Product development refers to the process of designing, producing and introducing a new product or service into the marketplace. It requires extensive research, analysis and testing in order to bring it to fruition.
Step one in developing a product idea should be evaluating whether it makes sense for your business. This involves estimating market size and understanding customer needs.
Market Research
Market research provides businesses with important customer insights to make more informed decisions regarding new product development or improvements to existing ones. Market researchers often collect this data using methods like focus groups, telephone interviews, surveys and questionnaires.
Market researchers can collect information from competitors or other market players to identify trends and opportunities within the market. This is particularly useful when developing new products as it gives companies the edge they need over rivals in terms of getting to the market first.
Once a company knows exactly what its plans are for producing, initial market research needs to take place. This may take various forms such as gathering consumer perceptions and attitudes towards a concept or prototype. Here at Drive Research, this process usually begins by creating a screening survey for participants so that those that fit our criteria may join. Our final report then follows suit accordingly.
Product Requirements
At this phase, the product development team defines their requirements to develop their product. These specifications could include any physical characteristics, features or properties based on user preferences or the intended function of the product; as well as software dependencies or third-party integrations required to bring this vision to fruition. Finally, guidelines may be drafted regarding releasing final versions of software to users.
At its heart, an ideal product requirement document should clearly outline how the finished product will solve customer problems when released to market. A MoSCoW prioritisation technique should be employed to break down product components into “Must have now”, “Could have later”, and “Won’t have at all”, with clear justifications provided by development teams working on key aspects. This safeguards against adding features which add cost without significantly increasing user value.
Design
Product design is the process of conceptualizing a new product from its inception to creation, including brainstorming, prototyping and testing. This step is essential in making sure that the final product meets customer needs while being feasible to manufacture; additionally, product design ensures users experience uniqueness that creates brand loyalty and strengthens consumer trust.
After conducting research and consulting with customers, designers develop ideas for designing a new product. These may come from many different sources – internal employees or market analysis being among them – before selecting several of these ideas and developing prototypes of them.
Prototypes are then tested to see if they meet customer requirements, with feedback used by designers to revise designs and test again until all product requirements have been fulfilled. Once this process has concluded, the design can be sent off for development by sending it off for coding by developers.
Development
At this stage, product development teams develop ideas and concepts in order to identify a product that meets market requirements. They research competitors, the industry and any potential issues with new products; furthermore they establish how it will be made and where its resources will come from.
Once a product concept has been identified, the team examines it more deeply through conducting concept studies and determining if manufacturing it would be feasible for a company. They may even create a prototype.
The next step in product design is identifying its final design. Teams should take customer needs and desires into account to ensure the final product is appealing, safe, easy-to-use, meets performance standards, and meets pricing demands accordingly. In collaboration with marketing, teams may also assess customer pricing demands so as to set an appropriate price point while reacting quickly to feedback on changes that customers suggest for product changes or modifications.
Testing
Product testing is an integral component of product development that gathers consumer feedback on various aspects of a new product or service. This feedback reveals potential marketing strategies and allows companies to create an offering which competes effectively with others on the market.
Tests can also reveal risks associated with your product. For instance, changing it may have unintended repercussions that compromise customer experience – using data from product testing you can determine whether your changes pose a threat to your business before unveiling them publicly.
Participating in testing ensures that every team member has an equal stake in developing products that meet user needs and expectations, making it easier to act on testing insights as they arise. Tools like Hotjar Highlights and our Slack integration make getting your team involved easy; with them you can automatically share and analyze customer and product feedback within your team.
Commercialization
Commercialization (or commercialisation) refers to the process of turning an innovative new product or service into something marketable and saleable. This step in product development is crucial because it opens doors to new business opportunities and could determine its ultimate financial success or failure.
Step one of commercialization begins with conducting market analysis and research to ascertain whether your product has any promise in the marketplace. Doing this research can also help identify specific target markets for marketing it effectively in this competitive marketplace.
Once you have compiled all of the information, the next step should be creating a prototype and conducting product trials. This allows you to gather user feedback and make necessary modifications before entering market. Once the prototype is finalized, production and distribution can commence with extensive planning to ensure quality is preserved while meeting financial goals.