Reading Notes: 'Building the Right Product'

I’ve seen many people in my circle read this book and share their notes, so I took some time to skim through it myself.

Especially as an indie developer, I feel like books like ‘Building the Right Product’ easily draw me in. Who doesn’t want to build the right product?

Unfortunately, I personally don’t think this book has much to offer—it’s light on substance and more suited for a quick read. The main reason is that in the AI era, the ideas and methods in the book are completely outdated and irrelevant. This isn’t just about this book; I think many books on processes and methods are becoming obsolete, much like current software. On the other hand, books focusing on history and theoretical research have some staying power and can withstand the test of time.

Still, there are a few points in this book that I found valuable.

First, it continuously instills one basic idea (almost like drilling it in) that most products, most of the time, are destined to fail. This cold splash of reality was eye-opening but true. This reality isn’t entirely negative; instead, it prepares me mentally, making me realize that it’s not easy to make something successful—failure is more of the norm. What I need to do is keep trying, over and over.

“Trying over and over” is something Zhang Xue often says. I really like Zhang Xue and appreciate some of his heartfelt comments. For instance: “If you don’t do it when you’re young, you’ll regret it when you’re old. Even if you fail, you won’t feel regret.” (This statement even inspired me to start indie development.) Another one is: “If I don’t have others’ talents and resources, but I work ten times harder, why shouldn’t the result be mine? It must be mine.”

In short, in product development, failure is common. Persistence is needed.

Another memorable concept is Pretotype, a term introduced in the book. We usually know prototype as “Prototype,” but the author introduces Pretotype.

What is Pretotype?

In the book, it’s translated as “pre-type” in Chinese. Compared to “prototype,” it’s a step further back. In industrial design, a “prototype” is something that basically works, while a “pre-type” is just a form and feel, without any actual functionality.

The book shares the story of the founder of Palm. After a heavy and costly development failure, he came up with the Pretotype idea. He wanted to create a handheld phone, but the technology wasn’t mature yet. So, he made a phone from a wood block that matched his ideal size, printed some interfaces (very realistic drawings) and stuck them on the wood, and even used a chopstick as a stylus.

To understand the needs and feelings of real users from a user experience perspective, he carried this “pre-type” product everywhere—to meetings, to meet clients. Whenever he needed to order food, take notes, or arrange tasks, he’d pull out this wooden phone and chopstick stylus and mimic the operation.

He did this strange thing for a long time, but it greatly helped when creating the actual product. This example left a deep impression on me.

Finally, another valuable reminder is after the MVP version of a product is released, it’s necessary to introduce it to real users and gather data. This part was quite enlightening for me.

I used to find it hard to take this step. Mainly because I was hesitant to spend money on this initial promotion; I always felt promoting within my circle was enough. But in the early stages, if you want to gain real user feedback, some necessary promotion is indeed crucial.

Overall, there weren’t many other memorable parts. As a whole, the book suits quick reading.