What is product development

Most large cities also have art, design, or fashion schools where students are trained in these techniques. Administrators from these university or college programs can usually grant you access to their internal job board, where you can create a request for prototyping help. For objects like toys, household accessories, electronics, and many other hard-exterior objects, you may require a 3D rendering in order to make a prototype.

Artists or engineers who are trained in computer-aided design and drafting CAD software can be contracted to do this using UpWork or Freelancer. There are also user-friendly online tools such as SketchUp , Tinkercad , and Vectary for founders who want to learn how to create 3D models for themselves.

To get a 3D design turned into a physical model, makers used to have to get molds made for each part. Molds are typically expensive and involve setup fees for things like tools and dies that are used to cut and shape pieces of plastic and other hard materials. Luckily, with the innovation of 3D printing, designs can be turned into physical samples at a much lower cost with a quicker turnaround time. The MVP is a version of your product with just enough functionality for early customers to use.

It helps validate a product concept early in your product development process. It also helps product managers get user feedback as fast as possible to iterate and make small, incremental improvements to the product. Startups release the MVP to early customers then run experiments to gauge interest, test price sensitivity and messaging, and more. It begins the feedback process to bring ideas and suggestions based on customer needs.

This allows you to create iterations of the product and build something more valuable for your target market. While this phase will mainly involve finding manufacturers or suppliers , you may also factor storage, shipping, and warehousing into your choice.

In Shoe Dog , a memoir by Nike founder Phil Knight, the importance of diversifying your supply chain is a theme emphasized throughout the story. Finding multiple suppliers for the different materials you will need, as well as different potential manufacturers, will allow you to compare costs.

Sourcing several options is an important part of safeguarding your business for the long term. When looking for suppliers, there are plenty of resources both online and in person. While it may seem old fashioned, many business owners choose to attend trade shows dedicated to sourcing. Trade shows like Magic in Las Vegas provide the opportunity to meet hundreds of vendors at once—to see, touch, and discuss materials and build a personal relationship with suppliers, which can be valuable when it comes time to negotiate prices.

During the sourcing phase, you will inevitably come across the decision of whether to produce your product locally or overseas. It is a good idea to compare the two options, as they each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

The most commonly used sourcing platform for overseas production is Alibaba. Alibaba is a marketplace for Chinese suppliers and factories, where you can browse listings for finished goods or raw materials. A popular way of using Alibaba to find a manufacturer is to look for listings with similar products to your own and then contact the factory to see if they can produce your specific design.

After research, planning, prototyping, and sourcing is done, you should have a clearer picture of what it will cost to produce your product. Costing is a business analysis process where you take all information gathered thus far and add up what your cost of goods sold COGS will be so you can determine a retail price and gross margin. Begin by creating a spreadsheet with each additional cost broken out as a separate line item.

This should include all of your raw materials, factory setup costs, manufacturing costs, and shipping costs. If you were able to secure multiple quotes for different materials or manufacturers during the sourcing phase, you can include different columns for each line item that compare the cost.

Another option is to create a second version of the spreadsheet, so you can compare local production versus overseas production. Once you have your total COGS calculated, you can come up with a pricing strategy for your product and subtract the COGS from that price to get your potential gross margin, or profit, on each unit sold.

The last step in this methodology is to introduce your product to the market! At this point, a product development team will hand the reins over to marketing for a product launch.

You can still run a successful go-to-market strategy by using the following tactics:. Product development is the processes required to bring a product from being a concept through to reaching the market.

There are many steps required to take a product from the early stages in the product development process, from product idea generation and market research through to research and development, manufacturing and distribution. TWI can assist with your product development planning by advising on matters such as design, material performance and manufacturing processes.

We can also help to determine how your product will perform in service and the expected lifecycle. See how we can assist you. Product development strategies are important to ensure value for your potential customers, as well as ensuring that there is demand and that your final products are of the highest possible quality before your take the products to market.

The very best products also help society improve, whether through the product line itself or through the employment and income generation the new items deliver. On the business side of things, a new product can improve market share and create growth in a company, providing economic sustainability through new revenue streams. Of course, it can take years for development teams to take a product from the design process through to the point where it is ready to market and distribute.

As a result, it is important that a plan is put in place for any new or existing products to be successfully developed. A product development plan should cover the journey from concept to market and engage as many stakeholders as possible in the process to ensure their needs and concerns are addressed, while also engaging with the market to ensure the final product will have market value.

The stages of development required for a product team can be broken down into the following areas:. The first stage in creating a product is determining if there is a need for it in the market. By speaking with customers and taking on other research activities, such as test marketing and surveys, you should be able to tell if there is interest in your product and the problems that it will solve.

Just because there is a problem to be solved or an indication of market interest, does not necessarily mean that a product should be created.

Not every problem needs a product-based solution and there should also be a willingness for a customer to pay the required price for the solution too. You team can now begin to get creative and brainstorm ideas to design solutions that solve the problem and meet market needs.

This can lead to the creation of several potential solutions that will need to be assessed. Prototype design and creation can be costly, so it is worth taking time to assess and validate your concepts. This assessment can be carried out at a conceptual level to weed out those designs that are not worth pursuing further.

Once the proposed concepts have been settled, it is time for the product management team to create a roadmap for your product. How to report on progress against your product roadmap? How often should roadmap planning happen? Product development. Introduction to product development methodologies What is product development? What is agile product management? What is waterfall product management? How is kanban used by product managers? What is the role of a product manager in scrum? Release management.

Introduction to release management What is a sprint? How do product managers plan releases across teams? How can I estimate team capacity? How to create a product launch plan. Backlog management. What is a product backlog? What is the difference between a product, release, and sprint backlog?

What is requirements management? How to groom the product backlog. Feature prioritization. What are product features? What is a good checklist for defining product features? How do product managers prioritize features? What are the most common product prioritization frameworks?

What is user story mapping? What is user experience design? How should product managers use wireframes? What is the difference: Wireframe vs. Mockup vs. Idea management.

Introduction to idea management What is idea management? What is idea management software? Idea crowdsourcing. How do product managers gather customer feedback?

How can I come up with new product ideas? Idea prioritization. How do I prioritize product ideas? Finally, the product will then be launched into the marketplace. Depending on the product and the business, the stages of development may overlap.

Although the phases tend to begin sequentially and are interdependent, it is often expedient to begin a phase before the previous one has finished.

Market preparation, for example, can start before the product has been completely developed. Learn how to prioritize by making it a simple process, to build products that stand out. Learn more about how to source insight, choose the right prioritization framework and much more. Choose a methodology There are a number of frameworks that have been evinced to develop products for business. Utilizing one of them is an astute place to start. Product Development grows in complexity as an idea travels through the development process from concept to reality.

Following a framework is essential for retaining effective oversight and delivery of the project. Consumer understanding and attitude The seed of an idea may have been spawned in any manner, from a moment of clarity of a single individual to the collaboration of many groups based on a gap in the market. Integrating consumer intelligence throughout the development wherever possible will serve to keep the product relevant and market-fit, from early validation of the concept to real-world beta testing in later development.

A business relies on a steady stream of incoming ideas.