In today’s competitive world, businesses endlessly experiment with new products but unfortunately, most new products fail and are withdrawn from the market. According to market research, the failure rate of new products can be as high as 80-90%. History is replete with such failures.
Numerous factors can lead to the failure of new products, but a key contributor is the failure to follow the established new product development process. Simply investing your passion and effort into creating and launching a product is insufficient. It is equally important to follow the industry’s best development processes. Let’s examine the 7 stages of a new product development process.
Stage 01: Idea Generation
The new product approach starts with generating a product idea. It involves brainstorming new product ideas or ways to improve the existing product. Idea generation helps lay a solid foundation for your new product concept and sets it on the path to success.
Generally, there are two sources for generating new ideas:
- Internal Ideas: These originate from various areas within the company such as the research and development wing, marketing, customer support, technical team, company salesman, or distribution channel members. In some cases, to have a flow of ideas and promote new generation ideas, companies often organize various brainstorming sessions. The main purpose of organizing brainstorming sessions is to collect several diverse ideas from which the firm can then select the most feasible and promising ones.
- External Ideas: External ideas come from outside sources such as studying your competitors, examining marketing trends, and, most importantly, feedback from your target audience. It is very important for enterprises to keep their eyes and ears open, and more particularly, their mind, to gather clues from external ideas and experiment with those ideas to develop a new product.
In parallel, run a SWOT analysis to assess your organization’s position on the generated idea. Utilizing the SWOT analysis framework, you can evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This process aids in identifying competitors’ weaknesses and pinpointing their product pain points.
Stage 02: Idea Screening
Once the product ideas are gathered, the next crucial step is idea screening. As no company can afford to pursue all ideas simultaneously, idea screening helps businesses to filter the generated ideas and select the most promising ones. The future prosperity and success of the company depend greatly on the choice of product concept. The ideas that do not align with the objectives and requirements of the company get abandoned at this stage.
In order to eliminate unsound concepts before devoting resources to them, the screeners should ask several questions:
- Will the consumers in the target market benefit from the product?
- What is the current level of competition or anticipated competition for the proposed product?
- Is manufacturing the product technically feasible?
- How much is the market segment or target market expected to grow?
- Will the product be profitable when produced and delivered to consumers at the intended price?
In idea screening, businesses must analyze factors such as market potential, profitability, likely sales volume, production facilities, availability of raw materials, possibility of using existing plant and machinery, sales force and distribution channels, company’s financial resources, and many more. All these factors lead to a solid business analysis before beginning serious development work.
Stage 03: Concept Development and Testing
Concept development and testing play a critical role in the development of a new product or service. All ideas that pass the screening stage are then developed into product concepts.
A product concept is a detailed description or blueprint of your idea, incorporating the target market for your product, as well as the features or benefits of your product that may appeal to your customers. In concept development and mobile app testing, the concept/product idea should be exposed to target customers so that their reactions can be obtained for further evaluation. This process helps identify key perceptions, user needs and wants associated with the product or service.
Also Read :Top Benefits of AI On Mobile App Development
It is crucial to address the following inquiries at this stage:
- What characteristics must the product possess?
- What impact will the product have on consumers?
- What varieties of the product are going to be offered, and what is the fundamental concept of the product?
- What price range will buyers accept for the product?
These questions help assess different ways to design the product and choose the right shape, purpose, and features for further improvement.
In concept development and testing, we need to not only discuss the concept with the customers but also involve showing them a prototype of the product. This process aids in obtaining relevant feedback from them. Based on the feedback received from the customers, the company should be able to evaluate the product’s acceptance and its potential for sales.
In this phase, evaluation encompasses not only the product’s technical specifications but also the product’s attributes in terms of customer needs and market requirements.
Stage 04: Marketing Strategy and Business Analysis
The purpose of this step in the new product development process is to set profit expectations. This step helps you analyze the value of your product from a business perspective.
Marketing strategy: It serves to guide the positioning, pricing, and promotion of your new product. Once the marketing strategy is planned, the product management department can evaluate the business attractiveness of the product idea. Some questions to consider are:
- Does this product meet the current market needs?
- What distinguishes this product from those created by our competitors?
- Can we enhance the differentiation of this product from what our competitors offer?
Business analysis: It comprises a review of the sales forecasts, expected costs, profit projections, and return on investment (ROI). It is important as it provides insights that can help determine whether or not the product is likely to be successful. If it satisfies the company’s objectives, the product can move to the product development stage.
- Can the company earn a return on investment with the new product?
- How should the product be priced?
- What is the growth rate of the market in which we will be selling our new product?
Generally, a business pricing strategy focuses on the overall goals and objectives of the business, while a marketing strategy focuses on the marketing activities that help achieve those goals and objectives.
Stage 05: Product Development
During this phase, the concept takes a more definite form, incorporating all the envisioned elements from the previous phase. The goal is to create a prototype of the product that closely matches what the consumers want. Engineers make drawings and designs, and then build the MVP prototype according to the set requirements.
A minimally feature-rich minimum viable product (MVP) could be released and used in the market for gradual and iterative development. Modifications to the MVP are naturally dependent on client feedback which is collected through efficient coordination and communication
To keep your project moving on the right path, ask the following questions:
- Does anything seem out of place or unnecessary?
- How do users feel when using the prototype?
- What features are missing?
- What do my customers dislike about my project?
Another important aspect of product development is product testing. It helps you validate ideas in the early stages of design, identify and fix areas of friction, test usability, and save money by reducing the risk of rework or, worse, building something customers don’t want.
Stage 06: Test Marketing
After the product idea takes shape in the form of a prototype, it is important to reassure yourself of a positive market response. For this purpose, test marketing is the most viable option. Releasing the completed product to a sample market is known as “test marketing,” and it is done to evaluate how the product will perform under the chosen marketing plan. For the executive contemplating test marketing, it is important to first focus on several strategic questions:
- When should you conduct a test?
- What is to be tested?
- How long to be tested?
- What are the success criteria?
There are two different testing techniques you can use:
1.Alpha testing: This testing is done to identify issues before a product is made available to the public. Internal staff of the company, such as testers and Quality Analysts (QA) personnel, carry out this type of testing.
2.Beta testing: It is an opportunity for actual users to use the product and give their feedback about it. Beta testing is the phase that follows alpha testing, in which the developed product is tested by a larger group of users, typically outside the organization that developed it. the aim of the test marketing is to validate the entire concept behind the new product and prepare the product for launch.
Stage 07: Product launch
After the marketing test, the product is ready for introduction to the larger market. This final stage entails production, distribution, marketing, sales, customer support, and other key functions critical to achieving the commercial success of the new product or service.
To ensure a successful launch and track its performance, make sure that your product, marketing, sales, and customer support teams are in place. Below are some tips to help with launching a successful product:
- Develop a top-notch online marketing strategy and combine various types of content for advertising.
- Hold a social media contest and award your product to the winners.
- Run strategically placed ads on different platforms.
- Be transparent in your product marketing so that consumers understand exactly what they are purchasing.
- Tie Your Launch to a Larger Event or Trend
- Promote, promote, and promote your product everywhere and to everyone.
Create a strategy for tracking user behavior and/or gathering feedback from early users. You’ll need to keep an eye on the success of your product launch and make adjustments if it doesn’t live up to your expectations.
Looking for New Product or Android App Development Companies? Look no further!
It is beyond dispute that new products provide a means to target new markets, sell more, and increase revenue streams. However, very few companies possess the knowledge or resources to independently develop new products from scratch. This is where Mobibiz comes in to help.
Mobibiz: Your Trusted Partner for New Product Development
At Mobibiz, we provide end-to-end development solutions to help clients develop top-notch products or mobile applications. An agile development methodology is ingrained in our DNA, and this is what we implement while carrying out all our development activities.
We follow a top-notch product and mobile app development process that puts the needs of the customer at the center of all our development efforts.
Why Choose Mobibiz?
- Human-centric product development
- Evolutionary Architectures
- Product Thinking DNA
- DevOps mindset
- Test Driven Development
Wrapping Things Up………
Studies show that new products launched on the market fail at an alarming rate. New product development involves significant risk, particularly when investing time and money into a new product. However, by following standardized product development procedures, firms can reduce the likelihood of a failed product and produce a high-caliber item that accurately reflects their brand.
Building a top-notch product requires a top-notch partner, and Mobibiz could be that partner for you.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- What is New Product Development?
New product development in general is the process of turning a market opportunity into a product that can be sold. The product can be tangible (something physical that one can touch) or intangible (like a service, experience, or belief).
- Do you have an in-house engineering and development team?
Yes, we have. Our staff includes engineers and designers with graduate degrees and extensive industry experience.
- What kinds of products have you designed before?
We designed, prototyped, and launched various products ranging from Android mobile apps to websites, chatbots, AR Development, and more. For development, we employ the latest tools and futuristic technologies.
- Is outsourcing a good idea for product development?
Outsourcing product development can help you reach the market more quickly because it allows you to concentrate on your own business while a different company handles the design and production procedures.
