Fundamentals of Product Development

• Product Development. Process of developing, testing and commercializing product or service with the ultimate objective of solving the problem of the primary target market.
• Product Development

  1. Developing a product or service description.
  2. Creating a prototype
  3. Testing the prototype
  4. Validating the market
• Developing a product or service description. A clear product or service description is important because this will serve as the blueprint of all business operations.
• Developing a product or service description

  1. Use everyday language
  2. Highlight the features
  3. Realistic Superlatives as a product description
• Creating a prototype. Preliminary model or sample of a new product or service that is created to test a product concept or service process.
• Testing the Prototype. A vital process before an actual product or service is launched to the market.
• Testing the Prototype. Uncover final loopholes that need to be fixed before commercialization
• Testing Methods

  Focus Group Discussion

  Legality and Ethical Test

  Safety Test

  Component Test

  Product Costing Test

  Competitor’s product/service test
• Focus Group Discussion. The objective of the FGD is to identify errors, deficiencies, and issues that may impede the success of the product.
• Legality and Ethical Test. The entrepreneur must ensure that the product or service complies with all relevant laws and regulations and has necessary license or permit to operate a particular business.
• Safety Test. The entrepreneur must ensure that the product is safe to use, safe to be consumed and safe to be applied. In service, It should also must not be detrimental to the safety and health of the customer.
• Component Test. Each component of the product or service must be tested independently to Identify component failures for goods or service failures for services.
• Product Costing Test. The entrepreneur must examine every stage of the manufacturing process of the service blueprint to evaluate and finalize the costs involved.
• Competitor’s product/service test. The entrepreneur must test a similar line of products or the competitor’s product or service itself to compare and get the best practices to be applied to the new product or services.
• Validation of Market Acceptability. Process of finding out if the intended primary target market will be buying the product or availing the service.
• Validation of Market Acceptability

  Objective Questions:

  Will the primary target like the product or service?

  Will the primary target market buy the product or service when it is already in the market?
• Validation of Market Acceptability

  Activities to be used:

  1. Use the most strategic marketing research tool
  2. Prepare the relevant open-ended questions. Be straight to the point
  3. Find the market experts who also target the same market but are not directly competing with the entrepreneur.
  4. Collect all the data, analyze them, and prepare a summative report that answers the objective questions that were mentioned earlier