Product Management Mistake#2: In B2B2C there is C

Here in France, restaurant booking services such as La Fourchette or Restaurant Michelin are quite popular and it is really great to be able now to book a restaurant directly from your mobile phone or your PC without having to make a call. But not every restaurant enables that online booking and that is how I came across this product mistake.

So there is a very nice restaurant near my home called "Chez Marcel" and I wanted to book a table, so I went on Google on my mobile phone and looked for "Chez Marcel Saint-Mandé" (this is my town). 

Strangely, Google sent back a similar named restaurant in Central Paris whereas as specified "Saint-Mandé", anyway I arrived on Michelin restaurant website with the place I was looking for.

You arrive on the restaurant page and
need to click on "Voir le numéro" to
display the phone number

Now you see the number and cli..Wait!
Nothing actually happens when you try
to click on this button....

So there, I clicked on the button "display phone number" and that actually displayed the "phone number", so far so good.

Then I naturally clicked on the number to call the restaurant (as it is done everywhere else) but nothing happened! You cannot even copy the phone number to put it in your dialer!

This UX is so bad here because as a final user, I am sure I won't go there anymore since I know it is useless.

Since I remembered I liked the restaurant on Facebook, I went on FB to look for the restaurant and saw the same number. I clicked on it and...TADAAA! it worked!

The Facebook page of the restaurant,
you notice there is all important info

When I clicked on the phone number,
I can call the restaurant to book

So now, I know that it's better for me to go on Facebook to book restaurants I like (and LaFourchette for all those who have online booking). That's too bad for Michelin!

I guess one reason Michelin did not check it, is that their business model is based on people displaying the number. The more people display the number the more they can charge the restaurant showing they brought people in.

But apparently they got too focused on that and forgot that, OK, you display the number but to call the restaurant (personally I don't care to display the number, just connect me with the restaurant, please) is the final "scenario".

Calling the restaurant to book is the final goal and apparently Michelin forgot that...

So product managers, please remember your value proposition not only for the B but also for the C!

Chinese Hanzi Mnemonics #12: 工/work,worker

Today's Hanzi is 工 (gōng) that means work or worker depending on the context.
My tip is to think of a table/desk that is viewed from the side. Since I work at a desk, it's pretty obvious that when I see a desk, I think of work :)

工 (gōng) is a desk from the side

Chinese Hanzi Mnemonics #11:土/soil,earth

Today's Hanzi is 土(tǔ) that means soil, earth, dust.

No need to do some drawings here.

When I see 土, I immediately think of a cross on a grave. From there, I remember the Genesis 3-19 quote:
"Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return."

How can you be more explicit than that? :)

Day-to-day Product Management #4: 55% download increase with Facebook ads

Based on my previous experiment, I decided to run a Facebook Ads campaign for my mobile application I decided to spend 30$ to check whether the 25c per download would be linear.

Therefore, by spending 30$ and estimating a cost of 25c per download, I was expecting to get 120 new download. At the end of the campaign, I got 113 new downloads.

That's actually not far but I am quite disappointed because I was expecting some magic to happen but that was not the case :(.

Now I am going to try iAds (in-app ads from Apple) and a website.
Stay tuned!

Chinese Hanzi Mnemonics #10: 叫 (Jiào) / "be called"

Today's Hanzi is one you will rarely write and is mostly used verbally.

It is 叫 (pronounced jiào) and that means "to be called". The basic use is for presenting yourself (your first name only, there is another word for the surname).

ex: 我叫玛丽 （Wǒ jiào mǎlì）translates literally "I am called Mary"/"My name is Mary".

To remember the Hanzi, just imagine the left square as a big open mouth (remember ...) and the right kind of 4 as a hand placed next to the mouth. 

From there you can easily imagine someone calling someone else.

Product Management Mistake #1: Linkedin "Do what I say, not what I do!" (and 3 ways to solve it)

Recently, I was browsing job offers on Linkedin and I got quite surprised by what I discovered:

"LinkedIn sells a job posting/application service but does not use it for its own job vacancies!"

As you can see below, these 2 job offers (offer1, offer2 and I have put the screenshots because the links might soon be invalid) are for the Linkedin Parisian office and surprisingly you cannot apply to Linkedin positions directly on the current page!

Linkedin job offer in Paris

Linkedin job offer#2 in Paris

To apply you need to go the company website. I can understand why several companies do that (even though I hate it as an applicant) because it enables them to get more information about you and feed their information system. It is also a way to check about your motivation.

Nevertheless, I find it is a mistake for Linkedin to do that (they don't do it for their US-based position ;)) because it indicates they do not totally believe in their own application system.

As a potential customer, I would find it disturbing to have the job board selling me its application system and finding out that it does not use it itself!

To make some analogy, it would be like Apple enabling its appstore for 3rd-parties and using a dedicated appstore for its in-house applications (such as Garage Band). 

Nevertheless, Linkedin is great for networking and suggesting job opportunities. I find their application system great and it's a shame they do not use it for their own job vacancies.

In addition, here are some suggestions I have regarding their application system to make it even greater for job applicants:

• Be able to add more than 1 file in your application. As you can see below, you can only add 1 supporting file (either CV or Cover letter, not both :()

  

  Linkedin job application pop-up

  
  
• Store cover letters and be able to modify them inline. To make the Linkedin application system even more efficient, I would suggest to enable applicants to store cover letters from past applications. From there, you could edit them inline while applying to a job and send them to the recruiter. I would love that, especially for the mobile application!

• Filter jobs offers with apply now feature. I can understand recruiters would hate it because it would force them to use the full Linkedin package but as a job applicant, especially when I use the mobile application, I would love to be able to display only offers I can apply directly from the Linkedin app. 

Indeed, having access to offers I can only save to my account is really, really frustrating! Do Linkedin people really think I am going to click on the "apply on company website" button from my mobile phone? REALLY??

There is no way I am going to apply through company website on my phone!

As a conclusion, I would recommend Linkedin to stop forwarding its own applications to their company website and enhance at least their mobile application so it would really take into account the context you are in when using your mobile phone.

Chinese Hanzi Mnemonics #9: 手 and Mickey Mouse's glove

Today's Hanzi is 手(Shǒu) that means "Hand".

The way I remember it is by figuring that the three strokes on the right are fingers, the three strokes on the left are the 3 joints you have on your hand and the vertical one is for the thumb that is opposite to your other fingers.

But really? Only 4 fingers? Just remember Mickey Mouse has only 4 because Disney said it was easier to draw and my mnemonics are all about drawing so why would we want to put 5? :D

Even better, the three left strokes are also pictured in the Mickey's glove, so for 手, just think of Mickey Mouse and you are good :)

Chinese Hanzi Mnemonics #8: 女,子,好

Today, 3 hanzi for the price of 1!

•  女 (Nǚ) means woman: think of a pregnant woman
• 子 (zi) means child: think of a baby in its cover
• 好 (hǎo) means good, fine: a woman and her child together is good, right?

Even easier is to associate all these 3 hanzi and meanings with famous representations of Saint Mary and baby Jesus such as the following ones (a classical one and a chinese one :))

 

THE big difference between Product Management and Project Management

The Product Manager checking whether the Project Manager builds the castle he asked for. 

Here in France (maybe in your country too), product management is often confused with project management mainly because there is the word management in both. In addition to that, in software companies where the Agile Scrum methodology is used, the product owner is a kind of hybrid making the distinction even more complex.

Please note, that I am not saying that one is better than the other. We need both and it is important to really understand what they mean.

In France, management often implies managing a team (even if no hierarchical ties exists). The relationships involved in product management do not seem to be understood as managing a product team whereas a project team is often clearly identified.

As a reminder, the product manager is responsible for defining the right product to sell, at the right price, at the right time, at the right place and at the right cost to ensure his business is profitable.

On the other side, the project manager is responsible for producing the defined product, at the agreed time by using the agreed resources.

The main difference I see between product management and project management is that the first one is strategical while the latter is tactical.

That has several consequences:

• 1 Product can contain several projects. 1 Project is in one product (most of the time).
• Product is about outwards success (company vs rest of the world). Project is about inwards success (within the company)
• Product management is central. Project management is peripheral.
• Product manager conceive and plan. Project management execute that plan.

What do you think?

Chinese Hanzi Mnemonics #7: 飞(Fēi)/Fly(in the air)

To remember the hanzi 飞(fēi) that means "to fly", I try to picture a kind of goose/chicken.

Pretty obvious, isn't it?