The success of any business is entirely dependent on how well it fulfills its promises. These promises are often made to the following.
- Customers
- Shareholders
This is the reason why so much effort is put into the launch of any product development solution.
Over the period of time, a number of hurdles probably show up, some of these are expected but most of these are unexpected. These obstacles are enough to slow down the product development cycle.
Other than that, only having an idea cannot result in a fruitful product launch. In fact, this is only the preliminary step to getting started. As soon as the market validation is completed and the first customers are identified, only then we can then begin the product development process.
Keeping in consideration this scenario, we have put together 4 Ps of product development in the form of four simple steps.
1. Proof of Concept (POC)
Proof of Concept (PoC) is a small technique to evaluate the assumption or design idea. The main objective of developing a PoC is to validate the functionality and to confirm a particular theory or concept that can be attained in development.
In the product development solution process, the term proof of concept regularly portrays some different procedures with different purposes and contributor roles. Vendor business probably uses a proof of concept to prove if a system serves some features of the objective it was created for. Once a vendor is contented, a prototype is made which is then used to look for funding or to explain to prospective customers.
2. Prototyping
Prototyping is a valued activity that permits the innovator to envisage the way product will work, it is a working interactive framework of the final product that provides an idea of the design, layout, and navigation. Although a POC demonstrates that a feature or product can be created, a prototype pours the light on the ways it will be developed.
Hence, prototyping is an iterative procedure. That is, in decontaminating the prototype there is probability to be a requirement to reprise a series of steps till approval has been attained.
Fundamentally, the developer must utilize the information collected and feedback established by the customers and/or end-user to redraft the prototype as essential until there is an agreement among all parties. In the improbable event that agreement cannot be reached after a complete series of redrafts then the viability of the development under the present constraints requires being re-examined.
3. Pilot
A small group of users is selected for the pilot run. This is done to attain feedback regarding product prior to going into production. The objective of doing this is to circumvent disaster at the production stage. By doing a pilot run, we will be able to save cost and time and we will be able to guarantee that the product is produced according to market requirements.
For all this to happen, the group of people must have an interest and expertise in this sort of product. The result of a pilot will assist the innovator as it would have given a reasonable understanding of the product. For this, it is important that the product is serving the purpose it was initially thought of. It provides innovators a chance to make alterations prior to going to production. Various pilots are probably required to guarantee the product is ready for production.
Successful pilots frequently end in production catastrophe if these pilots are not shepherded with the correct group. At sometimes the piloting is conducted with a biased group and therefore the outcome is not valuable for production and therefore, it is important to guarantee pilots are conducted and completed without biases.
4. Production
Once the pilots are directed effectively we are now prepared to go into the world of production. Similar to any other activities, this too has its difficulties. Few of the difficulties are:
- The consistency of the product
- Reliable quality and
- Regulatory agreements
There are various sorts of productions. The kinds of production are always utilized in automobile line, one off used in the specialist product and batch used in a clothing line. This phase is the most thrilling phase as it now touches a larger audience. And when it touches a large audience we would begin attaining customer feedback occasionally positive many times negative. We are required to be ready to deal with the undesirable feedback so we are able to create the product a successful one.
In the end, getting a product to this stages need lots of struggle, endurance, and finance. However, it would be a satisfying experience to see our product being utilized by a large audience.