Product Development Planning

Planning and Managing Product Development

Making product development a continual part of your business requires both human and financial resources as well as planning.  The following is a list of ideas of how companies have made sure that product development as a regular part of their work.

• Create a product development budget in your annual planning. Include sufficient funds for creating samples, market research and hiring outside design help, if necessary.
• Select a cross-functional product development team. Product development requires input from people with knowledge in marketing, design and production. Marketing staff provides market research and feedback that they hear from customers; designers help develop concepts and product designs based on current trends; production insures that the products can be produced sustainably.
• Designers can come from your staff or from outside your organization. Sometimes an organization might have a staff designer work in collaboration with an outside designer. When selecting an outside designer, make sure that they have demonstrated experience and success in your target market. A designer with experience in the local fashion market might not be your best choice for designing an export home accessories collection, for example.
• Establish a product development calendar and schedule. Create a goal at the beginning of the year of how many product lines you intend on developing. Put those goals on a calendar, indicating when you expect to complete the lines. Use a product development timeline to insure that you allow sufficient time to develop the products.