Definition

Product development process refers to all the stages a new business concept goes through to arrive at a successful product, innovation or service in the market or commercial world. It is a system of organized tasks or steps from which an innovative firm or individual develops business ideas into marketable goods or services.

A product begins its life cycle from an idea, freshly conceived in the mind and later developed by research and continuous screening and consultations conducted alongside the market analysis. This process is where the product is theoretically sharpened to suit the market demands and the vision of the business idea owner. The design, frame, capacity, and features are well spelled out for the product developers to understand.

Then the product goes to the physical development phase where it is physically engineered and designed according to the pattern set out from the research and analysis. For product owners to anticipate error issues, flaws and highly valued features by consumers, the new product must be tested by selected consumers and feedback will be obtained.

Then the product is taken back for final reviews and improvements after the desired series of test. At this point, the product is ready to be launched. Launching a product, however, may include several other details such as marketing strategies and securing investments. The product is then finally introduced on a commercial scale. However, a responsive product may have to consider reviewing the product’s market performance such as level of demand, complaints, market availability and so on.

A product development process combines all these stages to ensure a new product is well developed and has a highly rated market performance. Some of these processes are intertwined or varied as dependent on the type of product involved, but the availability of an organized product development process will keep the expenditure and time used under control.

Steps in product development

In summary, these are eight steps usually carried out in the development of a new product:

  • Idea generation
  • Research
  • Concept testing
  • Business/Market analysis
  • Product development
  • Test marketing
  • Market introduction
  • Review of market performance