Another group of people are going to transfer! Is development difficult?

Product development status ...

On cross-border e-commerce platforms, operations and development have always been compared, and there is endless debate about which position has more development prospects. The reality today is that some operations people want to switch to development, while some development people want to switch to operations.

Product development is not going well?

Another batch of developers want to switch positions! Is operations more attractive?

Now, a number of product developments are in confusion.

Xiao Zhang, who has several years of work experience, said that product development is no longer as easy as before. In the past two years, a large number of new sellers entered the market with low prices, intensifying market competition; Amazon's requirements for products are getting higher and higher, and the life cycle of a product is getting shorter and shorter even after it is successfully developed. In the future, products need to focus more on differentiation and better meet market demand, which requires companies to have certain strength to transform and upgrade products. However, many times, the conditions for development are not met, and there are very few opportunities to launch competitive new products. Now he is considering changing his career.

Another developer also has no confidence in the future. Although he has made many hits in the past few years, his anxiety is increasing year by year. He cannot continue to produce hits.

It is understood that many small companies have multiple roles in operations, and their daily work already includes development content, so there is no need for development. There are also many cross-border e-commerce companies that have development positions, but they focus more on operations than development. Some operations can communicate with various departments unimpeded and have a lot of say, while development is like a silent product machine. If the product sales are not good, it is the development end that is blamed. If there is a problem with the product or the category is cut, it is always the development end that is fired, and if the product is a hit, it is the credit of operations.

In addition, many people who work in product development at distribution companies also complain that their daily work is highly replaceable and they learn very little professional knowledge. They feel that there is no future for development and plan to switch to operations next year. It is understood that there are quite a few people who switch from development to operations. It is generally believed that there is a certain connection between development and operations, and relatively speaking, the advantages of switching from development to operations are not small.

The love and hate between development and operations

It can be found that there is inevitable exchange of personnel between the two positions of development and operation. What is the relationship between development and operation? Ideally, the two cooperate with each other, each field has its own expertise, and ultimately achieve the effect of 1+1 > 2. However, in reality, it is common for operations and development to occasionally conflict or for personnel to have rifts.

A senior developer said that as experience increases, the research and requirements for products become higher, and the more energy is invested. Many products are meticulously crafted and polished bit by bit. When these products are handed over to operations, if the operations capabilities are strong, the five points, pictures, advertisements, etc. can be polished very well, and everyone is naturally happy; but many times, operations fail to highlight the advantages of the product, or even get individual parameters wrong, resulting in mediocre performance of the product after it is put on the shelves, or even facing elimination. At this time, the whole person will be very distressed and annoyed. If they can communicate well with each other, it's fine. If they can't communicate effectively, then there is no point in saying more.

If a product fails to be promoted, who is at fault, development or operations? Generally speaking, if a product fails to be promoted, the development team should think more about where they made mistakes. Operations also have problems. Only by correcting each other can we make continuous progress. However, in real life, many operations teams often think: "Development team actually likes such a common product, and it is the development team's fault if it fails to be promoted." Many development teams think: "Operation team's level is really poor, and such a good product cannot be promoted ..." Similar accusations are everywhere.

What are the conditions for good development? The only way to develop ...

In any case, operation is only one factor that affects the success of a product, but it is not an inevitable factor. If you want to do a good job in development, you also need to cultivate your internal strength.

Industry insiders believe that good development requires both strong data analysis and product analysis capabilities. Online, you need to understand data analysis to analyze the best products that can be operated ; offline, you need to integrate supply chain resources and find factories or suppliers to meet the needs. It is easy to get started in product development, but it is difficult to master it. One of the biggest difficulties is how to upgrade and improve the product, such as micro-innovation in materials, functions, structures, styles, etc. From entry to mastery, relevant workers need to pay a lot. Weibo blogger "Amazon Product Development" summarizes the stages that product development needs to go through:

Product development stage 1: The novice stage - everything seems new and interesting, and everything seems doable. A stroll around Huaqiangbei or Yiwu shopping malls feels like treasures everywhere.

Product development stage 2: Entry stage - start looking at new product lists to select products, and be curious about new links that come up.

Product Development Stage 3: Improvement Stage - Able to simply analyze products and competitors, and active in various communication groups and forums, improving one's product selection methods and ideas by communicating with more people.

Product Development Stage 4: Peak period - you begin to combine your theoretical knowledge to develop one money-making hit after another. During this stage when you are proficient in the product, your work enthusiasm is very high and you feel like you have been injected with chicken blood every day.

Product Development Stage 5: Burnout Period - After the peak period, you feel like you don’t know which direction to grow in. There will be a relatively long period of time where you rely on your past achievements. Then, after watching various sharings, you feel like you know everything and appear a bit arrogant.

Product Development Stage 6: In-depth Stage - Start to calm down, research best-selling products, and make up for the operational knowledge and supply chain knowledge. Look at the product development position from a higher perspective, extend to more comprehensive capabilities, and think more deeply about front-end research, competitor research, and supply chain exploration.

Product Development Stage 7: Personalization Stage - Accumulate a large amount of user demand information and supply chain resources and knowledge, be sensitive to some network information, and be able to think about some new product needs. Then start to create or improve products, study the product appearance with the factory, and begin to study and understand the prices of molds, product materials, etc.

Product Development Stage 8: The Big Boss Stage - You have a deep understanding of industry knowledge and industry rules, and can combine your own experience to provide guidance and suggestions to other peers; at the same time, you also remain humble and accept new development ideas.

This statement has gained wide recognition. "In fact, no matter whether it is a novice or a big player, product development must always follow the market and demand." Industry insiders believe that development is still a very promising position. Really good development always starts from the consumer's perspective and makes differentiated designs and functional innovations for products. There are too many tricks involved, and consumers' shopping concepts are constantly changing. All of these require developers to constantly learn new knowledge.