As a newcomer to the product, I was in charge of the company’s product planning process. Because of my lack of experience, the solution ideas in my mind did not match the reality, which led to the adjustment of the company’s product development rhythm. The lessons learned in practice are extremely profound and valuable. In this article, I take my own experience as an example to briefly summarize the points of attention in product planning , share it with everyone, and give myself a reminder.
Before starting, make sure that you have a clear understanding of the company’s business
To understand the company’s business, the planned functional modules are more realistic . Take my own experience as an example. In large e-commerce platforms, the logistics and distribution method in the settlement process is optional, but for our company, the actual business determines that we will not match this function. In the first version of the prototype, because I did not have a clear understanding of the company’s business, I matched the function point of logistics and distribution to the product planning, and was severely approved by the boss. It is because I don’t know enough about the company’s business that I made mistakes in product planning, resulting in a double waste of brain costs and time costs. It shows how important it is to understand the business .
Don’t think about getting it in place in one step, excellent products are iterative
It is impossible to make excellent products in one step, and excellent products are all iterated. When I delivered the first version of the prototype, I was sprayed by the person in charge of the R&D team: “You are too eager to think so that a one-step product can’t be done at all.” Why can’t I make an excellent product in one step? I have concluded that there are three main reasons:
- The overall planning of a product is very dependent on one’s experience and insight. As a product newcomer, the dual lack of experience and ability will make me ignore many points and details when planning the product, making it unrealistic to get it right in one step.
- The needs of users are constantly changing. Changes in user needs essentially require that products must be iterated continuously and cannot be achieved in one step.
- The difficulty of technical realization. The one-step product development cycle is often very long, and the pursuit of one-step products often greatly increases the difficulty of technical realization and is likely to be useless.
Focus on feedback, not design
For operation-oriented products, the priority of design is not the highest. Focusing on feedback and not designing is the right idea . Take my own experience as an example. In the process of product development, I will often be challenged by the designer in the company. He tends to struggle with the details of the website design and does not let go. I tend to be designed if I have relatively little experience. Daniu’s aura is quelled and he has to think more about the deficiencies of the design, which leads to the delay of the product progress.
In fact, as the person in charge of the product, you should calmly think about which solution is more beneficial to the product at this time, rather than being deterred by the design of the bull. After careful consideration, we can conclude that the highest priority of design for our products is not design. The best solution is to quickly launch the product and pay attention to the collection of user feedback.
Must communicate in time
In a startup company, timely communication must be carried out during the product planning process. Otherwise, it is easy for the product to be designed as “four different images” due to inconsistent information . Because everyone’s understanding and communication skills will be different, as the general person in charge of the product, you must communicate with the relevant person in charge on the details of the product in a timely manner to verify whether there are errors in the information transmission between the two parties.
