Surprising tips for a successful product development strategy
Posted by InterVenture on October 28, 2020“No roadmap survives contact with reality.”
So writes Jenna Bastow, co-founder and CEO of ProdPad in the foreword of the book ‘Product Roadmaps Relaunched’. If you’re currently working on a product development strategy, these words might feel soul-crushing. However, we’d argue that you should perceive them as a glimpse of hope.
When you think about it, it’s reassuring to know that everyone is struggling in the process of creating something out of nothing. You’re not alone, it’s all trial and error.
Product development requires agility, fine-tuning, and being light on your feet. There are tons of different frameworks and methodologies that can help you increase your chances of a victorious launch. We’re sure you did your research there.
What’s important to know is that a) there is no single right way to create the product development strategy and b) there is something universal (an ‘X factor’ if you will) to every successful one.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Creating a product development strategy is easier when you stand on the shoulders of giants
First, let’s take a moment to observe how planning and creating products evolved through time. Various factors such as the growth of international markets, changes in consumer behavior, the formation of new business verticals, and more, all influenced product development.
According to Michael E. McGrath, there have been several product development generations:
Significant changes happened at the turn of the century. Namely, in 2000 we witnessed a decline in the economy. This is why product managers switched their focus to R&D and started prioritizing productivity and agility.
From trying to institutionalize new inventions and generate market demand to first rudimentary practices of project management, all the way to focusing on individual product development and finally – creative productivity… A lot has been going on in the recent past.
The rich experience of others helps you learn from their mistakes and minimize risks when creating your product development strategy.
At InterVenture, we selected some of the most interesting concepts to creating and leading the product development strategy:
| Product development strategy approach | The key idea |
Amazon’s ‘backwards approach’ | Customers play an active role in product development. By testing reactions before actually creating products (e.g. through mock press releases), Amazon saves a lot of time and money before officially starting the product cycle. |
Steve Jobs and Apple’s motto ‘Think Big’ | Jobs is known for his controversial stance toward market research that can be summed into ‘the customers don’t know what they want’. The quote is often misinterpreted. The idea is that, because groundbreaking innovations cannot be compared to anything that precedes them, it’s hard for customers to communicate whether or not they would like to buy the product that doesn’t exist yet. |
Henry Ford, the pioneer of affordable automobiles made for the masses | Instead of rephrasing Henry Ford’s key idea, we think it would be best to share a quote from his book: ‘ There was no “demand” for automobiles – there never is for a new article. They were accepted in much the fashion as was more recently the airplane. At first the “horseless carriage” was considered merely a freak notion and many wise people explained with particularity why it could never be more than a toy. No man of money even thought of it as a commercial possibility. I cannot imagine why each new means of transportation meets with such opposition. ‘ Similar to Jobs, Ford knew people had an aversion toward something revolutionary as an affordable transportation vehicle they can steer. |
| Allan Ward’s lean product development | By adopting lean principles, the product development cycle is reduced, while the costs of development and production are reduced. Product development projects are categorized into three groups: wished products, wanted products, and needed products. |
Tip #1: If you want to develop a successful product development strategy, start by challenging yourself and everything you think you know about the stages of the product cycle. Stand on the shoulders of giants. Discover your own path by exploring the already paved ones.
Product development strategy is not just about the product-market fit
Creating a product development strategy is essentially about crafting the vision for your product. The traditional way of crafting the concept for your product implies the following:
Define the problem you want to solve -> Design the product that solves the problem
This is fairly logical. You want your company to prosper in a healthy market and satisfy an actual need. Many business organizations have adopted the lean approach, meaning they test their assumptions using a minimum viable product. That’s how they feel the pulse of the market, gauge interest, and avoid getting caught in the law of small numbers or confirmation bias.
Of course, with today’s sophisticated demand generation techniques and the culture of consumerism that encourages us to buy things even if we don’t really need them, the above-mentioned process is not set in stone. In fact, it can even go the other way around:
Design the product for the problem people are not yet aware of -> Create demand
If you take a look at Sony, for instance, they are firm believers in creating markets instead of identifying them.
Essentially, your product development strategy should provide the what, why, and how for the team. It should introduce discipline and provide a day-to-day plan that leads to a successful launch. Or, as the lean approach suggests, the strategy should be based on two pillars – do the right thing and do the thing right: paced progress must be ensured, deliverables must be of defined quality and within agreed time frames.
As someone who is responsible for creating and fine-tuning the product development strategy, you should be aware that multiple iterations are inevitable. They are a normal consequence that comes when you align what you planned with what is realistic.
In addition, there has to be a founder-market fit, which means founders need to think about their area of expertise and whether or not they are getting ahead of themselves. It’s not enough to think some niche is cool and profitable in order to create great products.
Tip #2: When creating your product development strategy, you need to acquire sufficient knowledge and experience, or be wise enough to surround yourself with people who will poke holes in your vision. That’s how you do a safe premortem without losing any resources or risking your market share.
Product development strategy and the ‘X factor’ we rarely think about
Richard Banfield, product development expert and an author, wrote the following about the product development strategy:
A product vision points the way; a product strategy tells the team how to deal with the obstacles and opportunities; the roadmap reminds the team what to focus their energy on; and the metrics tell them what’s working and whether a reprioritization is necessary.
Such a fine summary of what strategy really means. We couldn’t agree more. There is just one element that we believe is of key importance when it comes to creating a successful product development strategy. It is the ‘X factor’ that can make or break your efforts.
In addition to the widely discussed what, why, and how, there’s also a crucial component that determines how well you will handle the obstacles and pivots down the road. Yes, you guessed it: it’s the who.
Your product development team is the one responsible for turning your vision into fruition. The role of the people working unanimously toward the same goal is critical. It directly influences your speed to market, your capability to innovate, and your velocity.
In IT, product engineering has significantly changed thanks to the way companies started perceiving talent sourcing. Thanks to technology, physical distance is not required anymore in order for product development teams to thrive.
Tip #3: Distributed teams have supercharged IT growth and enabled meaningful partnerships and incredibly productive collaborations. The interconnectedness of teams is achieved through shared values and a balanced diversity that allows great ideas to collide. This is how fresh, original products get to see the light of the day.
Good news: InterVenture can find the right people who will help you with product development
At InterVenture, we believe in growing together and succeeding together. This is why we go above and beyond to match extraordinary engineering talent with companies that are looking to build their product development teams.
We’re not talking about IT outsourcing, but the possibility of building a mutually beneficial partnership. Because the truth is – having the best individual players doesn’t guarantee you will have the best team.
With our ongoing support, you can get fast access to a diverse community of high performing software engineers, test new markets, accelerate the product development process, and much more.
Learn more about The Own Team Model™ that’s specifically designed to help you thrive in long-term product development ventures.
For additional queries, contact InterVenture today: we can’t wait to hear from you.
