A Product Manager product operation experience

Product Manager/Operation Manager is constantly thinking, analyzing, locating the target user group of the product and which is the real user of the product in the life cycle. Usually, a product will experience market research, demand analysis, product design, product development, product line operation to product optimization process, and the whole process is around the user to find the best solution.

The reality is that the product Manager/Operation Manager is constantly thinking, analyzing, locating the target user group of the product, which is the real user of the product. This article analyzes their own experience in the process of operation.

1, product development before asking a few more why, as far as possible positioning of users (products for the user and health)

Before the product development, the product manager must consider, what function does the product do? Why should we do it? However, most product managers in the early stage of product planning, directly in accordance with the ideas of the company leadership or product committee decision-making direction into the product function planning above, every day thinking about what function products to do, through market research, questionnaire research, brainstorming and many other forms to collect a large number of user needs, Without in-depth analysis on the choice of a higher priority for a number of needs as a real demand for positioning the product prototype, since the end did not consider why do this product? Why do these functions? which function is the core of the core, that is, without this feature does not have this product.

The consequences of this, first of all, the product features too much, can not focus; second, the real target users are not found; third, without capturing the real needs of the target users, the final product can not capture the user.

When we consider making a product, we should first consider why we should do it. Who is the user of the product? Only to find real users, real needs, opportunities to become products, products can become goods, and ultimately achieve the success of the product, otherwise, a business model or not hit the real user needs of the product into the market, will bring a series of problems, for example, in the stage of product operation, even if the investment of a large number of resources, through a variety of marketing means to promote products, will also move to a very embarrassing situation, the user is slow to come, analysis of the data can not find the real reason.

The real reason is that the product itself, is the so-called product for the user.

2, a good user planning, targeted (operating depth)

After the product is online, the conventional approach is to try to operate in a variety of ways, looking for the best way to operate, and devoting the least resources to bringing more users. Then, the operation of the root is the user, how to more accurate to find users become the key, we are based on product positioning to find the most core user base, and then according to the user's attributes of the user divided into different roles, and finally to several roles to promote products. For example, some call type tool application, usually according to the user sex, age, education level, occupation, provinces and cities distribution dimension analysis, plus the user's consumption ARPU value, call time, call frequency dimension will divide the user into n different roles, Once again, these roles combine the core needs of the product to select the few roles that are most appealing to the product, and to operate accurately.

The refinement of user groups is the only way to operate deep or narrow-band tool applications.

3. The fallacy of "self-fulfilling prophecy" in user analysis

"Self-fulfilling prophecy" is also called "self-proof Prophecy" (self-fulfilling prophecy) is a psychological term. The idea is to invoke a new action that, in the end, turns the original prophecy into reality, with no conclusive evidence. Usually, we have a general decision about the user group of the product (a prophecy), for example, the more inexpensive IP call applications, we will position users to the low-end users, and a large number of calls in the industry, such as real estate, sales crowd, after the marketing campaign on these people (such as offline real estate intermediary store promotion , online micro bo RTB advertising crowd selected), when we carried out to a certain node after the user analysis found that our users are really such a group of people, (to achieve their own predictions) and then continue to increase the marketing input to the crowd, the continuous cycle, if there is no other factors involved, It is hard for us to jump out of this cycle ourselves, and this fallacy will bring us into the abyss. So we want multi-dimensional to think about user behavior, break the cycle, broaden our horizons, find the real target users or discover the potential of other user groups.

4. Grasp the boundary of trial and error

Cattle Product Manager is also a person, we are not God, can really grasp a product, accurate grasp of user needs is not easy, in the process of product operation, the need to have the courage to try and wrong, through trial and error to find the real direction, and gradually improve the product manager's sense of smell. However, trial and error does not mean no risk, no boundaries, first, product function on the trial and error, do not blindly to increase the function, into the function to meet the needs of users to diversify the error, it is likely to let the product lose the flexibility of the soul, so that users more confused; second, unlimited investment in operational resources, no amount of money to hit , no amount of people are not enough to invest, we must pay attention to efficiency, there is a sense of resource risk.

There is nothing wrong with trial and error, but always be aware of your own product for whom, and the core value of the product.

5, the data will be deceptive, but also the most important

Say we're dealing with a big data age, the development of mobile Internet will bring more fragmented data, in the melting pot of large data to extract the real elixir, which will test every product experience/Operations Manager.

First, the analysis of local data will affect the results, for example, the North wide area of user characteristics and the central and western provinces and cities of the user data will be different, any one region analysis results can not explain the objective reasons, must combine the product to analyze the meaning behind the data, data directly show the results behind what can be explained.

Second, the result of the data is not necessarily the conclusion of this product, for example, some of the narrow-band products, from the background of the data to analyze, found that 70% of users focused on the 19~29岁, the product target user group is a 19~29岁 of young people, in fact, adding more dimensions of the analysis found very different, For example, the introduction of the product write-off rate/exit rate found that the product stickiness is very low, the user after trial write-off rate also as high as 80%, but left to use the products loyal users belong to the 30~50岁 crowd.

Remember, the data is a double-edged sword, can let you go to heaven, also can let you to hell.

6, don't forget who you are

As mentioned earlier, the Product manager in a product life cycle should not forget the core value of the product, or do the following find yourself hard to do so many functions, but let the user more and more do not understand what to do.

In the key period of the product to learn to do subtraction, said it is easy to do that is not easy, there may be a variety of reasons, the pressure of leadership, user pressure, team pressure, etc., but as the product of the person in charge to this direction, and constantly to influence others. Remember: "Subtraction, subtraction, subtraction."

7, wrong is not the method, and in the product itself

Or the operation of the process, we often confused, entangled in how can not find a good way to bring large-scale users, we all agree that the sale is poor products can also be sell. Yes, I admit that the product must have its user presence, and then poor products must also have users to use.

So, here is to add a qualification to this method: "Best", we do not want to bring the user's method, but can bring a large number of users, can form the industry benchmarking products. When the product operation to a certain degree, we go to meditation, thinking. The method is only the behavior, the product is the thought.

8, blindly pursuit of speed

This is another dilemma, the company's total sense of product development is too slow, product optimization is not up to the user's rhythm, under the pressure of the company, the entire team in the continuous improvement of speed, not to recognize the user, user experience.

First of all, do not forget others, forget what competitors are doing, as the saying goes, the enemy can be victorious, in product development, optimization process, the same need to pay attention to competitors, the industry's development of competitive products.

Second, in order to speed the sacrifice of product quality, product stability, the user's experience to do more and more bad, such as the real awakening has lost a large number of users, and then do two times the cost of marketing investment can not be simple to improve the speed so simple.

Do not only for the money and forget the people, do not only for speed and sacrifice quality products.

9. Action is truth.

Do market research or product planning or operation promotion, do not always think, always in writing, to see the world, put enough to go world, to try, to action.

(The author of a single micro-letter public Number: Fool Product manager)