Product Development Process and Product Discriminators

Introduction to the Product Development Process

For a new product to be successful in the market, one must ensure that it has undergone a structured product development process. This process takes a product through a series of stages that begin with ideation and end with the introduction of the product to the market. These stages are aimed at understanding consumers, markets, and competitors in order to ensure that the product will deliver superior value to its intended customers. The product development process is a cycle through which an idea is converted into a viable good or service.

In the case of a new electronic product, the idea should undergo the eight steps of the product development process: idea generation, idea screening, concept development and testing, marketing strategy development, business analysis, product development, test marketing, and commercialization (Gopalakrishnan, Libby, Samuels, & Swenson, 2015). This phased approach ensures that schedule, resources, and costs remain under control.

Idea generation is the first step and involves a systematic search for product ideas. However, since the product to be launched has already been determined, this step can be bypassed. Idea screening—which involves filtering ideas to select the most promising one—will also be omitted, as the product idea has already been chosen and requires only market justification. The product development process will therefore begin with concept development and testing.

Concept Development, Testing, and Marketing Strategy

Concept development is the creation of a detailed version of the new product idea. A product concept uses consumer-oriented language to distinguish itself from a raw idea and typically includes visual representations of the proposed product. A well-developed concept must be precise enough for readers to fully understand and mentally visualize what is being described. For the new electronic product, at least three distinct concepts should be developed so that the most attractive option for target customers can be identified.

Concept testing involves presenting these concepts to target customers, either physically or symbolically, to determine whether a particular concept has strong consumer appeal. Because it is not feasible to present a physical electronic product at this stage, graphics and detailed descriptions would be used to represent each concept and gather customer feedback.

Having identified a promising concept, the next step is developing the marketing strategy for the new product. According to Golder and Mitra (2018), the marketing strategy will consist of a description of the target market, planned value proposition, sales and market share goals, and profit objectives. This stage also involves formulating the product's planned price, its distribution channels, and the overall marketing budget.

Business analysis is the fifth stage and involves reviewing projected sales, costs, and profits for the new product to determine whether these figures align with established objectives. Sales estimates can be based on the sales history of similar products. With a sales forecast in place, it becomes easier to determine expected costs and profits. Additional costs that can be estimated from the sales forecast include marketing, research and development (R&D), operations, and advertising expenditures. Together, these figures enable an assessment of the product's overall financial attractiveness.