Why doesn't the product manager want to be a background management system?

Why are many product managers unwilling to be backstage?

Although it cannot be purely voluntary, it may also be caused by lack of ability.

In fact, most people say that they don't want to be backstage product managers, either they are newcomers who have just entered the industry and haven't done it, or they are product managers who have only done front-end products and haven't done back-end products before. None of the backstage product managers I met said that they were particularly tired or particularly resistant to the backstage. On the one hand, it is fun to do backstage work, on the other hand, it is unwilling to leave your comfort zone after working for a long time (and the income is not low).

Then why these people don't want to be backstage is actually easy to understand. Let me briefly talk about some reasons I can think of.

The endorsement of the product manager is the endorsement of the front desk product manager.

The reason why so many people look forward to the position of product manager is because the industry has been advocating product managers too much in recent years. Many people who have not yet entered the industry or are inexperienced will think that product managers are omnipotent and can create great value, even the most important factor that determines the life and death of a company. In addition, because product manager is a relatively general position, some of them have professional background, so many people's so-called love for the Internet and product design actually think that this job is easy to do and get more money. However, in all these advocacy for product managers, it seems that the background product manager is not mentioned, so for those who plan to join the industry or just join the industry, there is no concept of background product manager at all, let alone whether they are willing to do it (most people's thoughts: how can I be an unheard-of background product manager? I'm here to make front-end products. After all, it is my career pursuit to be an app enthusiast with tens of millions of users.

Small user group

You don't need to explain too much about this, you know.

The foreground demand determines the background demand.

Of course, this is not an absolute statement, but in most cases, it is true. The background cannot be completely isolated. Basically, to do a function or business, the first consideration is the client (foreground), and the background is just a support. So, the key decision has been made by others. How can you tolerate an accessory function with such great ideals?

Insufficient internal attention

Being a backstage product manager is not only not surrounded by external users, but also the internal attention is precious. For startups, there are no product managers and front-end engineers in the early background, and the back-end GG is all one person. When the product manager starts to intervene, it can be used in many cases, and UE and UI will not be paid attention to at all. Sometimes, in order to save development or short-term management costs, some simple places can be prevaricated by "internal users can educate". Of course, this is understandable. But the fact is that even if the background is huge and there are enough resources to support it, it can't be compared with the front desk in terms of UE and UI. Just like a daughter-in-law can be ugly at home, but she must make up when she goes out. You see, is the backstage value of platforms such as Taobao and JD.COM good? Some people may say, hey, don't ask too much, be beautiful or something, just get by, and living well is the key. As for how you're doing, feel for yourself-

Without empathy, it's hard to pat your head.

When it comes to empathy, we often think of things like "users are idiots", "twisting vines can become idiots in a second" and "I am a user myself, of course I know". Then, the brain engineer slapped the product manager: "User! I let you be a user! " All right, ignore these sarcastic jokes. If the product manager has empathy, he can better perceive the needs of users. However, it seems difficult for you to establish empathy for background products. The demand of back-end products depends more on rational deduction, that is to say, you should honestly sort out the structure, logic and process of the business.

It is difficult to mention competitive products.

In fact, it can't be said to be a competing product, but an object that can be referenced or even copied. User-oriented products are easy to investigate and analyze. After all, now is the era of national entrepreneurship, and there are too many similar products on the market. Moreover, some interactive languages are universal, and users will build corresponding mental models as long as they have used many other products. But the backstage is unfamiliar to many people, and there is no mental model to speak of, so it is difficult to do competitive research (in fact, it tests the basic skills of design and the confidence of designers). For example, if you want to design an e-commerce related background, you should refer to Taobao or JD.COM (the cost of studying some detailed functions is higher) and pass the merchant qualification verification.

Not familiar with web design language

For a while, I felt that web product managers or interaction designers had become living fossils, and the new product managers or interaction designers had little knowledge. Everyone is discussing the design specification of iOS or android, but do you know what the design specification of web is? The background is basically a web form.

The correlation with performance is not high.

As mentioned earlier, many people expect the backstage products to be available, and they are supporting products, so when the project performance is improved, most people will not feel that the backstage has played much role in it. In other words, well done, that's what you should do; If you don't do well, you may have to take responsibility.

Low face value, not good-looking.

Anyone who has worked in the background knows that the background is not so rich in interactive paradigms. In the past, the screen was full of various forms, form elements and buttons. Looking at you is boring, and the desire to do it is naturally great.

You can't hang it for others to see.

No matter how well you do, can you take off your pants backstage and show them to people outside? You can make friends when you go out to eat, and you can't show off how boring you are.

The above is the analysis of "many product managers don't want to be backstage", and it can be found that in addition to pure willingness factors, others are more caused by lack of self-awareness, that is, they are not sure. Here are some simple prescriptions:

1. Background products are not necessarily difficult. You find it difficult at first because you are unfamiliar, and people are more resistant to unfamiliar things (this is the feeling after familiarity).

2. Backstage products are not necessarily difficult. You find it difficult at first, because you expect to make background products by completely applying the method of making foreground products. When you find it useless, you are a little panicked (just find the right way).

3. Backstage products are not necessarily difficult. You found it difficult at first because you thought the background was huge and complicated, and you didn't know where to start (in fact, the background can be iterated, from simple to complex, and Rome wasn't built in a day).

4. After all the products are handled, your career will be more complete and you will be more confident in your future work.

For the e-commerce industry, a good backstage product manager is quite valuable, especially focusing on experience, so it is not necessarily a bad thing to be a backstage product.