Product Development

Business Dictionary defines Product Development as "the creation of products with new or different characteristics that offer new or additional benefits to the customer." Product development may involve modification of an existing product or its presentation, or formulation of an entirely new product that satisfies a newly defined customer want or market niche.

Definition of Product Development

Product development, also called New ProductDevelopment (NPD), is a series of steps that includes the conceptualization, design, development and marketing of newly created or newly rebranded goods or services. The objective of product development is to cultivate, maintain and increase a company's market share by satisfying a consumer demand. Not every product will appeal to every customer or client base, so defining the target market for a product is a critical component that must take place early in the product development process. Quantitative market research should be conducted at all phases of the design process, including before the product or service is conceived, while the product is being designed and after the product has been launched.

Product development is a specialized activity. It is done to improve the existing product or to introduce a new product in the market. It is also done to improve the earlier features or techniques or systems. Generally, it means a new-product development. New-product development means to introduce a brand-new product in the market. It means to add a fresh product to an existing line of products. Normally, a company starts with one or two products. However, after some time it has few more products in its line (say from 15 to 20). This is possible only because of new-product development. Refer following diagram to know the basic meaning of product development.

source: Prof. Mudit Katyani

Product development takes place, works or functions as under:

• Creation of an entirely new product or upgrading an existing product by exploring all possibilities and outcomes.
• Innovation of a new or an existing product to deliver better and enhanced services to end-users.
• Continuous improvement of a new product or enhancing an existing product by giving preference to satisfy the demand of end-users.
• Enhancing the utility of a new product or upgrading features of an existing product, for the personal and/or commercial use, to expand the defined goal (objective).

Product Development Does Not Mean Product Management

When you understand product development this way, you can see that it is not synonymous with product management, although many people mistakenly use the terms interchangeably. Indeed, product development does not refer to a single role at all. You should instead view it as more of a broad process or method for bringing products to market which involves many teams across a company, including:

• Product management
• Marketing
• Development (or manufacturing)
• Design
• Testing or QA
• Shipping or distribution

See Also

Product
Product-as-a-Service (PaaS)
Product/Market Fit
Product/Market Grid
Product Data Management (PDM)
Product Design
Product Information Management (PIM)
Product Life Cycle
Product Lifecycle Management
Productivity
Software