The Keys to Successful Product Development

A successful product development is based on philosophy, process and management.

Philosophy

Successful product development ensures that a product will:

·         Excite and delight clients, and

·         Generate a meaningful return on investment, and

·         Do so with little if any disruption to the organizational culture

Process

The successful product development initiative includes the following three components (yes, this is VERY high level)

·         Concept development, including market research, financial analysis, and feasibility analysis

·         Product development, including, but not limited to, systems development, clinical development (for pharma and device), operations development, planning and analysis, legal, regulatory and compliance review, testing (for software and technology) sales development and marketing development.  Obviously, there are nuances by industry.

·          Launch, including final sign offs, training, and execution of all launch tactics

This process ensures that the product launch is rationale and subject to appropriate scrutiny, but that the product does get launched on time and on budget and is not hampered by inappropriate scrutiny.

Keys to success in the process include:

·            A sound project plan including detailed timelines and responsibilities, and strict adherence to it

·            Buy in and input from all key areas

·            Constant scheduled and unscheduled communication with all key areas

·            Painstaking attention to detail without losing sight of the big picture

·            Ability to form consensus and make decisions in extremely political and turf-guarding environments

·            THICK SKIN

As always, we invite you to respond.