Definition and basic drawing of product architecture diagram

this section mainly introduces the related knowledge of product architecture diagram, and the whole content framework is divided into three parts, namely: what is product architecture diagram (what); Why draw the product architecture diagram (Why); How to draw the product architecture diagram (HOW) will be introduced in detail below.

1. Definition of product architecture diagram

Product architecture diagram is a visual graphic designed by dividing the business architecture, functional architecture, information architecture, technical architecture, ecological architecture and business model of concrete products into levels and combining modules. Its abstract and concise expression form is very suitable for introducing complex product systems. Common product architecture diagrams include business architecture diagram, functional architecture diagram, information architecture diagram and mixed architecture diagram.

There is a saying that the more complicated the thinking, the simpler the form. Many great knowledge and laws in human history are expressed in concise and elegant forms, such as Aristotle's syllogism, Newton's three laws, Euler's God formula and Darwin's evolution theory. After thinking thoroughly enough, complex architecture and logical relations can be expressed in simple forms. On the contrary, many seemingly simple forms of expression carry great complexity behind them.

compared with various product outputs (documents, prototype drawings, flow charts, etc.), the product architecture diagram is the simplest form, which is formed by the arrangement and combination of single rectangular controls, but it has the highest degree of abstraction and complexity among all product outputs. The output product architecture diagram is a measure and embodiment of the product manager's product design ability.

2. Why do you want to draw a product architecture diagram?

When designing a product, you should first output a product functional architecture diagram. Thinking about how to draw this diagram is a process to help you sort out product design ideas and determine product boundaries. For example, now let you design a CRM system, you can try to draw the functional architecture diagram of the CRM system for specific business first. In the process of drawing, it will help you to think about what core functional modules the whole CRM system consists of, what the relationship between each module is, and what to do at each stage, thus forming a complete product design idea.

Secondly, the process of product design is like the process of building a building, and the process of product prototype design is like the process of building a building foundation. If there is no problem with the foundation, there will be no big problem with adding bricks and tiles later. If the foundation quality is not paid attention to at the beginning, and the whole project is found to have problems after half construction, it will waste huge resources and costs to repair and rebuild. Therefore, the product functional architecture diagram is a very important deliverable in the early stage of the project. When you want to start designing a complete product scheme, if you skip the step of drawing the product architecture diagram and start drawing the prototype and writing the PRD document directly, it is easy to change it again and again, or even make a version of the requirements and then overturn it.

finally, after the product is launched, it is necessary to have a highly abstract, concise and easy-to-understand carrier to introduce the whole situation of the product. It is impossible to describe the introduction and promotion with complicated pages and words. At this time, the product architecture diagram will be a good communication medium to introduce the whole product concept, function and design.

3. How to draw a product architecture diagram

The above introduces what a product architecture diagram is and why it should be drawn. Next, it introduces how to draw a product architecture diagram. The drawing method of a product architecture diagram is mainly divided into four steps, namely: (1) determining the object; (2) Disassembling the structure; (3) mining relationships; (4) Expression output.

drawing method of figure 5-1 product architecture diagram

(1) determining the object

first, it is necessary to make clear what the scope and boundary of the product architecture diagram describes, for example, for a CRM system, whether to draw a business architecture diagram, a functional architecture diagram, an information architecture diagram or a mixed architecture diagram that combines various elements.

(2) Structure disassembly

After determining the type of the description object, it should be disassembled, for example, the business structure Tu Tu of a lending platform can be disassembled into pre-lending business, in-lending business and post-lending business. For example, outputting a functional architecture diagram of a CRM system can disassemble the functional modules of the whole CRM system, such as account management module, customer management module, user management module, authority management module, system setting module and so on.

(3) relationship mining

after the disassembly of the output object's architecture, it is necessary to discover the relationship between the modules. Similarly, taking the functional architecture diagram of CRM system as an example, when disassembling the functional modules of the whole system, it is necessary to analyze the relationship between the functional modules. There are four main types of relationships among the internal elements of the product architecture diagram: statistical juxtaposition, father-son inclusion, auxiliary support and bottom support.

(4) Expression output

After determining the relationship of each functional module, it is necessary to express the relationship, and the module elements with the same level need to be arranged together according to the parallel relationship at the same level.

for example, in the CRM system, the customer management module and the authority management module belong to the same level of juxtaposition. The relationship between the authority management module and the authority allocation function module belongs to the parent-child inclusion relationship. When expressing the parent-child inclusion relationship, the parent module usually includes the child module.

Secondly, some non-core functional modules of products or some functional modules outside products, such as SMS functional modules of third-party platforms, have played a certain auxiliary role in realizing the functions of the products themselves, showing an auxiliary support relationship with other product functional modules, and the auxiliary support module is drawn on the right side of the product architecture diagram.

finally, there is the underlying support relationship. For example, the membership system of a product is based on the account system, so the account system and the membership system belong to the underlying support relationship. The expression of the bottom support relationship is generally that the support module is below and the supported module is above. The graphic expression of these basic relationships will be introduced in detail in the following section with actual cases.

after the expression of the structural relationship within the whole boundary is completed, check whether there are any omissions or errors as a whole, and match the title of the whole architecture diagram after the inspection. The title of the architecture diagram is often a description of the whole architecture diagram, usually placed at the top or on the left and right sides of the frame, and finally output a complete product architecture diagram.

Einstein once said: If you can't describe a thing clearly in the simplest language, you have not understood it. For the product architecture diagram: if you can't describe a complex product structure clearly by arranging and combining simple rectangles, it means that you haven't really understood the product you made. Therefore, in daily product work, we should cultivate our habit of drawing product architecture diagrams, cultivate our ability of abstract thinking, and assist ourselves to complete product scheme design efficiently.

original address: webe.com/articles/157113.html.