7 Steps That Involved in the New Product Development Process

Would you like to see your fresh or untested concepts become a successful product? New product development is here to save the day, so you can now relax. Innovating and coming up with cutting-edge solutions are the driving forces behind new product creation.

Data indicate that a large number of technology titans have turned to new product development in response to the covid-19 epidemic. Despite the fact that the pandemic impeded company development, organisations nonetheless adopted cutting-edge strategies to meet the challenge it offered. Others developed new items, while many improved their already existing ones.

However, are you aware of the ingredients that make a project successful? In order to create a good product for your consumers, you must place a strong emphasis on innovation and targeted audience engagement, which you can do by conducting customer surveys, interviews, watching social media activity, and conducting pertinent research.

Any enterprise's foundation is built on its ongoing pursuit of innovation. Product development is a continuous process that doesn't end untill the product is still in use, from coming up with ideas and putting them into practise to running tests and making sure there is support after release. What phases constitute the creation of a new product? The seven crucial steps in the creation of a new product will be explained to you in this article.

What is New Product Development or NPD?

Our minds may generate ideas on their own, but how can we turn those ideas into actual, living things?

There is just one response to this query: new product development. Utilizing market prospects, the process entails enssuring efficient solutions and their timely delivery in order to satisfy consumer requests.

The six various stages of software development and the introduction of products that already have a Proof of Concept are together referred to as product development.

However, the phrase "new product development" is used to describe the creation of an entirely original concept, the execution of which involves a significant level of uncertainty with regard to the development and acceptance processes.

Numerous industry titans in a variety of areas can attest to the approach of the New Product Development process. The list includes Trello for task management and tracking, Airtable for managing relational data, Dropbox for cloud storage, Zoom for video conferencing, Figma for designers working remotely, and other similar tools.

You may get a better idea of how to create a new product by taking a look at each of the aforementioned steps in the following manner.

The Process of Developing a New Product has Seven Stages

Although there are sometimes a lot of hazards associated with product development, doing it in a coordinated way may greatly lessen these risks.

Stage 1: Developing an Idea

The creation of a fresh approach to product development is required at this stage, which may be accomplished by putting a strong focus on brainstorming sessions. These components are crucial to helping you solve your clients' concerns.

Discussions are the only way to generate ideas, and today's implementation processes must be efficient.

Here are some ways a company may do that:

1. Draw Attention to Customer Issues

Are you familiar with the unresolved problems that your target audience is dealing with? If not, here's an example of how to diagnose them.

• Personal Issues

Always look at the problems that your company is having before coming up with an idea. You can surely come up with a one-size-fits-all solution by focusing all of your attention on a single problem.

Just as Twilio's creator, Jeff Lawson, realised, it is imperative for any organisation to comprehend and recognise the relevance of digital presence and innovation. He later launched his communication-based software solution despite the lack of productivity at the firms he had previously worked for.

This was a creation of his imagination, and its motivation was to close the communication gaps that stood in the way of his success the most. Twilio, the product of his genius, was born as a result of this motivation.

The development and launch process was filled with many highs and lows, but nothing could break his unflappable spirit.

• Classify Every one of the Listed Issues

Using the 4U technique recommended by Michael Skok, the creator of Startup Secrets, this phase entails evaluating the applicability of the concerns and solutions that have been narrowed down.

The U’s that make up 4U are described in more depth below -

Unworkable

It's important to assess if the proposed product ideas can actually solve your problems and close any gaps in the current customer experience. Will the product be able to match market needs is another important concern that comes up.

Unavoidable

Is the problem the product is designed to solve entirely avoidable? Understanding whether resolving that issue is a requirement or a choice is crucial.

Urgent

Is the problem serious, and do consumers want it corrected immediately? If the answer is yes, you may take advantage of this chance to fill a market gap with a unique product.

Underserved

Is there a product out there that can address consumer issues? You may take advantage of this situation by shopping for vacuums in the marketplace.

• Producing Potential Solutions

Once a problem has been correctly identified, it is time to look for remedies. Every difficulty that a user encounters has the potential to lead to the development of a prospective new product, which is a process that involves everything from detecting a problem to coming up with a creative solution.

In essence, it is crucial that we find unique answers for each problem, regardless of its type. If you have an established product, you must make sure that its approach to issue resolution is original.

For instance, Slack and Zoom are both SaaS development platforms that aim to encourage cooperation and communication. But Zoom stands out because it makes it possible for customers to host webinars, which has now emerged as their USP, or unique selling proposition.

• Focusing on Specific Issues and Solutions

You may greatly simplify your work by making a chart that lists all the challenges that were shortlisted and their corresponding answers. In reality, you may divide up the duties among the team members by using the given real-world issues. Try repeating, repurposing, or updating your strategy if a stakeholder is still unsatisfied with the ideas.

Replicate

Making a product that is an exact copy of one made by a rival while introducing it in a manner that is appropriate for contemporary market circumstances is referred to as replication. Users who want to utilise MVP must first set up a company that can support certain unusual later-stage extra functionalities.

Re-Purpose

This word describes the procedure of changing an existing business model, much like how LinkedIn developed LinkedIn Learning, an e-learning platform for professionals. It also resembles an e-learning platform for students, despite the fact that it is organised to incorporate new opportunities in order to broaden its reach.

Upgrade

This idea of new product development is all about changing an old business model with a superior business plan. Such a replacement results in greater performance, increased speed, successfully addressing the difficulties that a rival is experiencing, and introducing new functions.

Stage 2: Idea Screening

The adoption of a concept that has remarkable potential and can guarantee success is the second step. Several opinions from experts in the subject must be gathered in order to develop this one paradigm-shifting notion.

A Proof Of Concept, or POC, which is crucial to realising a company idea, should take precedence during the new product development process. It would be pointless to search for concepts that are unsuitable.

The Agile Development team will be a huge asset to you on your path since it can handle all the technical challenges that assist customers narrow down the ideas that merit developing a Proof of Concept for.

One comes to an understanding of their SWOT, or strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, when they are involved in the process of shortlisting new product development concepts. This is accomplished by a thorough review of the concept to identify areas where strengths outweigh flaws.

Obtaining your 2*2 SWOT grid is all that is required to implement SWOT on your product.

In conclusion, it can be inferred that the New Product concept needs to be original in order for people to purchase a newly produced product.

Stage 3: Creating and Evaluating a Working Concept

New product development is best approached by first creating a comprehensive prototype of the product and the user stories.

Assessing the value proposition is the first stage in developing and evaluating a hypothesis. Problems in the strategy will be uncovered sooner, allowing the team to make necessary course corrections early. As a result, technical debt is less likely to accumulate.

These are the simple procedures for creating new ideas:

1. Measuring the Benefit-Cost Ratio

A company has to provide a realistic image of the product from the consumer's point of view. One way to do this is by determining the gain/pain ratio, which is when:

Advantage: features and benefits that make the product worthwhile for the buyer. To what end are they putting up with this? Customers experience discomfort when they have to work too hard to use your product effectively.

2. Analyzing the Competition

Understanding the current competition in your industry is a crucial strategic consideration. A familiarity with the opposition facilitates deduction.

• What the rival fails to provide

  
  

• To what extent there is room for development

  
  

• The market's current emptiness

  
  

3. Listing the Key Features

A company's success or failure hinges on the user stories developed as part of its new product development software initiative. When compiling a list of this kind, it's crucial to ask: how is this feature creative, and how will it help address a specific issue?

4. Make a Value Proposition Diagram

Knowing a concept is sound and practical is one thing; being able to articulate it effectively to the end-user in their context is another entirely. It is crucial to provide the customer with an accurate depiction of the new product's capabilities.

It is ideal to illustrate this neat and tidy style using a value proposition diagram. These components should be included in a particular format.

5. Validation of Ideas

Once the value proposition has been finalised, it may be presented to the target audience. The notion hasn't been fully tested until we see how people react to it. When developing a new product, it is best to go through the concept screening process again if the first phases don't provide positive results.

Concentrating on these four factors will provide useful insights:

• Individuals who might use the new product being developed are singled out and become the focus group.

  
  

• Evaluating other potential solutions that may be given to the focus group

  
  

• Devising of a plan that includes everything from development and marketing to pricing and distribution

  
  

• Enhancing the product's discoverability and accessibility by highlighting its distinctive qualities. 

Stage 4: Business Planning and Market Research

The creation of a plan to communicate with a certain demographic is the central focus of each marketing campaign. For a new product development project, following McCarthy's 4 P’s of marketing may be the best and simplest approach.

To ascertain whether or not the costs associated with New Product Development are justifiable, which is whether or not they will generate a sustainable flow of value, a thorough economic evaluation will be conducted.

In order to make educated decisions about the selling price, it is crucial to first determine the product's base price. The most reliable way to determine the starting point of the cost is:

1. Cost-Reflective Pricing

At this stage, the ultimate price of the new product is calculated by adding the original manufacturing cost and the markup percentage.

Through the use of the cost-plus method:

• Budgeting $100 for manufacturing equals spending $100 on technology, development, and licences.

  
  

• The profit margin is 50%.

  
  

• Price: $150

An increase in conversion rates can be achieved by a business analysis team using the psychological price trick, which is the rounding off the final price with 5 or 9 digits.

Since we are dealing with psychological pricing, we should expect a drop from $150 to $149.99.

2. Pricing That Is Based On The Market

This cost is deduced from research into the distribution and pricing structures of products with similar features and functions already available in the target market.

Here are some things to keep in mind when picking a reasonable price:

• If your new product development initiative is going to address a critical issue for your target market, you can justify charging a premium price. 

  
  

• Pricing a new product at the same level as the competition is an approach that may seem safe at first. However, marketing efforts would need to be increased in order to compete favourably.

  
  

• Even if the new product solves problems in a different way, it is still advised to price it lower than the competition in order to attract customers who can be converted into loyal ones over time.

  
  

Stage 5: Creating the Actual Product

Once the new product development concept is solidified, the market strategy is written up, and the business analysis is finalised, the product life-cycle development process can proceed.

To kick off new product development, a prototype is created, and then a Minimum Viable Product is created.

1.A Model

This phase entails drafting the product's user interface and user experience before showing it to the project's decision-makers. This facilitates imagining how the final product will look and whether or not it follows ergonomic standards.

2.The concept of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

Work on the unique user stories for the new product in Agile is the main focus here. After planning, development, and testing are complete, a bare-bones version of the product is released to the public. The first reaction will determine the subsequent iterations.

Agile product development is the most effective method for new product development because it prioritises teamwork and open communication throughout the creation process.

This is preferable to the waterfall method because it allows for iteration at any point in the product development cycle to accommodate changing user needs. Despite their shared similarities, Waterfall and Agile are fundamentally different approaches to software development.

Agile's main benefit is the time it saves by keeping all the developers on the same page and working in unison.

Stage 6: In-Field Implementation

When a minimum viable product (MVP) is complete, the focus moves from product development to actual deployment. DevOps mindset and CI/CD pipeline implementation are necessary steps in this process.

Each phase of implementation consists of:

1.Affirm

This involves:

• New features are merged into the existing features' source code.

  
  

• The QA group makes sure that everything is working properly after the code has been integrated.

  
  

• To ensure that code is functioning properly, CI/CD tools like Jenkins perform automated unit tests and sanity tests.

2. Start building

This involves:

• The software artefacts are pushed into the registry by developers using Docker tools like Gradle, Packer, AZK, etc.

  
  

3. Deployment of Alpha C

This involves:

• Coders verify the functionality of the latest builds and their interactions.

4. Beta Rollout

This involves:

• Validating the new product's output performance and efficiency across all input scenarios via manual testing

5. Production Stage Deployment

This involves:

• This means that the product has been released into the wild and is now accessible to its intended audience.

Stage 7: Commercialization and Market Introduction

The term commercialization is broad enough to encompass a wide range of tactics used to guarantee the success of a new product. The process of commercialization involves the following:

There is nothing that can stop a product from gaining traction and becoming a product-market fit if all the aforementioned strategies come together smoothly.

For the product to be successful, the following promotional measures are required:

1.Marketing the Idea Instead of the Actual Item

Instead of droning on and on about how great the product is, focus on explaining what problem it solves and why it was created. In a nutshell, explain how using the product will improve the buyer's situation.

HubSpot, a product designed for marketers, was not a huge hit when it first came out. Customers were confused about the point of the now-popular product.

How, then, did they affect the rules?

Instead of promoting and marketing the product as a whole, they decided to focus on highlighting their USP. Inbound marketing was that special something.

In no time at all, they had established themselves as a market leader in the software product sector by raising public consciousness about inbound marketing. Sometimes the magnet effect can be achieved with just the right advertising.

2.Creating a Unique Brand Voice

People are always eager to hear what someone with a fresh perspective has to say. The marketing department plays a crucial role in this process. They need to find a voice that is consistent with the brand's values and conveys information clearly and persuasively.

Everything from blog posts to email blasts to website copy needs to be carefully considered and convey the intended message clearly. Finally, these components should have the ability to pique the interest of the intended audience.

3.Conducting Fascinating Webinars

It's possible to get high-quality leads by hosting webinars. Hold webinars to introduce the new product, explain how it will help the target audience, and detail the webinar's features.

Webinars can also aid in making content more discoverable and accessible.

• The customer-recognized features are straightforward to locate and employ.

  
  

• Capabilities the user is unfamiliar with can be easily discovered and utilised.

Webinars are a great way to reach an audience, and they are becoming increasingly useful as remote work grows in popularity. Simply by having a conversation about the product and outlining its benefits, you will see an increase in sales and revenue.

Pros of Creating Brand-New Products

Some advantages of sticking to the New Product Development process include the following:

• Helps determine if the idea can be implemented technically

  
  

• Promotes a quicker time to market

  
  

• Caters to the needs of the clientele

  
  

• Increases the probability of success

  
  

• Helps pay down technical debt

  
  

• Enhancement of feature creep handling

  
  

• Decreases the opportunity cost

Frequently Asked Questions About Creating Brand New Products

Why is it Necessary to Create Brand New Products?

When a company (or a startup) invests in new product development, they increase their chances of experiencing organic growth by introducing products that address actual consumer needs. Some considerations for developing new products are:

• Keep up with the ever-evolving demands of your customers.

  
  

• Enter a new market with your product.

  
  

• In order to keep one's competitive edge

  
  

• To launch a brand-new item built around game-changing technology.

  
  

• Assist in resolving a specific issue for a client. 

  
  

• Find a creative solution to a widespread customer complaint.

What Could be a Few Examples of the Fresh Thoughts for New Product Creation?   

It isn't always easy to come up with a great concept for a new product. Some tried-and-true methods for brainstorming potential new products are as follows:  

• Gathering client feedback to identify issues.

•