Product development is not something you take lightly in running a business. It is one of the most complex parts of growing business. It is complex and expensive which means a failure will cost a lot. And small business cannot afford to fail. Investing hundreds of thousands of dollars to create a product is very challenging, to put it simply. Thus, it is not something you should play around with.
How to do effective product creation and development
Product creation and development is expensive process and a failure will cost a lot of money. Not many companies are able to rebound after a product failure. There are many factors that could cause a product failure. Sometimes, you are not always in control of every issue. Here are some strategies you can consider to boost the effectiveness of product creation and development, minimizing the chance of failure:
Research customers and gain feedback
It’s vital to ask existing customers and your target audience for feedback. You can do it through surveys or interviews. Make sure to pay attention on what being said so you know what they really want. Only then you can create your product based on the insight of the research you conducted. You can use survey platform and ask clear, direct questions. Avoid asking vague questions that will lead into vague and unclear information.
Have a realistic buyer persona
Your customers are real people so you have to create a product and conceptualize it based on a realistic buyer persona. Only then you will be guided into the right direction about the features and pricing. To get realistic buyer persona, you need to get down into details including gender, location area, financial situation, profession, education level, buying habits, priorities, family situation, interests, price sensitivity, and time availability. You can even go into more specific details if it gives you more benefits.
See what your competitors are doing
Having competitors is not bad since you can learn a lot from them including about effective product creation. You can check out what your competitors’ doing with their product specifications, features, product reviews, etc. Pay attention not only to the praise given by the customers but also their disappointment, anger, or frustration. With this information combined with your own data from your research, you can design something that is better and more effective.
Do the test more than once
It’s vital to test and test again before deciding to launch your new product. After researching and designing new product, you need to make sure that it is ready before launching it. You need to test it to know its durability, reliability, size, weight, usability, visual appeal, price, etc. Also, the test should be done by involving your target market not only your teams. Offer product test and encourage them to give feedback.
Keep in mind that product creation and development is not a solo project so trust your team to work with you. Be diligent and and thoughtful throughout the process to increase the chance of successful product creation.
