Finally, we have reached the final layer of product building: the representational layer.
The work of the figurative layer is to visualize the product, that is, to make the product look like what everyone sees on their mobile phones and computers. The purpose of figurative is to let users feel the product intuitively, and can quickly use the product to solve his problems.
Representation is the last layer of product construction, and it is also a layer that directly deals with users. The user's perception and emotion of the product are directly determined by the concrete layer. So the focus of this layer of work is details, details, or TM details.
The work of the representational layer is mainly divided into the following two parts: interaction design and information architecture. In fact, there is also a visual design, but visual design belongs to the designer's field, and basically does not belong country email list to the work of product managers, so this part is temporarily excluded.
1. Interaction Design: How Users Use It
Interaction design defines how users use a product. Interaction design in the computer age is a new type of discipline to reduce the cognitive friction between computer systems and the real world.
The purpose of interaction design is to reduce the cost of learning when you switch from real-time physical products to software products.
A person will feel uncomfortable when using software products for the first time, but the degree is more or less. And good interaction design can minimize this sense of discomfort and minimize the time for users to adapt.
So how to do a good interaction design?
In the masterpiece "The Road to Interaction Design", it is said that a good interaction design needs to do the following:
Simulate the real world as much as possible, so that users can easily transplant their experience in the real world to software products;
The product should be simple enough that people can learn and use it in a very short period of time. No one likes complex products, because complex products make people feel stupid, and no one is willing to admit that they are stupid;
Every action needs instant feedback. Because in reality I get instant feedback on everything I do, I can hear a knock on the table, and I can feel the cold when I pick up the ice.
If a product can do the above points, then basically it can be judged as a successful interaction design.
Second, the main points of interaction design
The main points of interaction design are actually three words: clear, timely, and few steps. In terms of expansion, it is a clear functional layout and level, timely operation feedback, and as few operation steps as possible.
Doing this requires the following four principles: highlight the important, weaken the less important, aggregate the relevant, and hide the unimportant.
Interaction design is an obvious science that has been developed for decades, and it is impossible for me to explain all the elements in an article here. Therefore, I will stop here today, and I will give you a good idea. If readers are still interested, they can consult the relevant literature on their own, and I will not be too long-winded.
3. Information Architecture: What we want to tell users
Corresponding to interaction design is information architecture, which complements interaction design and constitutes the concrete layer of the product.
The term information architecture sounds unfamiliar, and I was dazed for a long time. The various books I found were also in various circles. I felt that a simple thing was extremely complicated, and I felt completely clueless when I read it.
Therefore, I simply gave a definition to information architecture based on my years of work experience and thinking: Information architecture is the way of combining content. The goal of information architecture is to let users understand what your product does and what value it can bring to them in the shortest possible time.
The main points of information architecture are: clear hierarchy, aggregation of related information, and display of information as flat as possible.
In fact, information architecture does not need to be paid too much attention in the design process of actual products. Many people read and read about getting into the devil. Before making products, they must divide the information architecture of several levels according to the book, and what kind of architecture system to make. .
In fact, in the process of designing product prototypes, information architecture will naturally appear in your mind, and there is no need to study the hierarchy and structure of information architecture at all.