate, the two sides may not stand on the user's point of view, are fiercely think they are right, the other side is wrong. How to consider the problem from the user's point of view, which for many people is not a matter of ability, but also a mental problem.

3. Focus on experience

Product experience is everywhere, everything is a product experience. For example, Starbucks hot drinks paper cups will add a thermal insulation paper shell, 711 also refer to this, and street stalls to your soy milk most of their packaging, you get the hand is always very hot.

Experience everywhere in everyday life, if you can pay attention everywhere, think of yourself as a complaining user, but take it to the next level, after complaining, and thinking about why you're complaining, how this thing improves, if I'm the interior designer, if I'm designing a thermostat, if I'm designing a TV remote controller, You will find that there are too many experiences to do bad things, but the process of thinking is a way to elevate your feelings about experience.

Are we going to buy a TV and really understand the technology of television? Many people because of the appearance of good-looking, or live salesman a hype, the color TV home, bought a lot of features home, home to their best use or volume key, open key and channel keys, remote control Most of the keys have touched it? The TV must have the function of looking at photos. , if you plug in the SD card, if you plug in once, you will know that this function is not designed for people. There are many TV, unexpectedly built-in QQ chat function, OMG, you try to use Remote control chat QQ, you do not want to hit the TV is strange.

Sometimes, a lot of functions do like to find out the function, such as we Chang said a login function, you can allow users to use more than QQ login, really so many users need to use more than QQ to sync a comment system? and also in the first phase of implementation. Our engineers have written countless lines of code for this feature, and solved countless bugs, which are not available for more than 90% users. Can not finish the line on schedule, do not work overtime, it is strange.

I remember before at a meeting to discuss the function of feed comment paging, I suggest using the method of real-time loading, someone proposed to practical traditional 123456 pages plus input box jump traditional style. I admit that this traditional style is in demand in forum users, but in a time-sensitive and fast feed stream, no one uses this cumbersome feature. Everyone usually on Weibo, also have read comments, think back to you really useful this function?

4. Products and designs sometimes use some subtraction.

Many of my iphone users asked me how to add a password to my photo album. I told them that no password, if you want to add, can only download a third-party app, I believe Apple to add a password to the album is very easy, but why so far the iphone has released the 6th generation, has not added this feature, It is because the product manager of the album in the pure thinking in the consideration of product design, add password is only some individual Chen xx, Li xx needs, they do have this demand, but for the vast majority of users, this is an illusion out of demand.

Our products at the beginning, not perfect, do not have anything to add, this will only make the product features complex, no features. Product function and design to use some subtraction, less is more, to highlight the focus. It is enough that there is a little or a few points in the function that can make a strong temptation and move to you.

I use our own products to give an example, Micro Bo and Friends of the network has a plate called may be interested in people, because they have a perfect user information, friends can even call your QQ directly inside the group to recommend, it is a natural advantage of others. And what about us? At the beginning of my Sohu design I expressed the concern about this function, most of our users do not have a deep relationship, the recommended person can not be very match. The effect is naturally farfetched, this function, not only can not give products add points, but will cause users to complain, causing users to lose confidence and patience products.

5. Make the user's strong demand

Facebook is so successful, a lot of people are copying his design, my Sohu 1th edition of the 2nd edition is also so, what is the first version of Facebook, the first edition is so beautiful, the first edition has a very smart designers? Not really, I believe the first edition of it is for the girls and boys in Harvard, is a very simple application that lets you upload photos and share them.

For example, for example, the first order of the menu can be found in the vicinity of the people, but also very carefully with the icon to identify the person from your distance, how long to walk, how long the ride, how long to drive. This function is a strong demand in the MO, with it can bubble to the girl, and very near, now everyone is so busy, natural more convenient about good.

We have downloaded things on the Internet, download stations do a lot of ads, and even most of them are deceptive ads, download things are not wanted at all, but this can not prevent us to finally down to what we want, these are called strong demand.

6. Do beyond expectations, can be perceived experience

Experience must be beyond the expectations of the experience, many people in the plagiarism of other products, often said that the company did what function, the boss said to do one, but did not think that the function is not called experience, if the same is not a chance, if the user ran out, feel good passing, the user will not form a real experience.

What is an experience beyond expectations? Many people imitate micro-letter shake, some people say in the hotel with micro-letter shake can shake out dozens of, with some products shake a shake, within 10 kilometers can not shake out one, which is more than expected, you know ...

Another example of the bottom of the sea fishing, really attract a lot of people to go, because the food provided to everyone is Palace? No, the bottom of the sea to eat things like other restaurants, why do we go to the seabed fishing? How good is the service? Just do some of the peers did not do things, to wipe your glasses, to wipe your shoes, before meals free to crack melon seeds, eat a watermelon for free after dinner, can cite many examples, you do not have a girlfriend, go time to take a waiter to go? There are many examples of marketing on the web, and if you do experience that can exceed the user, Can form Word-of-mouth.

Similarly, many of the actions of Apple, the ipad when the screen, not a simple uniform motion, is an accelerated variable, to the edge of the time, there will even be a rebound, why Apple will do so meticulous? We also often imitate the ipad experience, but just feel the cottage flavor is very strong, no feeling. It turned out that there was an accelerated function in the apple, and there was a motion model, and Apple did it so that his experience could be perceived by you.

Beyond the expectations of the experience may be powerful, perhaps the service of the intimate, perhaps the perfect visual, perhaps simulation of the special effects, but no matter what, we have to seize some strong demand to do, otherwise it will be superfluous.

Well, I hope this scattered experience will let you know how to become a product designer.

Author: Liu Tianjan http://mdc.sohu.com/?p=1389