You can invent the next iPhone. You don't have to be Steve Jobs reincarnated to develop and create an amazing new product.
Product development is fun and exciting. It's also hard. So, for five tips to remember when developing a product to make the process easier, keep reading.
1. Know Your Customer
The adage in retail, "The customer's always right," applies to product development, too. Needless to say, your customers will have to see value in your product to buy it.
What does your target consumer want, need, and prefer? Research answers to that question on social media and Amazon. Customers are perhaps more accessible than ever before, so solicit feedback from them.
2. Study Your Competition
Knowing your competition is as important as knowing your customer.
There may already be products out there that do what you want your product to do. In that case, return to the drawing board to improve your product.
See how competing brands do business right and wrong, from product development to marketing. Learn from their strengths and avoid their weaknesses.
3. Set Goals
A product created without a vision is almost doomed to fail. A vision for a product includes what you want it to achieve. It also includes if your company's attempting to enter a new market.
Maybe your company's trying to corner the market on a product category. Whatever the goals are, they should reveal why you're developing the product and what it'll do for the company.
4. Be Able to Pivot
Goals are vital. So's the ability to flexibly pivot throughout the product development process.
Your initial idea will be flawed in at least some way. A flexible business plan will recognize what is and isn't working. It'll then adapt to feedback and change when required.
Even the best companies pivot, like Groupon, Starbucks, and PayPal. Pivoting properly at the appropriate time can reap untold financial benefits.
5. Prepare for Post-Launch Life
The way most companies do things, their customers only interact with the service and sales teams after a new service or product launches. Such companies are wrong.
Your company should have a thorough plan for how the product development team will provide customer support after launch. Staff members should have access to comprehensive education and training.
The product development team should consult service and sales teams early in the game instead of only training them when the product's ready to launch. That way, the whole company can collaborate on the total customer experience, from marketing to product support.
The Joy of Developing a Product
While there are some steps to follow, developing a product is still a highly creative, organic endeavor. The late, modern-day king of product development, Steve Jobs, was known for his creative genius and eccentricity.
Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and maybe you are the modern product gods. Discover more about the wide world of products in the site's Tech section.