Recommended preface to "WeChat Legend Zhang Xiaolong": Implement minimalism and persist in refining user experience

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Every time you open the WeChat App on your iPhone, you will always see a splash screen of a blue earth. This photo was taken by the Chinese meteorological satellite “Fengyun 4”. It also symbolizes the historical development from the origin of mankind to the Chinese civilization. It aims to show the rivers and mountains of China to hundreds of millions of WeChat users.

What’s intriguing is that although everyone sees this familiar picture of the blue earth every day, I guess many people don’t know whose ingenuity it was in the first place, let alone the real purpose of placing this photo. Just imagine, the universe is vast, how small and lonely human beings look in comparison! Everyone is always lonely deep inside. Fortunately, WeChat can now help communicate and connect interpersonal relationships. Of course, we can also say that this is the romantic sentiment of Zhang Xiaolong, the “father of WeChat”.

Compared to Jack Ma, Kai-Fu Lee or Lei Jun, not every Taiwanese reader may know Zhang Xiaolong, but I am quite familiar with it. This is not just because I use it every day. This famous instant messaging app, and because I am very familiar with his past experience as a software engineer and product manager—after all, I have not only used Foxmail developed by him, but I have also worked for two Internet companies that develop and provide email services.

The rise and fall of Zhang Xiaolong

Today, Zhang Xiaolong is already an influential figure on par with Ma Huateng, Lei Jun, and Zhou Hongyi in China’s Internet industry. His wealth and influence are quite astonishing. But few people know that he also had times when he was down and out… On March 26, 2000, “People’s Daily” published a comment on the fourth page titled “[Free software is hungry and full of impulse] (https://www.xiaohui.com/prg/best/zhangxl/zhangxl6.htm)”, describing Zhang Xiaolong as a tragic figure.

Zhang Xiaolong once said something emotional: “From the soul to the appearance, I can count every detail and every allusion of it. In my heart, it has a soul, because every piece of its code has my consciousness when I shaped it at that moment.” Although he has encountered setbacks in the workplace, he has never lost his passion for product development, and he does not easily make concessions and compromises on user experience and value. Many people only see the huge commercial value brought by WeChat, but ignore his persistence in product thinking. He not only believes that great products should meet people’s emotional needs, but also believes that product managers are people who stand beside God.

Because I have also been a product manager, I can particularly understand why Zhang Xiaolong feels this way and even said these words. When I published articles with similar concepts on the website “Content Hacker”, I also felt sad. The reason is simple, because the product manager is like God, not only building the system but also formulating the rules of the game, allowing the group to evolve on its own in this system. If you think about it carefully, the reason why WeChat was able to

Standing out from within Tencent and later being supported by hundreds of millions of users, isn’t all this attributed to the team led by Zhang Xiaolong, who has enough understanding of human nature and group psychology?

Recommend this book as a must-read for product people

Therefore, when I heard a while ago that Da Shi Culture Publishing House intended to introduce the book “WeChat Legend Zhang Xiaolong”, I felt very excited. If you are starting a business, or you happen to hold important positions such as product manager or software engineer in the company, I believe this book can bring you many new perspectives and inspirations. Even if you are not engaged in related work yourself, or you are just a WeChat user, I think you should take the time to read Zhang Xiaolong’s story. In addition to reading [this book](https://www.books.com.tw/exep/assp.php/vista/products/00108316 86?utm_source=vista&utm_medium=ap-books&utm_content=recommend&utm_campaign=ap-201909) When you read the story, you can better understand what kind of experience and emotion this product maniac wants to bring to the world.

“It’s difficult to know what you want, but it’s easy to know what you don’t want. So, just say ‘no’ to most product suggestions.” I really like this sentence of Zhang Xiaolong, and finally I give it to everyone. I hope we can all stick to this purity on the road of life.

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★ Photo Credit: Jonas Lee

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