How To Begin the Development of a New Product Idea
Polishing your idea into a finished product to be sold in the market is like climbing a ladder. Your best bet to get to the end is by taking one step at a time. Your product also needs this kind of one-step-at-a-time approach to flourish in the market. Learn the product of the development of a new idea.
Understand that getting the “haha” moment is just the beginning of the product idea development process and not where it ends. You have to be invested in fine-tuning the idea you have in order to get it ready for purchase and use in the market. This is what stands you out from myriads of inventors who stop at the ideation phase.
But how do you go about getting your product to its final form? This article is a step-by-step guide. Read till the end to get a full grasp on the different stages of the product development process.
What is Product Idea Development?
Product idea development refers to the transformation of a raw idea into a finished product with utility in the world. A product is first birthed as an idea in the mind. And when it is refined, it becomes an item that is useful to people for the enhancement of the human experience.
Furthermore, product idea development explains processes such as ideation, research, modeling, regulation, manufacturing, prototyping, shipping, etc.
How to Develop a New Product Idea
If you are looking for how to develop that initial spark in your head, then get ready to execute the “3D Ideation Process”. That is, Devise, Detail, and Describe.
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DEVISE
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Capture your idea
The first thing you want to do when you get an idea is to trap it down. Take all the thoughts about this product out of your head. Just put it on paper through sketches, quick descriptions, or sound recordings.
This stage is where you ensure to capture the idea in a way that you can easily remember every detail that you have thought about. Any form of visual representation usually works best.
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Start playing with your idea
The next stage in the devising process is to start playing with your idea. That is, start making your idea better by thinking through the idea from different perspectives.
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DETAIL
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Shape Up your product idea
Flowing from the detailing process, your continuing move is to fine-tune and refine the idea. Thus, you remove any part of it that is not feasible or productive and focus on areas that are promising and have higher prospects.
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Research your product idea Landscape
Your best bet to detail your idea is by looking at the different extending aspects of the idea. And researching the landscape means looking towards the intellectual property implications, similar products in the market, market size, or just your gut feeling about what the product needs, etc.
If it is a hardware product, you can begin to research manufacturing, packaging, applicable regulations, etc. Basically, project into the future of the product and begin to look for ways to provide for its birth, every step of the way. And like a sculptor, you remove what is needed and add what is important to the success of the product.
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Use visuals
Use a lot of visual aid to represent the product’s journey into production. Employ this for both hardware and software products. For the latter, this involves detailing the design of the software product.
A good example of this would be sketching out your UI screens.
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DESCRIBE
At this stage, you would have to explain your idea to pretty much anyone and everyone. And your explanation must be concise and detailed enough for the random person reading it to be able to decipher what your idea is, why it is better than existing alternatives, or what a person would be able to accomplish with your product.
This is where you begin to notice some gaps in your idea. And that helps you to refine it until you get it to a satisfactory point.
Hottest Questions on Developing a New Product Idea
These questions provide further details on how to develop a product idea.
1. What are the four processes that can develop an idea for a product?
Developing a product idea requires four major processes. And these include researching the idea, building a prototype, drafting a marketing plan, launching the product, consistently reviewing the product idea.
2. How do you come up with a good product idea?
There are a few ways to generate a good product idea. Some of them are paying attention to trends, listening to projections of industry leaders, curating ideas from online consumer forums, and making use of product trends sites.
3. What are the sources of new product ideas?
There are two main sources of a new product idea. They are internal and external sources. The internal idea comes mostly from employees and R&D department while the external source features ideas from customers, competitors, supply channels, etc.
Final Words
Developing your product idea is perhaps one of the most intriguing things to do as an innovator. However, make sure to get all the steps highlighted above involved in your development process. This would ensure the success of your product from inception till it hits the market.
Have you come up with an idea that needs transformation? Do you need to develop a working model for this product idea?
LA NPDT is a prototyping agency that will help you transform your idea into a sellable product. The team is consistently available to care for all your product development needs. You can reach us via our website lanpdt.com or call directly at 318-243-5789 for your concept design services.