Avoid superstitious star products, adhere to the characteristics of their own products

When you design your own product, product Manager or product owner often learns from the star products of billion-tier units and interacts and designs by referencing similar products on the market. But at the same time, this will often make their own product users of the attributes and characteristics are overlooked, make the product appears to have a lot of elements to meet the current trend, but can not adapt to the characteristics of their own products, resulting in product deformity of the bitter fruit. The reason for these product designers is that they are too superstitious about the design and shape of the star products of the billion-tier users, forgetting the needs of their users and the right user experience.

To give an example of the author's practical work:

One of my colleagues is responsible for the design of iOS and Android clients, in the design of the download video button, colleagues want users to be able to reduce the operation, the download is designed as a user click button, the default download the current playback definition of video, only in the long press the download button, will pop the choice of sharpness to download the pop-up box. Ask why they did this design, the explanation says: "In order to reduce the user unnecessary choice operation, and the micro-letter friend Circle is not long press the picture to publish the button, can publish the text, this design is good, can meet reduces the user to operate the demand, but also satisfies the choice clarity the demand".

Author's point of view:

1, in product design, the most important thing is to let users understand the use of the product logic, to optimize the operation, so that users do not understand the use of the logic of the product is what, such a design is problematic, and should be as far as possible to design the product simple point, do not have so many shadow hidden functions, Reduce the cost of learning for users.

2, long press button, exhaled a function, this design itself is a hidden design, micro-letter is so designed, in order to meet the friends all to original pictures of the community characteristics, while meeting the strong need to publish text messages. Micro-letter long Press the button to send text information function is able to spread, because the community itself, you can have the features I do not have the ability to discuss and communicate between users and users, thereby reducing the cost of learning, so that more users can know this feature. PS: Perhaps the micro-letter in the initial design of the time did not consider so much, just to meet the needs of users to send information, but do not want to break the original picture as a friend Circle Community design concept.

However, the long press download button, evoking the choice of clarity of this design, unlike the micro-trust friends Circle, in the user learning costs are very high, resulting in low usage rate.

Summary：

Product Manager or product designer in the product design, remember not to be star products excellent function, interaction, design blind eyes, should be based on the characteristics of their products, do meet their own user attributes and characteristics of the design, even if not so dazzling, gorgeous.