✨ 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

"The Red Queen Effect: Avoid Running Faster and Faster Only to Stay in the Same Place - Farnam Street"

A newsletter for the thoughtful. This newsletter is free because I believe everyone deserves to have access to wellness resources. What I uncovered was not so much a cunning businessman, but a deeply philosophical digital anthropologist and empathetic first-principles thinker.

Allen Zhang, the Father of WeChat, is not just a businessman but a visionary who approaches product management as an art rather than a commerce. He believes that a product should be perceived as an impressive "work of art" and focuses on combining intuitive design, human psychology, and technological feasibility. By prioritizing the relationship with users over commercial transactions, he believes that product managers must have big hearts.

Innovation is at the core of WeChat's product development process. While incorporating both the "Grand Design" approach and "Design Thinking," WeChat leans more heavily on the former due to Allen's top-down management style. All features go through Allen for approval, resulting in a singular and coherent identity for WeChat. This approach ensures that the product embodies a clear vision and avoids conflicting opinions.

Allen takes inspiration from Dieter Rams, a renowned designer, and models WeChat's design process after Rams' principles for tool design. He emphasizes innovation, usefulness, beauty, ease of use, unobtrusiveness, honesty, timelessness, attention to detail, environmental friendliness, and simplicity. By following these principles, WeChat aims to create products that are not only visually appealing but also highly functional.

Efficiency is a key goal for Allen when it comes to technology. He believes that the primary purpose of technology should be to help humanity increase efficiency. WeChat encourages users to put down their phones and engage in more in-person interactions. By promoting real-life connections, WeChat aims to serve delight and foster human connection.

WeChat's Golden Principle is that the user is your friend. Allen emphasizes treating users with genuine empathy and prioritizing their needs above all else. Despite the pressures of being a publicly-traded company, WeChat limits the number of ads in its social feed to just two per day. This approach respects users' time and ensures that the platform prioritizes their interests over monetization.

WeChat empowers creators to make money off of authentic and quality content themselves. By enabling direct tipping to creators, WeChat ensures that value creators can cultivate value without relying on the platform to pay them for their content. This approach fosters a sense of authenticity and quality within the platform.

Quality, not openness, is the greatest good that a platform can deliver, according to Allen. He believes that platforms should prioritize breadth and diversity of content, as well as the quality of that content. By offering a wide range of high-quality content, platforms can provide users with the freedom to choose what they consume while maintaining a responsible approach to content regulation.

Social products should alleviate stress and foster authentic connections, not engender stress. Allen believes that socialization is a core human need that WeChat strives to address through features like Moments, where users can post photos of their lives. By focusing on authentic social interactions, WeChat aims to create a platform that brings people together and reduces stress.

Allen emphasizes that products should not rely on "growth hacking." If a new product cannot grow naturally, it should not be marketed. Instead, the focus should be on creating a healthy product that gains traction over time. By prioritizing organic growth, WeChat ensures that its products are built on a strong foundation and provide genuine value to users.

Product managers should not be solely evaluated based on monetary KPIs. At WeChat, every product manager ensures that each feature or service has a meaning or a dream behind it. If a feature is solely designed for gaining traffic without providing value to users, it is likely to encounter problems and not stand the test of time. By aligning product development with meaningful objectives, WeChat ensures that its products are driven by purpose.

User research is a requirement for all product managers at WeChat. Through the 10/100/1000 Principle, product managers engage in 10 end-user interviews, read 100 user blogs, and collect feedback from 1,000 user experiences every month. This approach ensures that product decisions are informed by user insights and feedback.

While user research is essential, Allen believes in being selective with the feedback that is acted upon. Not every user request should be implemented, as it can lead to increased complexity and a loss of coherence. Allen applies two general rules of thumb when considering new feature requests: coherence with the existing design and simplicity in execution. By prioritizing these principles, WeChat maintains a cohesive and user-friendly platform.

Allen sees challenges not as competition from other companies but as the need to keep up with the changing tastes and needs of users. He believes that the greatest competitor for WeChat is itself, as it strives to meet the evolving demands of its users.

The best KPI, according to Allen, is hope. If WeChat can give its users even a glimmer of hope, then it can judge whether its efforts are aligned with the needs of its users. By fostering hope and positivity, WeChat aims to create a platform that brings joy and fulfillment to its users.

In conclusion, Allen Zhang's mindful product principles offer valuable insights into product management. By approaching product development as an art, prioritizing user needs, and fostering authentic connections, WeChat has become a platform that brings people together and serves as a source of delight and inspiration.

Actionable advice:

1. Prioritize authenticity and empathy in your product development process. Treat your users as friends and prioritize their needs above all else.
2. Foster organic growth by creating products that provide genuine value. Avoid relying on "growth hacking" techniques and focus on building a strong foundation.
3. Conduct user research regularly and make informed decisions based on good principles. Be selective with the feedback you act upon to maintain coherence and simplicity in your product.

By incorporating these principles into your own product management approach, you can create products that not only meet user needs but also foster meaningful connections and bring joy to users' lives.