{"id":3267,"date":"2015-12-30T07:06:22","date_gmt":"2015-12-30T07:06:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/waymakerintromarketing1xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=3267"},"modified":"2024-05-15T15:34:06","modified_gmt":"2024-05-15T15:34:06","slug":"reading-improved-success-in-product-development","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/waymakerintromarketingxmasterfall2016\/chapter\/reading-improved-success-in-product-development\/","title":{"raw":"Reading: Improved Success in Product Development","rendered":"Reading: Improved Success in Product Development"},"content":{"raw":"One common cause of failure in the developing and marketing of new products is something called \"product-market fit.\" Marc Andreesen, a technology entrepreneur and investor who has written about this, explains that product-market fit is simply\u00a0being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.<\/em>[footnote]http:\/\/web.stanford.edu\/class\/ee204\/ProductMarketFit.html<\/a>[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nNew technologies enhance\u00a0the ability of companies to bring products to market quickly, but speed doesn't guarantee\u00a0the right product-market fit. Without a good\u00a0fit, companies risk launching a product that doesn't satisfy the market need.\r\n\r\nA couple of innovations in new-product development strategies have had a significant impact on the way companies improve their chances\u00a0of a successful fit.\r\n

User-Centered Design<\/h2>\r\n\"PhotoHave you ever found a product that seems\u00a0like it was made for you? You don't need\u00a0to read the instructions. You don't have to learn how to use it. It seems naturally to conform to your\u00a0preferences and needs. The creation of such products is the goal of user-centered design.\r\n\r\nUser-centered design is a product development process\u00a0in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. The\u00a0chief difference from other product design approaches\u00a0is that user-centered design tries to optimize the product around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing the users to change their behavior to accommodate the product.\r\n\r\nIn a user-centered design process the product team tries to\u00a0understand user needs and define the requirements to meet those needs\u2014but that's true of\u00a0any good product-design process. User-centered design requires the designers to test their assumptions about\u00a0user behavior and requirements in real-world settings\u00a0with actual users during every step of the product development process\u2014all the way from product concept and requirements to production and prelaunch. This recursive approach gives designers a steady stream of information\u00a0that confirms the original requirements or suggests needed modifications. The frequent user testing encourages designers to think of typical or recurring\u00a0user challenges as design requirements rather than problems that ought to\u00a0be solved by the user.\r\n\r\nFor\u00a0example, most educational institutions want to make the course selection and registration process easier for students. Portland State University decided to employ a user-centered design process when it set out to improve its own system. After a number of student interviews, the university\u00a0created a prototype of the new process. When they were ready to test the concept, the university registrar went to the homes of students and watched them try to work through\u00a0the course selection and registration processes on\u00a0their home computers. The idea was to gain information about students' real experience of these processes in the places where they actually\u00a0happen\u2014and make design decisions accordingly.\u00a0The home-setting experiment revealed a number of unanticipated design flaws and new requirements that hadn't come to light during interviews or simulations run in the campus computer lab. As a result, by prioritizing the user perspective, the university was able to design a much more effective\u00a0solution.\r\n

The Lean\u00a0Startup Methodology<\/h2>\r\nThe \"lean startup methodology\" has been described\u00a0by Eric Ries as an approach that\u00a0helps new companies achieve product-market fit during their earliest product launch. The methodology\u00a0is based on\u00a0the assumption that\u00a0it's essential to get real market data from product users as early as possible in the design process. The challenge, as you have learned, is that marketers don't\u00a0see substantial, realistic market data (which are used to refine the marketing mix) until well after the product launch. The lean startup methodology tries to get around this problem by shortening the time frame needed to capture the data.\r\n\r\nRies proposes that rather than launching a fully developed, full-featured product, companies should begin with a very limited launch of what he calls \"the minimum viable product.\" The minimum viable product (MVP) is the most streamlined product that any group of users will accept. According to this approach,\u00a0the company\u00a0develops and launches its\u00a0MVP, captures market and user data, and quickly uses that information to make adjustments for its\u00a0next minimal feature set. In each cycle of development the product team learns from actual market and user data, and uses them to refine the product and stay aligned with company goals.[footnote]http:\/\/theleanstartup.com\/principles<\/a>[\/footnote]\r\n\r\nThe lean startup methodology is used by organizations of all sizes, but it's\u00a0particularly well suited to small companies that can't\u00a0afford the risk of a single product-fit issue and to software-based companies that can launch an online offering to a user base without needing\u00a0complex manufacturing processes and distribution channels.\r\n\r\nNeither of these approaches will address all new-product challenges or\u00a0guarantee success, but both are considered\u00a0important innovations in the new-product design process, since they improve the odds of new-product success and reduce the cost of product failure.","rendered":"

One common cause of failure in the developing and marketing of new products is something called “product-market fit.” Marc Andreesen, a technology entrepreneur and investor who has written about this, explains that product-market fit is simply\u00a0being in a good market with a product that can satisfy that market.<\/em>[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

New technologies enhance\u00a0the ability of companies to bring products to market quickly, but speed doesn’t guarantee\u00a0the right product-market fit. Without a good\u00a0fit, companies risk launching a product that doesn’t satisfy the market need.<\/p>\n

A couple of innovations in new-product development strategies have had a significant impact on the way companies improve their chances\u00a0of a successful fit.<\/p>\n

User-Centered Design<\/h2>\n

\"PhotoHave you ever found a product that seems\u00a0like it was made for you? You don’t need\u00a0to read the instructions. You don’t have to learn how to use it. It seems naturally to conform to your\u00a0preferences and needs. The creation of such products is the goal of user-centered design.<\/p>\n

User-centered design is a product development process\u00a0in which the needs, wants, and limitations of end users are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process. The\u00a0chief difference from other product design approaches\u00a0is that user-centered design tries to optimize the product around how users can, want, or need to use the product, rather than forcing the users to change their behavior to accommodate the product.<\/p>\n

In a user-centered design process the product team tries to\u00a0understand user needs and define the requirements to meet those needs\u2014but that’s true of\u00a0any good product-design process. User-centered design requires the designers to test their assumptions about\u00a0user behavior and requirements in real-world settings\u00a0with actual users during every step of the product development process\u2014all the way from product concept and requirements to production and prelaunch. This recursive approach gives designers a steady stream of information\u00a0that confirms the original requirements or suggests needed modifications. The frequent user testing encourages designers to think of typical or recurring\u00a0user challenges as design requirements rather than problems that ought to\u00a0be solved by the user.<\/p>\n

For\u00a0example, most educational institutions want to make the course selection and registration process easier for students. Portland State University decided to employ a user-centered design process when it set out to improve its own system. After a number of student interviews, the university\u00a0created a prototype of the new process. When they were ready to test the concept, the university registrar went to the homes of students and watched them try to work through\u00a0the course selection and registration processes on\u00a0their home computers. The idea was to gain information about students’ real experience of these processes in the places where they actually\u00a0happen\u2014and make design decisions accordingly.\u00a0The home-setting experiment revealed a number of unanticipated design flaws and new requirements that hadn’t come to light during interviews or simulations run in the campus computer lab. As a result, by prioritizing the user perspective, the university was able to design a much more effective\u00a0solution.<\/p>\n

The Lean\u00a0Startup Methodology<\/h2>\n

The “lean startup methodology” has been described\u00a0by Eric Ries as an approach that\u00a0helps new companies achieve product-market fit during their earliest product launch. The methodology\u00a0is based on\u00a0the assumption that\u00a0it’s essential to get real market data from product users as early as possible in the design process. The challenge, as you have learned, is that marketers don’t\u00a0see substantial, realistic market data (which are used to refine the marketing mix) until well after the product launch. The lean startup methodology tries to get around this problem by shortening the time frame needed to capture the data.<\/p>\n

Ries proposes that rather than launching a fully developed, full-featured product, companies should begin with a very limited launch of what he calls “the minimum viable product.” The minimum viable product (MVP) is the most streamlined product that any group of users will accept. According to this approach,\u00a0the company\u00a0develops and launches its\u00a0MVP, captures market and user data, and quickly uses that information to make adjustments for its\u00a0next minimal feature set. In each cycle of development the product team learns from actual market and user data, and uses them to refine the product and stay aligned with company goals.[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

The lean startup methodology is used by organizations of all sizes, but it’s\u00a0particularly well suited to small companies that can’t\u00a0afford the risk of a single product-fit issue and to software-based companies that can launch an online offering to a user base without needing\u00a0complex manufacturing processes and distribution channels.<\/p>\n

Neither of these approaches will address all new-product challenges or\u00a0guarantee success, but both are considered\u00a0important innovations in the new-product design process, since they improve the odds of new-product success and reduce the cost of product failure.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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