Product Manager must read nine steps

I dedicate this article to those who dream of changing the world.

Wen/Shu

Years later, when I faced those young product managers, I remembered that I was in a well-paid job. It was 2000, after I graduated from university in Beijing, an IT website to do search engine PM, at that time, I one months salary in the Asian Games village to buy a square meter house, ten years later, a friend recruitment PM, the monthly salary and I ten years ago, the difference is that the young PM with a year's salary in the Asian Games village to buy a square metre of the house. To this, I am very confused, so consulting HR colleagues, HR colleagues told me, ten years ago, product managers are scarce jobs, now is not.

In ten years, Beijing's house prices rose 10 times times, but the best PM salary rose at least 50 times times, so on Sina Weibo on the spot open a V, often met certification as product manager. Many pm have a dream: To change the world with their own design products, while earning a pot full, but 10 years unchanged entry-level salary, but let people touch the reality is bone.

If you are a PM, are following a Montana, it proves that you are not only a lucky person, but also in product design gifted, this article can be used for your reference. If you are only in the ordinary small company nine to ten, or in a large company grass-roots, but you have a dream, dream with their own products to change the world, that this article is written for you. I am here to share it and hope to have more value for the PM with more dreams and hope to make the world a better place through your hands.

This article describes the product design "Nine Steps", the main framework from a few from scratch design billion user products glittering people, I once in a 1 billion-level PV products for a long time practice and continuous revision, a blink of an eye, has been arrested in 16, and many Chinese recognized the most top of the PM to work together for many years, Now in their own understanding to elaborate. "Nine-Step" is written for the pan-Internet product and is suitable for large products and new features in the product. The use of the method is PM in the product design, the following nine questions of their own written answers, and the team analysis and discussion.

The first step: what is the product to meet the user's core requirements?

The key to product design is to find out which one is the core value of the product and to meet the core needs of the users. In practice, 70% pm often forgets this, because "meeting user needs" is almost always a mantra that every PM can open, so it's often forgotten. We often hear the "microblogging to strengthen the SNS attribute", "micro-letter to get through O2O", "Community information to flow faster" is the most typical of the user needs to forget the example. All these references are taken for granted, without the user's point of view, not to understand the needs of users, it will certainly be doomed to failure.

In fact, even if PM uses this one, it is often unhelpful. Because the careful analysis "satisfies the user needs", may discover actually is the wordless heavenly book. First, "User" is a virtual group concept, PM can not find a specific person on behalf of the user; second, "Users" actually don't know what they need. So in practice users are always represented by three kinds of people: PM themselves, hypothetical typical users, PM's executive leaders. And today, the iphone, Weibo, and the people who believe it, have a few years before they need it.

User needs are always captured and created by genius, just like the fashion industry in the years after the popular what those luxury consumers, fashion critics do not know, only talented designers can lead the future. The big thing in IT history were either created by geniuses or hit by Super lucky Kids. Online games "giant" once very attentively to practice "meet user needs" This truth, very serious research users, what users want to what, the result to the end of the discovery of "users" does not exist, those labeled "users", in fact, the heart does not know what they need, so the product completely failed.

Luckily or unfortunately, most of us don't have to invent an iphone like Chowa, nor do we have a chance to create and lead the tide as much as Kim Jong Un. So if you're just going to do a new feature that has a product, or want to design a new gadget, there are two more practical ways than ponder "user needs":

1, Crazy love your product

2. Try to solve the biggest pain point you encounter

One of the most basic qualities of a PM is to love your product. If you don't love your product, the advice here is to switch immediately to your favorite product, which is afraid to get half the salary. For the products you love to burn, that life will become how interesting ah. 10 years ago, my friend to obtain such a job, regardless of the region (whether apart, Daoshanhuohai), do not care about the position (regardless of the high and low line), do not care about salary (can maintain the local basic necessities of life is the baseline), the result made the world's greatest Chinese products. Three years ago, I have a subordinate, an ordinary little boy, in large companies are rated as the lowest level of PM, but the same sentiments, with a young heart, made almost and micro-trust, the impact of a temporary product.

In accordance with this "nine steps" of the first step, if you are the depth of Weibo users, then please consider Sina Weibo recent three-column structure revision, to meet the user what the core needs?

As a deep user of Sina Weibo, I often use my mobile phone on my computer before my PC because I don't have a better browsing experience. Unfortunately, "PC user browsing experience Poor" this core demand is not resolved, but in the three-column version of the worse. Do not start from the user needs, will lead to the opposite, please each PM in your revision, first consider what you solve a user's core needs, you may change the world, may also murder tens of thousands of users of time.

The main point of the first step is "a core requirement", with special attention to "one". For microblogging such products, so that browsing experience better, is the core needs. How to load the system faster, how to produce high quality information, how to eliminate spam, how to improve the visual experience are urgent problems. PM never want to invent, subvert the existing products, or add some feel very fashionable new features, only to seize the "core needs" little by little to improve, 1% 1% to improve, can be caused by quantitative change.

Step two: What are your unique characteristics compared to similar products?

If the step is to solve the problem of "what is the use" of the product, then the second step is to solve the "others". This question looks simple, in fact, compared to 70% pm often forget "user needs", large companies even have up to 90% pm will not consider "what others use me."

Why do so many pm not consider "What others use Me"? The biggest advantage of large companies is money, someone, have technology, have users, can put a market to see the demand for products quickly pushed to the user, but also bring users not bad experience. It is because the products of large companies have such advantages, become a habit of PM to win the Magic weapon, so they do not need to consider product positioning, so the biggest advantage often finally become a disadvantage.

One evening at the end of 2011, I was in Foshan, Guangdong, after dinner to pinch feet. I routinely ask a technician little girl what web site, what hobbies in life, the recent plan to do. The young girl replied that the most recent dream was to buy a millet cell phone. I was so surprised that the cups in my hand almost fell to the ground. At the end of 2011, I just saw the news on the Internet, there is not even a real machine on the market. But in the thousands of miles away in Guangdong, a small city roadside washing sister all the millet mobile phone as a dream of life. I hurriedly asked her why, she said, "Millet mobile phone more than 1000 dollars, but with the same as Apple, more cost-effective ah".

This is positioning, and that is the uniqueness of the product.

The Chinese Internet is a very common example: from news, portals, electric dealers, video sites, to the current group buying, security software, browsers, micro-blog, mobile phones, 99% are no differentiated competition, few people consider "compared with similar products your unique." Obviously, those who are behind the winners, have a deep understanding of the problem and extraordinary control skills.

In the second step of this "nine step", if you are a deep user of micro-trust, please consider what the "uniqueness" of the product is "Circle of Friends".

When the micro-letter in the design of the "Circle of Friends" This function, must consider his and Weibo, Qzone, the school's comparative uniqueness. In the SNS product homogeneity so serious situation, the micro-letter of a two-level function how to win, his uniqueness in where, this is the PM team to solve the first problem.

I personally feel that this uniqueness is "private".

In fact, the essence of social interaction is "privacy sharing", people and acquaintances, to friends, close friend, even couples, the last couple, the deepening relationship, that is, privacy step-by-step process of sharing each other. Why Weibo can not do SNS, because the microblogging of such a broadcast platform, is inherently not a private nature of the characteristics. and micro-trust friends in the privacy of the positioning, with a simple means to solve the Facebook complex privacy settings. Whether it is micro-letter pm Gifted Insight to this point, or luck encountered, have to let people admire. If the micro-trust circle can do a better job of "privacy sharing," the product is promising and will have a chance to compete with Facebook in the future.

Step three: Break down the user. The user is decomposed into different roles according to the core value of the product.

Step one solves is "what use", step two solves is "what others use", step three to step seven solves is "How to use better". How to better use the key is to become a user, standing in the user's perspective to think.

Perhaps genius can insight into user needs, but genius in the insight into user needs also has a growth process, we see Chowa Master also from a failure to crawl out of the next. The grasp of user needs is like the Enlightenment of the Buddha: Cutting an apple, cutting it to the end, finding it empty, and then being enlightened. User demand is a book without words, to understand, need to have a process of peeling apples.

Decomposition of users, the process of becoming a user is a process of Apple peeling, a PM must be cultivated. Different products, different dimensions, have different decomposition methods. The initial need not be too complicated, but also must not have only one kind of user in the brain, that is not to peel an apple, but to cut a stone. PM at least by the core value of the product, using the thickest lines to classify users.

As：

UGC Products: Look at the user, write the user;

Forum: Browsing users, posting users, moderators;

Consumer: Browsing users, trading users;

E-commerce: sellers, buyers;

New products: Seed users, growth users;

Old Products: Initial users, growth users, users decline, the loss of users;

Wait a minute. The core of the process is to seize the most important roles.

In particular, the division of roles, and the degree of operation of the product related to the operation of mature products, into the refinement phase, the need for a more granular decomposition role.

Simple use of microblogging examples: such as the use of the way, the life cycle of the role of the x-axis y axis Two-D, that microblogging can be used to browse information users, the release of information users, but also can be divided into more detailed, such as the release of information users can also be classified into individuals, certification of individuals, enterprises, media, Big V, microblogging life cycle can be listed seed users, Initial users, growth users, declining users, loss of users and so on.

When we intersect the x axis y axis, we get a lot of characters, and the microblogging characters listed above can get 30 of them, of course, some of these characters are meaningless. Few products and PM need to break down dozens of roles, in most cases we take the most important roles out.

Step Fourth: Become a user. Each type of role answers the following two questions:

Question one: Why does the role use this product?

Question two: How does the role know and reach the product?

After the role is decomposed, PM needs to put itself into the role of cosplay, imaginative role-playing games.

When answering "why this role uses this product," we will find that the user's core requirements begin to decompose. I mentioned in the "micro-credit business model and entrepreneurial opportunities" in the article, the user's core requirements is the level of demand, a product will only have one level of demand, in addition to the other are two-level requirements, two level below there are three level four. For example, microblogging users to see micro-bo, is the level of demand (browse), hair Weibo is a two-level demand (expression), micro-blog Insert a variety of functions is three-level needs.

When we analyze the core needs of Weibo users, "Browse for information of their own concern", the first one to be decomposed was "browsing the user," and answering "why do users use this product?", we found that this is because there are "published information users", then why do users cloth information?

When the role of the microblogging and why the role of the use of this product layer decomposition, we will find that the microblogging users have multiple requirements:

1, access to information needs

2. Expressed demand

3. Social needs

4. Self-Realization needs

These requirements are pyramid-like, the number of users descending by layer, the top is the "self-realization of demand", these roles are Weibo's Big V users. Their goal on this platform is to realize self-worth, so they create the best quality information that determines the entire micro-blogging ecosystem, which is unique to Sina Weibo and other products. At the bottom is "access to information", and these roles are all users of Weibo, who truly represent the full range of microblogs, including the dream and future of commercialization.

The question to be answered two "How does the role know and reach this product" is a product operation problem. Good products are inseparable from operation, and many products even win by operation. Sina Weibo in the early days, in order to invite a potential big V, can send a person to Hong Kong two weeks, in order to give the celebrity an iphone, taught him to use mobile phone Weibo. The key to the success of Sina Weibo is the ability to accurately understand how your core users know and reach this product, and to implement high execution operations.

Sina Weibo's example tells us that in the differentiated competition, you as long as in the product or the operation, has the unique characteristic, and can put this characteristic to the extreme, lets the competitor pursue but cannot, that also can succeed in the market.

Step Fifth: Identify the role achievement. Determine how the product meets the different character's sense of achievement.

Each type of role in the use of products in the process of continuous growth, constant satisfaction, which is the key to the continuous growth of products. In this regard, 90% of PM are caught in a misunderstanding.

1996 I was addicted to BBS, online very popular an adaptation of the lyrics "with the net of you", I remember that there is a lyrics is this: "That day is always very short, flash to 10:30, you only consider when to upgrade, even if the vision to drop a 0.1." I have in order to hang on a BBS to experience the value of the whole station first, and abandoned four years of college time, so the virtual achievement of harm.

Flash 16 years past, simple and direct integration incentive by the domestic PM are proficient, is a proven, a means to flourish. One of the innovations is endless, can write a history of Chinese Internet innovation.

The classic such as QQ upgrade system, lighting a variety of icons, discuz of various titles, integration System, the various titles of online games, badges, props, micro-Bo Fans, tool-type product integration, expansion, the world rankings and so on. At present, there is no user-type incentive products, but become alternative, such as micro-letter.

It is this particularly suitable for the oriental psychological characteristics of the fast means, so many PM ignore the core of the product. 90%PM into the misunderstanding is the product of excessive gaming.

One of the most important achievements of a product is the sense of achievement when a user's core needs are met, and his true sense of accomplishment decreases when irrelevant incentives interfere with his core needs.

Free online games, Taobao, search engines because the core user's achievements directly related to the most sensitive indicators of income, so is the world's core user achievements to do the best products. Baidu recent search hint suggestion on a new feature, when users search the same keyword the second time, the word search hint will become blue, this is the search user's achievements: Query information more convenient, search engine more understand you. Conversely, if the search engine launches a feature that users search for, pops up a floating layer: Congratulations, your experience has risen by 10 points, and the most immediate result is a drop in revenue immediately because it interferes with the user's core needs.

Business model is not clear products do not have sensitive quantitative indicators, PM and ignore the core needs of users, excessive gaming, the secondary role of the achievements immediately, such as Sina Weibo to browse users of some of the interference type incentive. Therefore, the key to this step is to focus on the core needs of your core users, so that core users in core requirements to achieve core achievements.

In the role decomposition, Sina Weibo's two-level demand role, that is, the role of "release information users" to achieve a number of points is very good, especially the review model and the concept of fan innovation, far better than Twitter, from the product to lay the foundation for the success of the post. For micro Bo This can decompose dozens of kinds of characters of products, in combing various role achievements, grasp the relationship between the whole and the local, the PM is a huge challenge.

Step sixth: Identify the key points in the process of meeting user requirements.

Each type of role is decomposed from the whole process of "knowing the product, using the product, satisfying the requirements, leaving, coming back", and describing the key steps and key pages.

This step is to test the performance of the PM's key steps, PM can not do this step, and talent has nothing to do, only and whether efforts, whether the intentions concerned.

The whole user needs to meet the process of controlling the best is the electric business enterprise. The reason is simple, because every step is money. Excellent electrical business enterprises, such as the Cat, Taobao, Jingdong, PM will certainly to the user from where, how to use, how to go, how to come back, there is a clear understanding of the quantitative indicators. Because PM very understand, a key point well, income on the rise, a key point did not do well, income drop, this direct and bonus-related, but can not be.

This is the advantage of a clear business model of the product, the level of business value, and user demand is directly proportional. Search and E-commerce have the best business model, is to meet the user's level of demand, the business value achieved. "Revenue" is a sensitive metric that can be found in both business value and user needs. Your user experience is good, revenue goes up, user experience is poor, and revenue goes down. There is no more effective means of enhancing the user experience than this in the world.

This step is painful cosplay. Let's assume that there are at least four simplest roles for a simple new product:

1, browse users

2. Trading User

3. Seed Users

4. Initial User

There are 20 key points and more than 10 key pages to describe the simplest four roles, "Learn products, use products, meet requirements, leave, come back". So the play is more than a play, according to the philosophy of the Buddha, the product manager to peel the apple, cut to the end found that the Apple is gone, and become a user.

Seventh Step: Improve the conversion rate of key points.

When the PM to find about 20 key points, that each key point, how the key page to improve the conversion rate, is the phased goal. I am the general manager, in order to understand how new users come in, their online registration of more than 80 accounts, to see what the registration process can improve the point. So, an ordinary PM, at least at every key point, try dozens of times, so that you can find the feeling and find an effective way to improve the conversion rate.

Many people have heard the "one-click User lost half" principle, although the actual loss rate of different products is not the same, but the basic is a considerable number. At the core of all forms of products under the "Common role use Product" day, for many years, portals, search, im have used at least two pages: portal page and content pages, search the home page and results pages, IM buddy list page and dialog box. E-commerce user demand chain is relatively long, with more pages. But Facebook and Twitter have only one page to satisfy the user's core needs, and the conversion rate has been raised to the max. Xingping invented hao123, seven or eight years earlier than Facebook and Twitter, practiced the interactive revolution.

It is important to mention that, after Facebook and Twitter, the most influential innovation in interactive history is the search for an open platform (Aladdin), which meets the needs of users on the current page of the search results, eliminating the need for users to jump to new sites and check the time again for screening. This is the invention of China's most successful and richest pm.

So, never think that the conversion rate has been the highest, perhaps in another way, you can bring a revolution. Baidu's Aladdin, Twitter's left and right column-style revision, are focused on the user's core needs of thick thin hair innovation. In this mobile era, more predecessors did not cover the field of waiting for the PM to open up.

Eighth step: to form a closed loop. Allow the product to grow itself.

The last step of the PM's phased goal has been completed, the eighth step to calm down to consider the closed-loop problem. Closed loop is the cycle of product self growth.

Taobao's credit rating system is a closed loop. Buyers buy products, businesses to provide good service to get praise, get praise will get more new buyers, new buyers and buy products, merchants have the opportunity to get more praise, forming a cycle. PM's job is to discover, design, and ensure the smooth operation of this closed loop. such as the bad judge, is the closed-loop killer.

UGC products are also often a closed loop. Users release quality information, quality information to attract new users, new users also release quality information, more new users are attracted to form a closed loop. Spammers, Spam, low-quality information, etc., are the killers of this closed loop. For many UGC products, the PM spends painstaking effort to make it work normally, but the information quality reduces, but like the virus, spreads to the whole cycle, lets the product wither, finally dies.

More products are not closed-loop, such as Alipay, dictionary App,ie Browser, flash games, Microsoft Office software and so on. The increase in user volume has not brought about the growth of the product itself. The difference is that many tool products have also found their own ring, such as the cloud input method, the more users, the more convenient input method, the more user-friendly, the more users, forming a cycle.

Mobile, cloud, large data era, will be more products to form a closed loop to provide possible. Only by forming a closed loop can the product grow and evolve into an organism. Many small closed loops, eventually forming a large closed loop, many large closed loops may eventually evolve into an ecosystem, such as Ali, Baidu, Tencent, in fact, is an ecological system. Multiple ecosystems may evolve into a super ecosystem, such as what Ali is doing. Of course, the term ecosystem is a term that strategists or reviewers like to use, and product managers only need to care about small closed loops, pulling, and conditioning the rings that hit your pain point.

2012 even if the end of mankind, from the concept of physics, with a piece of ice melted into water, there is no essential difference, is only a form of the ring, but also formed another form of the ring. PM to do, is to pull the strings of the song, countless closed-loop vibration, the whole universe will play the music for you.

Nineth step: Gets, rapid iteration.

Google, Baidu interview pm, are invariably out of the same test: the product to the scheduled release date, but found that there is not perfect function, you are selected on the line, or continue to polish until satisfactory again online?

There has been a big boss to answer the wrong question, but in hundreds of of the topic, only wrong this one, so still did Google, Baidu's biggest technology boss. What's your answer? PM always think of too many things in mind, but users think very little, not even, the world's most cattle pm Facebook CEO Zuckerberg simply called the user "idiot", China has a genius-grade PM to become a user described as an idiot, he hoped that the distance between the PM and the idiot is only 0.01 centimeters.

If you have had the privilege of listening to the two most successful and richest PM teachings of the Internet in China, you will notice that these two thousand of thousands of people will emphasize two identical principles, one of which is: gets, rapid iteration. Perhaps, this is the secret of becoming the richest man, because they know the opportunity to miss, there is no. If you've noticed two principles and are under the age of 30, there's a chance that, like them, you can make a pot full of money while changing the world.

But now there is a misunderstanding about the rapid iteration of the mobile domain, many unrelated app upgrades, frequent prompts to install a new version, which is by no means a rapid iteration. Rapid iteration is just a means to better meet the user experience, so product upgrades to give users a more than expected experience, so that users look forward to and wait for your upgrade. It's okay. Release a small change, forcing users to upgrade, wasting company bandwidth, waste of user traffic, such PM should pay for mobile phone fees. The quick iterations of the app please learn from the micro-letters to Sina Weibo, who were born in the mobile age.

Nothing is constant, the speed of the world changes too fast, how many apples to be cut to realize the user needs? So what I said is always wrong.

Conclusion

Product Design "Nine Steps"

The first step: what is the product to meet the user's core requirements?

Step two: What are your unique characteristics compared to similar products?

Step three: Break down the user. The user is decomposed into different roles according to the core value of the product.

Step Fourth: Become a user. Each type of role answers the following two questions:

Question one: Why does the role use this product?

Question two: How does the role know and reach the product?

Step Fifth: Identify the role achievement. Determine how the product meets the different character's sense of achievement.

Step sixth: Identify the key points in the process of meeting user requirements.

Seventh Step: Improve the conversion rate of key points.

Eighth step: to form a closed loop. Allow the product to grow itself.

Nineth step: Gets, rapid iteration.

The above is the product manager must read product design Nine steps, I have helped you to separate out, now please open the computer Notepad, for you are designing products, one by one answer the above nine questions, and then with your team analysis and discussion. If you do, you will believe that what you think is wrong, because after one months, you need to do exactly the same thing again. This process is painful and lonely, changing the world, is the world's loneliest person.

But I believe that if you do, your hand will make the world a better place. Please share this article with other product managers who dream of changing the world, and only more closed loops can bear countless closed loops. Finish）

December 19, 2012

(Feel for a long time did not contribute to the Internet, so write so many words, welcome to any form of reprint reference)

(Via Shu blog)