The 8 Stages Of Product Development

As a part of the modern economy, product development has become one of the most important aspects of ensuring consumers always have something to focus their attention on. For any business to succeed, it needs to be able to develop new ideas that can be made into products people wish to buy, and this takes time. In this article, we'll look over the 8 basic stages of product development.

1. Idea Generation. One of the most important aspects of developing a new product, idea generation is often referred to as the fuzzy end, namely because the idea is unfocussed and need s a lot of developing, but without this first spark, there can be no further developments.

2. Idea Screening. This is the process by which several key questions are asked, probing to discover if the idea has 'leg'. Questions that should be asked include: will the product actually fulfil a requirement in the eyes of the targeted consumer? Is it actually feasible to make the product and still make a good profit. It is not good having a genius idea that costs too much for anyone to buy.

3. Concept Development and Testing. This stage focuses on marketing and engineering details. A rapid prototype should be created so that the product is proven to be feasible. In this stage you would also focus a lot more on the target market and who in a given situation makes the decision to purchase.

4. Business Analysis. This is also a very important area of product development, whereby the potential profitability of a product is heavily analysed. Using tools such as the Fourt Woodcock equation, sales projections and profit margins would be looked at.
5. Beta Testing and Market Testing. This is when costs can increase. A working prototype should manufactured and tested among focus groups. Once these have born fruit, the prototype should be made in sufficient numbers that it can be sold to a test market, to see how it performs. This should be done before any full scale manufacturing costs are considered.

6. Technical Implementation stage. This stage would cover things like resource estimation, supplier collaboration and what-if planning.

7. Commercialisation. The product is launched at this stage and associated advertisements are created and implemented, and initial feedback is received.

8. New Product Pricing. This 8th stage looks at the pricing level of the product, to ensure it is at the right level. Forecasts are made of long term profits.