Do you want to transform a simple idea into a market ready product? Ignite the curiosity about how groundbreaking products are born? Most of the business starts with a simple idea but innovation and diversity of that idea brings gigantic success to the business. Taking through the conceptual journey to concrete ideas gives life to your product development process.
The ultimate product development requires market research and analysis as an initial phase then goes concept, test and then final launch of your product. Using this blog as a detailed guide, discover the importance of research pivots in product development. Let us help you turn ideas into reality. Let’s take a closer look!
Choosing a product development model.
Whatever method you choose, ample time must be given to the team to analyze the complexity of the product. Each step needs time investment and to mitigate the challenges to ensure a successful development process.
The product development process in 5 stages
Here are five important steps to consider when delving into the world of product This detailed blog guide covers techniques, strategies, testing and concept development all in one go.
Stage 1: Brainstorming and ideation
The initial stage of product development is focused on innovative ideas generation. Get all your minds together and pen out the ideas. A rough roadmap to your final product or a simple list of different concepts can do the job. Research evaluation and ruling out is an upcoming stroke after the idea is finalized.
Here goes the list of sources where you can get profitable ideas to take maximum advantage in less time.
- Online customer trend trackers
- B2B industry publications
- Software marketplaces
- Crowdsourcing Forums
- SEO trends based websites
- Web forums
Ideas can be generated through Hyper-local issues, like if you lack spare parts for the heavy bikes in your city, it can be branched out from there. These demand supply features can easily be identified through observing current customer requirements.
During the early stage, chalk out a few questions that can detect customer needs like; Who is my target customer? What specific need(s) will my product satisfy? How will I communicate the value of this product?
A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis is another suitable option during the identification stage. It is an easy method to avoid sinking time into the wrong product for your target audience. Here’s an example of a SWOT analysis for a smart watch:
Strengths:
- Sleek, modern design
- Strong battery life
Weaknesses:
- Limited app compatibility
- Higher price compared to competitors
Opportunities:
- Growing interest in fitness tracking
- Potential partnerships with health tech companies
Threats:
- Intense competition in the wearable tech market
- Rapid technological advancements from rivals
This type of analysis single out stronger choices for the product concepts before you start requesting customer feedback in the upcoming stage. This stage is crucial for a product development
This stage is crucial. If you still have questions or need further clarification, you need to consider our product development services as well.
Stage 2: Research and Idea Screening
The ideas you have brought out need to be filtered through a process called screening. Probaby, internal and external processes are leveraged to get the most actionable date from this phase of product development. You will validate your target customer response and secure product confirmation.
Before working on surveys and assembling focus groups, seek feedback from your current hires. Also you can work with business consultants if you don’t possess industry knowledge to avoid the pursuit of unnecessary complex ideas.
Once you are done with preliminary research and identified your targeted customer’s needs- pain points, price, features and fringes.
Harvard business recently reviewed companies that invest in comprehensive market research during the product development phase experience a 20-30% upsurge in product success rates.
These are common method adopted for research:
- Online surveys and polls
- Social media Q&As
- Product giveaways
- Creating a “coming soon” landing page
- Running targeted paid advertisements
- Using Google Trends to research demand
This stage sows the seeds of your marketing strategy. Pulling taglines, ad campaigns and customer feedback. Competitor analysis is another key factor in getting a clear picture of your current counterpart and their products. If there are similarities you identify your niche.
Stage 3: Concept Development
After screening only a few well received and realistic ideas are strained out, with a comprehensive plan a final launch can be handled. Evaluate the cost of designing, manufacturing, packaging and logistics of your leading product idea. Decide whether to use a third-party vendor or create an internal system where necessary.
Chalk out a plan about the human resource and capital resources you will be needing for your working product. Also start working on your potential marketing plan and larger business strategy that include revenue and market share of the product.Take note of legal considerations, too. All this information is critical to building a strong business case and securing investors later on.
Stage 4: Prototyping and Evaluation
In this stage, you’ll give life to your product concept. It’s time to go for design and production. You’ll formulate an actual prototype or an approximate mockup. Some businesses run a small-scale release at this point. It’s also an option to gather a select group of your target customers to analyze the nearly completed product.According to latest survey conducted by Forbes, Businesses that draft and test prototypes see a 25% reduction in development costs and a 50% faster time-to-market.
This is the crucial stage as here you can work on technical issues and add highly demanded features. Especially if you are developing an app, you need to run a beta test.
Your planned product will decide the cost and length of time needed for this stage. Required industry licenses, internal policies, and other requirements will play a key role, too.
This final testing stage, you can make your last tweaks and determine whether you’re ready to move into large-scale production and officially launch your product.
Stage 5: Product rollout and iteration.
This stage is also known as commercialization , when your product enters the marketplace. This is the launch of (MVP) Minimum Viable Product. It is necessary to include all core features that distinguish your products from other competitors.
Your support operation must be ready before the product launch. Customer and technical support should be ready to go! Also verify the pricing and distributing required details to the team of sales, marketing and distribution and so on.
Utilize your previous research experience and testing rounds to confirm when and how to promote your products. Test marketing ideas with your target audience and iterate as required.
Funding your product development
Product research and development is a crucial process and as a startup if you have limited working capital you likely need some expert help. With expert sourcing opportunities and securing the best deals for the product development BrandNewMD is the priority of numerous customers.
Remember, diligent plans and abundant resources won’t guarantee success. Achieving optimal marketing fit is crucial, this requires meeting customer needs by following the key stages of product development.
