Recently, I have listened to a few talk shows on Luo Ji’s thinking. One of them talked about the story of the four-month meeting between the bosses in the early days of the founding of the United States to formulate the US Constitution. This constitution, nb is just nb. A few hundred words have been used for more than 200 years and only some amendments have been added.
This thing inspired me.
The country needs a constitution, and the country can also be regarded as a product. Then, what is the constitution of the product? Open the “Revelation”, I know, it is the product principle.
the U.S. constitution
First of all, we have to briefly talk about why there is a product principle. The preamble of the U.S. Constitution says-
We the people of the United States (We the People in the text are the first three words in the full text), in order to build a more complete alliance, establish justice, guarantee domestic tranquility, provide common defense, promote public welfare, and enable ourselves and future generations to enjoy freedom For the happiness of the United States of America, this constitution is formulated specially for the United States of America.
Then, to determine the value of the product.
In summary, the values of the U.S. Constitution are seven articles-popular sovereignty, republic, federalism, separation of powers, restriction and balance, limited government, and individual rights. For example, Article 7 says that “individuals have freedom of speech, freedom of the press, etc.”.
For your product, for example, “The group is the private domain of the members, and the administrator try not to interfere (Douban)”, “Everyone can be someone else’s teacher at some moment (Zhihu)”, “Passionate Those who have the method, do what they want to do, the efficiency will be higher than the completion of the task (Ali horse racing)” and so on.
Next, is the methodology to achieve product goals.
For example, how the product team is formed and the division of labor—”the implementation of a bourgeois federal system affirms the separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers. The legislative power belongs to the U.S. Congress and the composition of the Congress; the executive power belongs to The President of the United States and the method for the election of the President; the judicial power belongs to the Supreme Court of the United States and the composition of the Supreme Court; the relationship and obligations of the states.”
Another example is how to make product decisions-“The U.S. Constitution clarifies that an elected government has the only legitimacy. The people exercise power through elections or designated government officials and members.”
For your product, you still need to think clearly, who is the target user? Which types are there, and how are their priorities ordered? Is the goal of the product for some time to come to make money, or to burn money to acquire more users? …
As time changes, the market environment, competitors, and user attributes of the product will continue to change. Therefore, there must be an iterative optimization mechanism of product principles. Therefore, the U.S. Constitution also provides procedures for proposing and passing amendments. Members of Congress can also amend the U.S. Constitution and other basic laws, and even redraft a new constitution.
Product principles are something that the entire product team must reach a consensus. Most of our quarrels in our work, tracing the roots, are inconsistent in product principles. For example, you think the seller is important, he thinks the buyer is important, and you think you want to attract new users, He thinks that we need to retain the old users first.
