1. What is the essence of the product?
As a product manager, it is very important to understand the essence of the product.
However, what is the essence of the product?
It should be emphasized that we are referring specifically to Internet products, which are product forms with traffic effects, marginal effects, and scale effects, with the Internet as the main carrier of communication and use.
In response to this topic, many well-known experts in the Internet industry have given their own understandings:
Yu Jun: "A product is a utility combination under a set of constraints, which meets the needs of different scenarios; the product manager's iterative optimization of the product also needs to be continuously optimized based on the scenario, and every optimization needs to be considered. Whether the ROI is optimal, that is, whether it is optimal in terms of product positioning and product method."
Zhang Xiaolong: "Product is a combination of technology and art; function is not the same as product, function is to meet demand, positioning is to meet psychological demands, positioning is single, and functions are multiple."
Su Jie: "Product = user's overall experience = function + design + profit + content - function refers to what the product can do; design refers to interaction design, visual design and industrial design (for physical equipment); profit refers to profit modalities; could be various forms of advertising, donations, or transactions; content could be original, user-provided, or a combination of the two.”
From my personal work experience and industry understanding, many times, building an Internet product from 0 to 1 is like building a device and building a system.
I find that product managers and engineers do have a lot in common:
The way engineers realize is combination: including combining various tools, combining tools and people; the so-called combination is not simply piecing together, but needs to consider the characteristics of each combined object and coordinate the "interface" between the objects.
Just like paragraphs of articles and paragraphs of books, and chapters and chapters of books, there is a need for coordination of ideas and viewpoints, as well as connections between the past and the future.
In fact, whether it is "discovery" or "realization", every scientist and engineer does not start from scratch, but stands on the shoulders of other scientists and engineers.
Using their previously packaged "parts" to build a more powerful system, packaged here into a seemingly simple "part"; the ultimate goal of all engineers' work - they encapsulate all the complexity, only Handing you a simple interface.
Is it the same as a product manager? A good product manager is not an inventor, but an engineer; instead of creating new things, he is good at assembling parts and creating systems, which is "system thinking".
2. Product = model × power mechanism
Based on the conceptual interpretation of industry experts and my personal experience summary and product cognition, combined with the theoretical framework of system dynamics, here is my understanding of the product:
Product = model (product functional framework) × dynamic mechanism (product growth strategy)
First of all, it should be emphasized that the concept of the model in this article is not complicated. In system dynamics, the model is displayed in circles or rectangles, supplemented by arrows to indicate interrelationships.
The concept of the model described in this article is basically similar to the expression in system dynamics, and the final presentation country email list form is also displayed in a simple structure diagram, as shown in the following figure:
The process of building a model in this paper is a process of conceptualizing and simplifying useful information according to the required problem-solving logic after cutting off useless information, and abstracting it into a model diagram.
Therefore, the process of building the model is divided into five steps:
Establish a set of information production system, open up information production channels, and strengthen the production process of effective information;
Clarify user demands, open up the shortest usage path, and retain the first batch of seed users;
Establish a distribution mechanism to quickly deliver effective information to users who need it in specific scenarios;
Establish an incentive module to motivate users to experience multiple experience behaviors within the product and establish interactive relationships;
Establish a risk control system to shield invalid information and speed up the rapid flow of valid information;