A New Leaf

Finally, our long-awaited product has come to the fore.

Four months of painstaking efforts is no longer an illuison.

Coincidentally, it was right in the middle of the College Entrance Examination even though we had tried so hard to avoid major events for a smooth launch.

All my colleagues were in a frenzy in their Wechat Moments, but I was more tranquil than others. Unwilling to admit, we could be better and the demons of my perfectionsim devoures my tinkling excitements.

What is your thrilling moment that consumes the very best of you?

As a Product Manager, it was my honor to share the bitter-sweet moments of our initiation.

What still lingers on my mind is that when it was delegated on schedule, we were far away from preparedeness. The idea of product evolution is commonly perceived as the most efficient weapon to swim with the tide.

Before our decison, the previous product has survived in the swarm of sports and health applications for two years without tillitating features.

When put into my hands, it was less satisfying than expected. As a result, I was perplexed and disappointed, but soon I had to slowly accommodate to the status quo.

After our first round of financing deal, the chance has finally arrived at our doorsteps. The investors were more anxious to deliver a handy product with perfect UI experience and interaction. It seemed our old application could no longer lead the charge.

So the journey began in the late January of 2018, right before our Chinese New Year.

At the same time, I was preoccupied with the Product Notes Column and promptly rejuvenated the product design with some unrealistic ideas. Our initiation is thus accelerated.

We did not have our roadmap in the beginning, but in everyone’s mind palace. I formulated a basic project schedule where we could easily get a glimpse of our assignments.

The way I carried out in the research and analysis phase is my deep-rooted methodology which has been shaped from different perspectives in my career. Despite the clear understanding of the tennis market and the personas, I would like to jump at the chance to reflect on our business models as well as the creative solution we claimed to tackle the problem.

The result is contrary to my anticipation. Best as the application could be, the key element in the whole picture is the number of tennis courts currently in our platform. It was our Damocles’ Sword from day one. Product is not the overriding power that wins the market.

Once I have conjured up the solutions, I then moved on to some interesting interactions and movements. I have been an aivd admirer of myriads of beautiful and charming designs. Asthentic Sense is what our traditional appliction lacks.

Therefore, together with other two collegues, I has repeatedly learned from the best products in the world. Their creativity is more mindblowing and breathtaking than mine.

After rounds of brainstorms, we have come to an agreement that this new application shall be its own king. The whole process sounds impeccable, but it was behind the scenes. I had to grab my paper and rush to their seats for continued cooperation.

When all was set, it was the perfect time for our engineers to stage.

More often than not, we had our disputes and conflicts. What impressed me most was their sysmatic framework. They could always challenge me with following questions

Have you ever considered the scalability of this feature?

How could we accomodate all our products and obey the same rules so as to aviod mistakes?

If the new application is released, what about the old one?

At the thought of confrontations, it become my habit that every time I tried to expound my ideas, I would demonstrate and prepare for some unforeseen scenarios. It was a delicious taste of my congitive ability and the I would swallow the defeat with ease.

Days have elapsed with our countdown banner hanging on the wall, as if syncrotising our atmosphere and sympathize with all the graduates.

Before the final release, we had tested a couple of times from the obvious bugs to the compability among the product stream.

One day after the release, I sribbled an email expressing my gratitude to the team.

Finally, it was the dawn of both the company and my career.

On on hand, the company strives to deliver the best experiences in booking and smart experience.

On the other hand, it symbolizes my advanced mastery of products as well as its implications.

As I digest our long journey, I become more obessed with the underlying logic.

The following thoughts summarizes all.

• Always delve into human emotions before we leap

Our application, in essence, aims to gratify our tennis users in that whenever you are in want of a suitable hour, you are welcome to enjoy the speedy booking and smart services. It is called gratification. As a result, all we endevour to do is to deliver the quickness and user-friendliness.

• Speedy Execution is everything

Our brainstorms are essential but it severely delayed our progress when everyone was eager to prove his opinion. Our CEO later recognized this ominous signal and then let our team do the rest.

Besides, the development procedure deprived more capable collegues of professional expertise and learning. Our incentive mechanism shall be upgraded.

• Prepare for the worst scenarios

After the Apple Store release, we were so thrilled to downloaded the lastest app, however, when we tried to update, it stipulated that we had violated certain rules and we provide requisite materials for further inquiries. This incident was quite unexpected, and we took three days to negotiate with the Apple staff. Luckily, the chao ceased. However, it was absolutely necessary to prepare for the worst scenarios and their corresponding recipes.

The birth of a product requires all forces, and I am glad to be part of it.

The future is ours to bend.