Question

Picture yourself as a senior product manager in an industry you currently work in, or would like to work in (high-tech, financial services, consumer products, electronics, automobiles, restaurants, and so on).

Create a post describing your new product idea, including all six steps in the new product development process, in as much detail as possible.

Step 1-3: Initiating and Developing the Business Strategy

Step 4: Develop the Technical Aspects of the Product

Step 5: Performing Test Marketing

Step 6: Commercialize the Product

Answer 1

Let assume that I am working as a product manager in a mobile company. Our senior gives us a task to develop a new mobile phone which can give the tough competition in premium mobile phone segment. Then here we have six steps to develop a premium mobile phone which can give the tough competition to the mobiles of other companies already present in the market.

1. Initiating- Product initiation is starts form the idea. First we have to create a mindset that which kind of the mobile phone we want to develop. Because without any idea we cannot develop the product which we want to develop and also we cannot create the blueprint of the product. It means that without any idea we are direction less and hard work with direction is just a waste of the efforts, time and money. The idea of the product development can be generate by brainstorming sessions, analysis of the similar products already present in the market. For example in a mobile case, we are making premium phones then we must generate a idea for good looking and most advanced feature loaded phone with reasonable cost.
2. Development/Testing- In this phase companies try to collect the data whether the customer is ready to buy the product or not. This analysis in done with using the focus groups to collect the data of the customers. It is very helpful to predict that whether the product is acceptable in the market or rejected by the customers. This phase is very important phase for the project manager to save the time and cost of the company. In a mobile phone case, we develop a mobile and test in our company lab.
3. Analysis- If the product passes the second phase then the developer and the manager starts thinking about the product cost, marketing, profit, loss etc. This is the phase where the product in ready for the manufacturing and ready for debut in market. So all the financial and technical analysis is done by the product manager before launching the product in the market. After the development of a mobile phone, we calculate the manufacturing cost, stability and the profit gain by the mobile after launching in the market.
4. Product Development – After all kinds of analysis and calculation we actually create the product in this phase. We develop product in a short numbers because we are not commercializing the product in this phase. After development of the product tests on focus group and take the feedback from them and make the necessary correction after taking the feedback. This phase helps the company to avoid the product failure in the market. This phase follows a rinse and repeat model to refine the product. In this case we give the mobile phone to the focus groups and take the feedback from them regarding the performance of the product like battery backup, speed of the phone, display quality, features reliability etc.
5. Performing test marketing- In this phase we test the product in a limited geographic region. For example If we develop a mobile phone in china then first we launch the product only in china and wait for the feedback from the Chinese people regarding the mobile phone. This phase helps to rectify the mobile phone errors and also helps to predict the success of the mobile phone in other countries.
6. Commercialization- In this phase company ready to launch the product globally and starts marketing of the product in all over the world. For example we if develop a mobile phone in china and get the positive response from the Chinese people regarding the phone then the product manager and seniors starts to market the product globally. But for commercialization we must manufacture enough mobile phones to fulfill the demands from all over the world.