You must learn to subtract, do less is do more “-many, many people in the industry say. Slowly, all product personnel regard this sentence as the most reasonable, and always remind themselves. How to realize the essence of this sentence How can I make myself feel empathetic to this sentence when I am making products? Can’t be anxious. You have to practice level by level to achieve a positive result:
The first layer: learn to ” demand game “
Sometimes, when faced with a certain type of requirement or a certain function, it is necessary to decide whether to do it or not. In fact, we are comparing and weighing the value of the demand itself, and we are playing a game. The process of the game may be faster or slower, but the answer is not right or wrong, because it is impossible to measure for a while, only to experience or guess.
Let’s take a look at an example of a demand game: Douban has never provided users with a rating system. CEO Yang Bo said , “The point issue has been raised many times and discussed many times, but it hasn’t been put up yet. The main reason is that this is not the core. We don’t want users to come to Douban for points, and we don’t want them to fill in for points. We need high-quality posts and high-quality users.” The result of the game is to give up this idea.
Abstract this example:
(Assumption: The team’s demand positioning for a certain product has been preliminarily determined, and the future product value has been clarified in the six aspects of A\B\C\D\L\M, that is, to meet the main needs of users through these six aspects , Reflecting the core value of the product. Of course, with the development and operation of the product, a series of additional product values such as N\E\F…etc. will continue to appear. Just like Renren. The value attracts and satisfies the user, and later it can also occupy the user’s fragmented time through WEB games)
Facing a demand, first roughly lock in two directions, 1 and 2, two directions are incompatible. If you operate the product according to direction 1, the result can only achieve the three effects of B\C\D, if you operate according to the direction 2, the result can only achieve the three effects of L\M\N. Looking back, consider our ideal product state, it should be A\B\C\D\L\M, of course choose the direction 1. The game is complete.
Just looking at the example itself, it did complete an initial successful subtraction, but it was far from touching the problem itself. Learning to play is the first level of understanding the essence. What is the second layer?
The second layer: ” Rhythm of product development “
Without a sense of rhythm, no matter how good the product is, it will not come out. Just like “learning to do subtraction”, the sense of rhythm is also a high-end thing, not something newcomers to the product can touch.
Look at a few examples of rhythm: Douban first launched the reading function in May 2005, the movie function after a month, and the music function in another month. This is a rhythm, although we cannot hear its rhythm. Yang Bo said , “Web2.0 sites are changing rapidly, and not all functions are fully realized in the initial stage.” Tumblr (a foreign light blog site that has been walled) was launched in 2007 and has been tirelessly absorbed since then. user. It was not until 2009 that the important feature Directory was launched (this wonderful feature was mentioned in the previous article), and it began to attract new users and aggregate high-end users. This is also a kind of rhythm, and the rhythm is also not heard. Broadly speaking, the rhythm of the product is to grasp the trend of product operations and adapt to changes in user needs.
Abstract this sense of rhythm: As mentioned earlier, the ideal product state is A\B\C\D\L\M. When we face two requirements 3 and 4, 3 can achieve A\B\C\ D, and 4 can achieve D\L\M, what should I do? Concentrate on 3 and adjust the progress of 4 according to the situation.
In the face of a series of needs for a product, in fact, only a small number of incompatible development directions require a decision game, and most needs need to control the rhythm and prioritize them. Therefore, to “learn to do subtraction”, you must also “learn to add parentheses”. The parentheses are counted first, the square brackets are second, and the braces are counted last.
Sometimes, for things like controlling the rhythm, you have to do more to have a feeling. Controlling the rhythm is the second level of understanding the essence. What is the third layer?
Third layer: is ” Product A \ B \ C \ D \ L \ M” !
That’s right. It is your expectation of the product, the ideal state that the product wants to achieve, that is, the value of the product .
Look at an attitude about product value: Yang Bo summed up Douban’s core idea as, “You can find different things and suit you, which can be understood as a kind of network of contacts that uses specific objects such as books as the medium.” He also said, “Douban was not made to make a website at the beginning, but to meet a demand of people. If it is useless for users, it is not enough to be fresh.”
It turned out that from the beginning, Douban focused on one thing, not reading, music, movies, WEB2.0, these are all clouds, but to find a medium, and then to weave a web.
Looking back, re-examine the problems in the previous two examples:
Why did you choose reading as a medium in the first place? Compared with movies and music, people who can read book by book are the most practical. Therefore, using the book as the medium to weave the first net is the strongest. The first net can be smaller, but it must be strong enough, and then you can weave the second and third sheets more confidently…
Why not provide users with points levels? Because, through books, music, and movies, you become the users of Douban’s network of connections, and the links between them are not family, friendship, love, or work colleagues. Therefore, the relationship between Douban users on this network does not need to be consolidated and compared by level, but needs to be reflected in books, music, and movies. Renren needs a level, but Douban does not need it so much.
In the final analysis, the two questions must be answered from the value of the product itself , so the most important thing is to accurately list the value of the product you are looking forward to: A\B\C\D\L\M, and then In the face of any problems and difficulties, you can make choices by reviewing the set of ideals once listed.
Therefore, spend a little more time on the initial demand analysis and value positioning of the product. If you are extremely confident in the value of your product, then no matter what difficulties you face in the product development process in the future, you can confidently make decisions based on your original ideals. Every game, every rhythm is controlled. To do subtraction, you need to be confident.
