๐พ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐? ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐?
Having a good idea is just the start of the long and tricky process full of pitfalls that is product development, letโs see how we can minimize the risk of getting lost along the way!
๐๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐:
om the initial idea to the final product, we will need to go through multiple iterations at almost every step of the process. Failing to understand this can lead to a frustrating feeling of stagnation or, even worse, underestimating the time and budget needed to bring our idea to life, increasing the chances of failure in our entrepreneurial journey. (Check the link to the video ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ช๐ญ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต-๐ถ๐ฑ in the comments below)
๐๐ด๐ถ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐: without losing track of what our final goal is, we need to be able to adapt the plan to the continuous evolving conditions around our business: obstacles like
- ๐ Design or process issues
- ๐New competitors
- ๐Material shortages
- ๐Team turnover
- ๐New available technologies
- ๐Unreliable suppliers
require constant adjustments to our initial plan and the ability to shift priorities accordingly. We must build a ๐๐ผ๐น๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ฐ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ to make sure we donโt lose track of our progresses andโฆ be ready to demolish and rebuild our plan multiple times along the way.
Letโs now see what the main stages of product development are:
1๏ธโฃย ย ย ย ย ย ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ญ: ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐
This first stage is made of multiple steps:
๐ก ๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ:
itโs the light bulb, thatโs when we find that thing that the world needs and that is not yet available, at least in the part of the world we identify as viable market. Or it could be a stroke of inspiration that comes to us in a dream, like our deceased grandma whispering the recipe for the best business idea ever!
๐ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต: This is the stage where we check whether our idea makes sense. Before investing money and time into an idea, we need to make sure whether there is a viable market for it. We can start by interviewing our friends and close circle or using internet platforms to share our idea and gather feedback. This step is crucial for two main reasons:
๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ: the need of explaining our idea to strangers will make our vision more real, weโll be able to pinpoint its flaws by just talking about it.
๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐: the first feedbacks coming from this step will give us a third party point of view on the potential value of our project: we can use these feedbacks to adjust our concept until weโre satisfied with the result, and start building the First MVP (see the link to the video in the comments below)
๐งฉ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง:
Now that we have a rough confirmation that our idea makes sense, we can start building a framework for our project, a solid foundation upon which develop our product. We can split this phase in the following steps:
โ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐ญ ๐ฌ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ : whatโs the point of going if we donโt know our destination? Stating clear targets for each core performance of our product is crucial! It will help us visualize our goals and assess our progress towards reaching them.
โ ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ: also called target deployment, is the phase we must understand whether we can achieve our targets with the current technology/team/resources available. Thatโs when weโll answer questions of the kind:
-
- Is the is the project technically feasible with the current technology?
- Is the project financially viable and within budget constraints?
- Are there any legal or regulatory constraints that need to be considered?
- Is our team capable or available to execute the project?
- Are the possible alternative and cheaper solutions?
โ ๐๐ซ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ค ๐๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ข๐ฌ: Before taking action, it is essential to conduct a risk assessment to identify any weaknesses in our project and ensure that we address them during the early stages of the engineering phase. By identifying the risks beforehand, we can prioritize our actions and prevent ourselves from reacting to events rather than controlling them.
โ ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ : A project without a timeline is just a hobby. Now that we have defined our product, its risks, and targets, we need to establish a reasonable timeline to complete each step. This will not only help us keep track of time but also break down our development into smaller, manageable steps.
Once we’ve completed these preliminary steps, it’s time to dive into the actual development phase!
2๏ธโฃย ย ย ย ๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ ๐: ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ
๐ชด ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ:
This is usually when the budget request starts increasing, so it’s crucial to have planned everything in a structured manner and calculated thoroughly the budget needed to bring our idea to life. If we approach this stage with a weak concept analysis, we could end up running out of budget halfway through our journey, ultimately forcing us to give up on our dream of revolutionizing the world with our innovative idea.
This stage is an iterative loop consisting of several steps:
- Engineering/Design
- Prototyping/Virtual Validation
- Testing and Validation
- Issue Reporting and Resolution
- Release of MVP
The steps may vary depending on the product we’re developing, and some of them can be run in parallel while others can be shortened. There’s no golden rule except relying on our experience and the outputs from the concept phase. Thus, we must tailor the process to fit the specific product we’re working on, constantly refining it to improve efficiency and productivity.
๐๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ:
The ability to find the minimum number of iterations needed to achieve the desired outcome while respecting budget, time, and quality constraints is what sets a great product developer apart from an average one. That’s why conducting a preliminary risk analysis is crucial. It helps us identify potential obstacles, allocate proper resources to each activity and develop a contingency plan to minimize risks and keep the project on track.
3๏ธโฃย ย ย ย ย ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ฏ: ๐๐ฎ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ต
Although this stage is formally out of the development stage, I thought to include it in this article because itโs the actual finalization of our work.
Once our product is reliable, ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ณ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ.
At this stage, our mindset must change significantly. As we commit a significant budget to start production of our product, we can no longer rely on the iterative concept. Any further iterations at this stage will result in an unsustainable loss of time and money. Therefore, it is crucial to successfully complete Stages 1 and 2
This stage is when we
- ย Build the ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐๐ข๐ง
- ย Find a ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
- ย Set up the ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐ฎ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐ ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฌ
- ย ๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐๐ญ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ง๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ๐ฌ with manufactures to build our product
- ย Start m๐๐ซ๐ค๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ : we need to make sure people know about our product
- ย Organize ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง: identify the channels we want to use to distribute our product
๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ
Product development is not really a straight road from our idea to the final product, itโs more ITERATIVE process that needs organization, motivation and a lot of adaptability. If approached with the right mindset and team, itโs for sure one of the most fun activities we can jump in!