Product managers are an extremely important group in the Internet martial arts world. To outsiders, they look brilliant and glamorous, directing the world and writing with passion; but in their own eyes, they are just doing a job to make a living, a career to realize their self-worth. Only they can truly know how it feels.

I had just entered the arena and, after several months of internship, thought I knew a thing or two about product management. I really wanted to write about the abilities a product manager needs to get around in the arena. Hence the following article.

1. Weapons

For a product manager walking the martial arts world, tools are like weapons: you don't need to master many, but they must be handy. Now, let me talk about the weapons product managers often use:

Fist: Office three-piece suite

Undoubtedly, whether or not you work in product management, the Office three-piece suite (Word, PPT, Excel) is something everyone will and must learn, just like a person's two fists. In the martial arts world, the simpler a weapon is, the more terrifying it often is. For a top expert, there is no need for blades, spears, swords, or halberds; with bare fists alone, they can dominate the arena.

The Office three-piece suite is a basic skill for product managers. You may not know other software, but you must know how to use Office. Use Word to write documents, PPT for presentations, and Excel for data analysis. Despite its unremarkable appearance, your work can never be separated from it. A great product manager may no longer need any other weapons; with fists in hand, it is enough.

Spear: Axure

The spear is the ancestor of all weapons. It may be the most common weapon in the martial arts world, and the spear techniques passed down in the martial world are countless. You may not know the greatest spear technique, but you absolutely must know the most powerful spear in the world—the Overlord Spear, honored as the god of spears.

And Axure is exactly such an Overlord Spear, sweeping across the martial arts world. It is the first weapon every entry-level product manager learns. It can create prototypes, write documents, and, when necessary, temporarily take the place of Photoshop. The prototypes it makes can be low-fidelity or high-fidelity, simple or complex. Just like the Overlord Spear, which concentrates a thousand pounds of force at the spear tip, Axure handles heavy work as if it were light, yet never seems clumsy or sluggish.

Saber: Mind mapping tools

The saber is a low-profile weapon, yet extremely powerful. In the hands of a skilled saber user, one cut can often be fatal to the enemy. As the saying goes, "a quick saber cuts through tangled hemp." When a saber user faces a complicated and dangerous situation, as soon as the quick saber comes out, the situation becomes clear at once.

Mind mapping, as an important tool for sorting out thoughts and brainstorming, is like a quick saber: it cuts through obstacles in thinking and sweeps away the haze in the mind, presenting what you think and dwell on clearly and without error. When working on a product, you are often at a loss; with the help of a mind map, you can dispel the clouds and see the sun.

Sword: Photoshop

The sword is the king of weapons and the most impressive. Swordplay can be sharp, free and easy, or elegant. As Du Fu wrote in a poem: "In former days there was a beauty named Gongsun; when she danced with her sword, she moved the four corners of the world. Spectators were as numerous as mountains and turned pale; heaven and earth rose and fell with her. Her onset was like thunder bursting with rage; her ending was like rivers and seas condensing their clear light."

Photoshop is like a sword. So powerful that it is beyond imagination, leading people to sigh, "PS means the world will never have truth again." For product managers, Photoshop can be used to make more refined prototypes. But this sword is generally not drawn lightly. If it is drawn, it is bound to amaze people and often decides the final look of the product.

Rake: Visio

The rake was originally a farm tool for loosening soil, but because its teeth are as sharp as nails, it can be used as a weapon. It was once one of the sharpest weapons in the army. The rake's attacking techniques include "push and pull", "flat-body kill", "upside-down strike", "large diagonal press", and so on; its defensive techniques include "parry and reveal", "straight rising bump", "flat-body middle block", and so on.

As a product manager, you often need to design product flows. Visio is the "nine-tooth steel rake" in flowchart tools. Flowcharts include information flowcharts, business information architecture diagrams, system function architecture diagrams, and so on. Visio, just like a rake combing the soil, combs through the flow of the product.

2. Internal Strength

Weapons are a product manager's external skills. In the martial arts world, you cannot rely only on weapons for a living. No matter how well you use your weapons, without internal strength, you are just doing fancy but impractical moves.

Weapons are easy to learn; internal strength is hard to cultivate. What does a product manager's internal strength include? In my opinion, there are two things:

Product sense

Many product managers deny that product sense exists. But I believe it truly does. Product sense is the talent of a product manager. It is hard to describe with precise language. Just as painters have the talent of painters, musicians have the talent of musicians, and athletes have the talent of athletes, so product managers have their own talent.

Can product sense be cultivated? Of course it can. Any kind of talent can be acquired through after-the-fact training. It is mainly cultivated through the following four aspects:

• Analysis and understanding of user needs
• Technical understanding
• Interaction design
• Product data analysis

Logical sense

Every product manager job posting says the candidate must have a strong logical sense. Moreover, some companies give written tests, and most of the test questions are logical reasoning problems. If a product manager has no logical sense, then the product they create will be illogical and baffling.

Just like product sense, logical sense can also be strengthened through after-the-fact practice. You can refer to Zhihu:How to improve logical thinking skills and expressive ability?"

3. Conclusion

I have written so much, freely and at length. Much of it seems far-fetched, and my understanding is not deep enough. Still, it is only my own opinion. Everyone is welcome to offer comments and suggestions.

Source: Everyone is a Product Manager