Wellness Wisdom vol.33: 15 Mindful Product Principles from Allen Zhang, Father of WeChat

Wellness Wisdom vol.33: 15 Mindful Product Principles from Allen Zhang, Father of WeChat

This Is How You Design Your Mobile App for Maximum Growth

In the world of product management and mobile app design, there are certain principles and insights that can help guide creators towards success. In this article, we will explore the wisdom of Allen Zhang, the Father of WeChat, and combine it with tips from the article "This Is How You Design Your Mobile App for Maximum Growth" to provide a comprehensive guide for product managers and app designers.

Allen Zhang, the creator of WeChat, approached product management as an art rather than a commerce. He believed that a product should be seen as an impressive work of art, combining intuitive design, human psychology, and technological feasibility. Zhang emphasized that being a product creator is like being in a relationship with the users, and product managers must have big hearts to truly understand and serve their users' needs.

WeChat follows the "Grand Design" approach to innovation, which involves a top-down management style. All features have to go through Allen for approval, resulting in a singular and coherent identity for WeChat. This approach ensures that the product remains focused and avoids embodying conflicting opinions. Additionally, Allen models WeChat's design process after Dieter Rams, a renowned designer known for his ten principles of good design. These principles include being innovative, useful, beautiful, easy to use, unobtrusive, modest, honest, timeless, paying attention to small details, and being environmentally friendly.

One of Allen's key principles is to make the best tool and get users out of the app as fast as possible. He believes that technology should help increase efficiency and encourage users to put down their phones and engage in real-life interactions. WeChat implemented features like sending a Drifting Bottle to meet new friends, which enabled users to send voice and text messages that would be picked up by another random user. This feature aimed to foster human connection and delight users.

The Golden Principle according to Allen is that the user is your friend. He prioritizes treating users with genuine empathy and avoiding monetization strategies that negatively impact daily platform usage. WeChat limits ads in its social feed to just 2 per day, respecting users' needs and interests. Allen believes that a platform should empower creators to make money off authentic and quality content themselves, enabling tipping directly to creators.

Quality, not openness, is the greatest good that a platform can deliver, according to Allen. He believes that a platform's core responsibilities lie in providing breadth and diversity of content while ensuring its quality. Quality content determines the kind of person a user becomes and the thoughts they have. Allen's view also reflects the regulatory reality of China's internet, where platforms are held responsible for the content they contribute.

WeChat aims to alleviate stress and provide authentic socialization experiences. Allen understands the core human need for socialization and believes that communication is the process of inculcating one's self-image into another person's mind. WeChat's Moments feature allows users to post photos of their lives, fulfilling the need for social connection.

When it comes to designing mobile apps for maximum growth, the article "This Is How You Design Your Mobile App for Maximum Growth" provides valuable insights. It emphasizes the importance of onboarding users effectively and avoiding over-educating them. Instead of using sliding screens that provide more reading about the product, the article suggests using "tool tips" layered on top of UI elements. This way, users can learn about the app's features while taking actions in real-time, learning by doing.

Simplicity and clear, dominating actions are crucial in mobile app design. The article advises against presenting equal choices or possibilities of accidental taps on the wrong button. Every screen should have one clear action, reducing the cognitive load on users. Additionally, rewarding users for every tiny action and adding a progress bar can increase conversions and motivate users to complete tasks.

Furthermore, identifying the main traffic sources and focusing on making it easier for more people to come through those gates is essential. Understanding the core use case of the product and building it explicitly into the app can also drive frequent engagement. Analyzing user behavior and identifying drop-off points can help pinpoint areas of improvement and fix negative behavior triggers.

The article also highlights the importance of defining one main metric for your app. This metric should be an action that users can take within the product. By maximizing this metric and increasing installs, the app can experience sustainable growth. However, it is crucial to continuously evolve and adapt the product to meet the evolving needs of users.

In conclusion, combining the insights from Allen Zhang's product principles and the tips for designing mobile apps for maximum growth provides a comprehensive guide for product managers and app designers. Three actionable advice that can be derived from these insights are:

1. Approach product management as an art: Focus on intuitive design, human psychology, and technological feasibility to create a work of art that serves users' needs and fosters human connection.

2. Simplify and reward: Design mobile apps with simplicity in mind, providing clear, dominating actions on every screen. Reward users for every action and consider adding a progress bar to increase conversions.

3. Define and maximize the main metric: Identify the one main action that users can take in your app and focus on maximizing it. By increasing installs and optimizing this metric, sustainable growth can be achieved.

By incorporating these principles and taking actionable steps, product managers and app designers can create meaningful and successful products that prioritize user needs and drive maximum growth.