Thread by @pacificleo

I spent the last couple of weeks in Hangzhou, China, on a work trip. This one trip was special because of the opportunity to observe and learn it presented. 1/n

For people in my line of work, visiting China is a bit like visiting the future. In this thread, I would share some of the things/trends I noticed from Product Management and UX standpoint. I believe its only a matter of time when we start observing them in India. 2/n

Here it goes . Grab some Coffee 3/n

Information Rich ( AKA Cluttered ) Home Screen will finally be understood ( and not just blindly copied ). 4/n

Apps, where the session starts at the start of the workflow by the user's own habit/preference(Social, News, E-commerce, media), will be Info rich. And those opened in response to an outside trigger( Bikes, Cab, POS) and toward the end of the workflow will be minimalistic.5/n

Notification will split into Categories: In an Info rich app, each pathway /funnel will have its way of enticing users and they will fight with other categories. Exhibit A: look at the tiny dots / numeric notifications / Pulsating icons /Pop-Ups in the video below. 6/n

Critical Message like P2P message, Txn confirmation, System /account message will run on outside of app push notification. 7/n

Mascots will evolve from being a gimmick to a tool to establish an emotional connect, engagement, and stickiness. Mascots have a calming effect on the user who is overwhelmed by a cognitive overload of info-rich UI and entice them to explore. 8/n

In China, everything from Traffic sign to police video to instruction manuals, have a mascot. It gives everything a playfulness. Think of it as Clippy at the start of MS Office. We might hate Clippy today, but it does serve a purpose.
9/n

People Hate Typing: Voice will be preferred Input mechanism for all unstructured free-flowing user inputs. Like chat text box, search, comments, email.
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Most People use WeChat to talk in a burst of voice messages . with the ubiquity of devices like Airpod and Jabra and software like Alexa, Siri, and google assistant it will only expedite. 11/n

Voice will overcome the literacy barrier for input /creation like video did for display and consumption. We are grossly underestimating voice and its impact. 12/n

We will see the emergence of voice commands for Frequently Performed Action. Voice Hot Word for Core Use case will be significant. Things like Add to cart, pay, show list. 13/n

People Hate Typing: Most of the structured inputs will move to QR Codes: Things like login, deep-link, Connect. You will see QR on everything from newspaper to Grocery bag to Navigation links to a feedback form. Bikes, Washroom, Doorlock. 14/n

As QR code gets ubiquitous we will see the rise of separate QR codes for every Action and every SKU. It will not be one QR / user. This expansion will present an exciting challenge for search/ranking and discovery in the primary search experience, inside the app. 15/n

Alan Zhang of WeChat was prophetic when he said: “The entry point for PC internet is the search box. The entry point for mobile internet is the QR code.” 16/n

Keypad Landgrab: Keypads will have special purpose buttons. Proprietary App-specific SDKs, which can be embedded in the third-party apps will be a big push from incumbent market leaders. 17/n

Keypad inputs will be vernacular and phonetic. It won’t be literal transcription and string match. Exhibit A: This is me searching Baimi: White Rice on Chinese apps. Look at the suggested search options. They are all in Chinese, not in English. 18/n

Fun Fact: Alibaba website is 1688.com. In Chinese, these numerals are pronounced as one as Yi(一), six as Liu (六), eight as Ba (八), so 1688 is read as Yi Liu BaBa. That’s Neat, IMHO. 19/n

The emergence of Voice Input and Vernacular search ranking will take localization beyond frontend and force people to create catalog entries in local language and have the phonetically optimized description from day one. It will be the SEO SEM of Voice.
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Chat will be universal UI: Everywhere for everything. It will lead to the widespread use of animated UI elements like these 21/n

envato.com/blog/subtly-an…

Video + Chat will be bigger than Teleshopping. A new class of service provider will emerge from developing tools for the seller to help them leverage this opportunity. It will be everything from logistic to modeling agencies to influencer management. 22/n

Things like Spot Credit / Pay later at Checkout will be significant. Obvious isn’t it? What's less obvious is that In addition to enticing existing savvy users to make that purchase. Credit availability will also drive adaptation of commerce and internet for first time user. 23/n

Seller will move beyond listing and shipping. They will be an active participant in the sales process. From selection to persuasion to support to cross-selling. Sellers will differentiate by content ( Rich Catalog, localization ) and persuasion (Chat, Free stuff, Bargain ) 24/n

That's all for now. Will share some more thoughts on other (Non-Industry) aspect of my china experience in next thread. Standard Disclaimer: These views are mine not of my employer, or my family or my landlord. They might not be mine tomorrow. 25/n