Commenting on a product, everyone can dig out its performance in all aspects, such as whether the user experience is good, whether the function is perfect, whether it solves the user’s pain points, etc… But in this, which one determines the core of the product Competitiveness?
Features
The function directly affects the user’s operation and also concentrates the user’s feedback. Different user groups have different needs. If in their use process, they find that some special needs are not provided, it is conceivable that this will incur user repercussions. However, the value of a product must be to do the most important thing, to give priority to meeting the most core needs, to clearly screen out the target user group, and to sort out the product function chain.
Function is the foundation, but it is not appropriate if the realization of all user needs depends on the function. When faced with the choice of function A, function B, and function C, product managers need to make an analysis decision, which function has the highest priority, which function has greater coverage… Many times, due to resource and time constraints, it may Only one can be selected first. If the realization of function A can also bear part of the user needs of function B and function C, then the development of function A can be given priority at this time.
The function of the product is very important, but the function is not the core competitiveness of the product. Because the function is never the most powerful, nor the most comprehensive, and the function is easy to imitate. When we find that a certain function of a certain product is novel and very good, we can also make a similar or even better experience function in a short time. After a product has gone through the early stages of development, generally speaking, the same type of products will not be too far apart on the functional level, but there are some differences in user experience.
User experience
User experience is a problem that plagues product managers. What level of user experience is the best? This needs to be judged not only from the experience of a single product, but also from the perspective of project schedule and the entire product life cycle.
User experience is a work that can be continuously promoted. It can be 80%, 100%, or even 120%… But if you blindly pursue the ultimate in user experience, it will be delayed The introduction of new important product features may not outweigh the gains.
The relationship between product features and user experience should vary according to different development stages of the product. In the early stage of product development, when the functions of the product are thin, it is necessary to promote the product to go online in the shortest possible time. At this time, the focus is on the integrity of the product. The user experience is pushed to a higher degree depending on whether there are more resources. However, some core user experiences must be met, such as products that have capital in and out behaviors, and the experience of recharge and withdrawal needs to be guaranteed. Otherwise, users will lose their patience in the field of impetuous mobile Internet. In the later stage, when the product enters a stable and mature stage and a sufficient user base has been accumulated at this time, the emphasis on user experience can be gradually strengthened, as far as possible to provide users with an excellent user experience, so that the product can form a good reputation.
Because when there are no users, no matter how good the user experience is, it is not a deciding factor that directly attracts new users. When there are enough users, the quality of the user experience can affect the stickiness of the users, and a good reputation can even help spread.
Mode
Products can be copied, and models can of course also be copied. But a good model can be used in four or two ways, greatly reducing promotion and operating costs, and it can also help products to clearly position and sort out functions. A good model can cleverly form a differentiated competition point, which is not popular and similar, while a bad model will be dragged down by a long battle line, with no characteristics, no bright spots, and no competitiveness!
The choice of model also follows the proportional relationship between risk and return. Those models with huge potential benefits must be models that are on the margins of supervision and bear the same huge risks, such as micro-private equity models such as stock joint purchases. These models can no longer be measured by good or bad, but the risk appetite trade-off between innovation and compliance supervision. However, in the same industry type, even if the big models are the same, the small focus can still be shifted slightly. For example, stock trading applications can be more biased toward singles or follow-up purchases.
The model should be a part of the product, which determines the starting point of the product, but not the whole of the product.
Pain points
The term “pain points” is very popular nowadays. When reviewing a product, people often ask “What pain points have been solved for users?” This is actually a dialectical question. The product itself does not solve any pain points, only the combination of products can solve the pain points.
Before the emergence of Taobao’s C2C model, individual sellers were unable to conduct transactions with individual buyers through the Internet, and this was a pain point. Therefore, the emergence of Taobao effectively solved this pain point. But then, Paipai.com also appeared in this market. At this time, will Taobao and Paipai still solve this pain point? For the two, it doesn’t make much sense to explore whether to solve this pain point, because they are doing the same thing and solving the same pain point. The question then becomes: “How to better solve the pain points?”
The same product is likely to give people such an illusion. When a product is uninterested, it does not solve any pain points; when it is popular, it effectively captures the pain points of users. This understanding is not accurate, because the product is only a carrier, and the pain point occurs in the business behavior.
Ecological chain
The product ecological chain is not only a functional chain of products, but also a complete product system, which maps the upstream and downstream of business activities as a whole. Behind a successful and mature product, there must be a strong ecological chain supporting it.
A platform-based product has different user roles, such as C2C buyers and sellers. The complete ecological chain connects the activities between buyers and sellers. Not only buyers and sellers have functional operations that support their specific roles, but the entire platform also has a series of channels from transaction release, matching, transaction, and feedback. On the basis of the complete ecological chain, it is to consider the optimization of each link to enhance the stickiness of the ecological chain.
Although the functional modules of a functional product are relatively independent, the user’s behavior can still be split. For example, the stock market application of investment portfolio, although the core of business activities is to create and view the portfolio, what is the basis for creation before creation, how to maintain and adjust after creation, and how to interact with other users’ feedback and evaluation after viewing. The product support of the post-activity chain constitutes the ecological chain. In addition, all functional and content-based products can still be viewed as platform-based products from a different perspective, because a system of products must have different user group roles.
The ecological chain can be rooted in the product. Even if someone has copied a certain core function of the product, if there is no systematic supporting support from upstream and downstream, this same core function still cannot play its core advantage. If someone wants to ask, what about copying the entire product ecological chain, copying all other people’s models, processes, and functional chains? The appearance can be copied, but the soul of the product is difficult to imitate. Moreover, each product is applied to a specific field, industry, and background. Each company also has a different growth stage, resources and vision. Excellent products are the best comprehensive reflection of internal and external. Therefore, even if the entire product chain of others is copied, the product chain is the best product state of the other party, but it is not necessarily the best product system of the other party.
The best route for a product development is to select a model, and then first complete the support for the ecological chain. In this process, the function is the realization aid; finally, it is optimized through the user experience. When this road is over, the pain points are naturally resolved.
The ecological chain is the soul of the product!
