The last article explained the theoretical process of product demand analysis , and roughly introduced the position and analysis methods of product demand analysis in the product realization process. However, in many companies, demand analysis and decision-making is a very fast process, especially the waterfall development model companies, will not put too much energy on demand analysis, but directly in the process of product planning. Analyze and make decisions, which can greatly reduce the idleness of other staff. When a large company or product has many decision objects, it will refine and analyze the requirements separately, and the rest are often made directly by the product manager.
Product demand analysis is an intermediate link after the demand is generated and before the product is implemented. It has a lot of work that overlaps with product planning, because in most cases, demand analysis and decision-making are directly completed in the planning process. Therefore, the work of demand analysis often appears in the product iteration process. After the new product enters the iterative cycle, it will receive demand feedback from all aspects. There will be a lot of demand at this time. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze and judge the demand and determine the demand to be implemented.
Through the theoretical process introduced in the previous article, we have clarified the process method of requirements analysis. In the first step, we must first classify the requirements. Through the classification, we can clearly recognize the importance of the requirements. The classification of requirements is also an opportunity to test our product operation knowledge. For example, the service number of the WeChat public platform has been adjusted from 1 mass message per month to 4 per month. This is actually an operational requirement. Another example is the WeChat public platform service. The account supports WeChat payment. This strategy looks like an operational requirement, but it should actually be a functional requirement.
After categorizing the needs, we must analyze and judge the needs. There are three main considerations: strategic direction, product positioning, and user needs.
The strategic direction is a very macroscopic direction. There is no clear boundary standard for this direction, but it can give us a reference range and goal. In the process of implementation, it will be refined into various stages, and the goals that need to be achieved in each stage are different. The same, so when analysis and judgment are required, it is necessary to make a decision. The common strategic stages are the initial stage, the development stage, and the iterative stage. In the initial stage, focus on the realization of core functions and quickly launch the market to verify the feasibility of the product; at the development stage, function expansion and improvement will be carried out, and trial and error experiments will be carried out in a small range at this stage; when it comes to the iterative stage , The product is basically mature and stable, and demand will pay more attention to user experience.
In different strategic stages, the criteria for demand decision-making are different. The initial stage may be to realize the product quickly, so the demand outside the core function will be abandoned or suspended. For example, WeChat wants to build a closed-loop business ecosystem, but this project cannot be completed in one step, so it is carried out in stages, and the focus of each stage will be different. The first stage needs to complete the scene layout, so launch the Moments of Friends and the public platform, first transform the peer-to-peer WeChat into a dimensional social circle; in the second stage, open customized interfaces, internally push WeChat payment, and build a business blueprint to attract more participants ; The third stage is to upgrade the service strategy, open WeChat payment, let go of the implementation methods of various common modes of permission promotion, and complete the possibility of closed loop.
The strategy is divided into phases and phases into versions. Through this refinement of the requirements standards, it is necessary to consider the product positioning, user needs and current environment to determine the standards for demand analysis and judgment. These statements may be a little fictitious, and there is no real case support, so it is dizzy to listen, and in many companies, product managers often have no final decision-making power, which is also an embarrassing professional situation. But we need to understand that no matter how great a product is, it will not be fattened by one bite. It has phased development and improvement. We need to find the focus of demand at each stage.
Through strategic factors, we realized that demand decision-making should refer to phase planning. Not all “useful demands” have to be realized at once. This requires us to have some common sense of project management and more experience accumulation.
There are some overlapping factors between product positioning and strategic direction, but strategic direction is more market-oriented, while product positioning pays more attention to function definition. Therefore, the consideration factor of product positioning is to judge whether functional requirements meet the standard of product positioning. For example, the map APP is an application of POI navigation service in LBS mode. If there is a demand for displaying road condition information, then this is in line with the demand in the positioning and can be included in the plan and realized as planned, but if the demand is to realize the web version offline Download the map, then this demand does not match the product positioning and operation strategy, and there is no need to include it in the plan.
Strategic direction and product positioning are both strategic factors, and the ideas considered are also subjective, but the user demand is a real appeal point, but the user needs are not all reasonable, and the company’s strategy and product must also be considered. Positioning, as mentioned in the previous paragraph for offline map downloading on the Web version, is not in line with the company’s strategy. Since user needs are a real appeal, there is a more digable method.
Thinking about user needs, we need to pay attention to two aspects, namely, “not treating needs as requirements, and not regarding product form as cost quality”. I also have two cases for your reference.
Don’t treat needs as needs: Several friends asked me to share product needs analysis. This is actually what they need, but not their real needs. When users express their needs, because of various reasons or factors, they can’t recognize the real needs, and they will express their needs as needs, but in fact their needs are hoped that I can share the production of “product demand”. How to excavate and plan out requirements before, instead of generating subsequent analysis and decision-making.
Don’t take the product form as the quality of the cost: Just like the luggage planning process introduced in the ” Universal Product Planning Formula ” in my previous chapter , the luggage is the product form, but not the essence of the product. The essence of the product is that the masses carry it when they travel. According to the nature of an object, we need to improve the trouble that users encounter when carrying objects.
After the requirements are classified, we then combine the three factors of “strategic direction, product positioning, and user needs” to filter the requirements, and finally categorize and classify the requirements according to the work plan, and formulate requirements documents for each stage and version.
Demand analysis and judgment is a related thinking process. Screening, scoring, and grading need to be combined with the three major factors and other factors to refer to and judge together. This requires us to have a macroscopic thinking ability and sufficient determination. Avoiding the temptation of divergent thinking makes us deviate from the original strategic direction and product positioning.
