How to Prepare for New Product Development

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

Proper preparation for any business is an important part of success. Technical product development often requires particularly thorough preparation. It is necessary to understand the project, goals, prepare all details and make the most of your team’s velocity.

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” — Abraham Lincoln

We broke the process into 5 stages. This is intentional to systematize your approach. Each stage is based on the previous one. The closer you get to the beginning of development, the more flexible your process will be. Should you have difficulties at any stage, no problems. Send us an email or reach in social networks, we will be happy to help.

Stage 1. Definition and Research

Describe what problem you are solving. Do market research. Set goals to accomplish in 12–16 weeks that prove or disprove the product.

Stage 2. Personas

Build personas for all customer segments. Research how to find your potential clients for interviews. Interview up 10 people. Describe them your product and ask for their feedback. This feedback is crucial to understand your clients needs.

Stage 3. Feature Set

Analyze your competitors and identify the “must have” features, as well as key features that make your product unique. It is important to focus on these features. You need to create a reference document that you can rely on and return to it. A set of product features is often referred to as a “Product Requirements Document”.

Stage 4. Wireframes

Define user actions. Create wireframes that visually represent your product, the interaction of different functions. This will help you to see the gaps between the functions, to determine priorities. The framework is also very important for early testing. Show the wireframes to a sample of your target audience and get the feedback.

Stage 5. Your Team

Create a team, select a trusted vendor for development. You should pay attention to the experience of the team, ability to work independently, Agile.

It’s hard to say what your product will be. But its implementation depends heavily on your preliminary preparation. At this stage you will have a clear picture of what you are going to do. You will develop a plan. You will prepare personas and have the results of your interviews. You will have defined all features of your product.