New Product Design Process: 6 Major Steps Involved

Read this article to learn about the six steps involved in the process of new product design.

1. Idea Generation:

The design process begins with understanding the customers and their needs. Ideas for new products can come from a variety of sources both within and outside the firm. Internal sources include employees, research and development, market research sales force and reverse engineering.

The external sources include customers, legislation, environment, technology and strategic position of the organisation. Competitors are also the source of ideas for new products or services. Perceptual maps, bench marking and reverse engineering can help companies learn from their competitors.

Perceptual maps helps to compare customer perceptions of a company’s products with competitor’s products. It is a visual method of comparing customer perceptions of different product or services:

1. Bench marking refers to finding the best in class product or process, measuring the performance of your product or process against it and making recommendations for improvement based on the results.

2. Reverse engineering refers to carefully dismantling and inspecting competitors products to look for design features that can be incorporated to improve one’s own products.

Each of these sources gives a different emphasis on the requirements and importance of idea generation.

2. Screening Ideas:

The purpose of screening ideas is to eliminate those ideas that do not appear to have high potential and so avoid the costs incurred at subsequent stages. Using group of people, proposals would be supported by graphics, models and an outline specification and judged against a set of criteria such as necessity to the firms survival, role in filling out an existing product/service, degree of overlap with existing products and services, utilizing existing processes and capabilities, impact on overall sales and profits of the company.

To have a better evaluation of ideas, each of the dimensions of the ideas is scored on a 0-10 scale and each dimension is attached weights as per these dimensions. The resulting aggregate score helps in deciding which idea to progress and which idea should be dropped.

3. Feasibility Study:

Initial screening of the ideas is designed to stop the ideas, which are unsuitable for further considerations. Feasibility study consists of a market analysis, an economic analysis, and technical and strategic analysis.

Marketing takes the ideas that are generated and the customer needs that are identified from the first stage of the design process and develops alternative product concepts. The market analysis through customer analysis and market survey assesses whether there is an enough demand for the proposed product to invest in developing further.

If the sufficient demand exists, then there is an economic analysis that aims at establishing the production and development costs and compares them with estimated sales volume. The profit potential of the product can be studied using quantitative techniques such as cost benefit analysis, decision theory, net present value (NPV) or internal rate of return (IRR).

The risk analysis is also carried out. Finally, technical and strategic analysis is concerned with technical viability of the product with respect to technology, process of manufacture, availability of materials etc. Performance specifications are written for product concepts that pass the feasibility study and are approved for development. The details of feasibility are given in fig. 2.6.

4. Preliminary Design:

Design engineers take general performance specifications and translate them in to technical specifications. The process of preliminary design involves building a prototype, testing the prototype, revising the design, retesting and so on until a viable design is determined. Design incorporates both form and function.

Form design refers to the physical appearance of a product, its shape, size, color, styling etc. Aesthetics aspects such as image, market appeal, special identification, finish etc. will also form a part of the form design.

Production design is concerned with how the product will be made. Design, which are difficult to make result in poor quality products. During the design stage itself the manufacturing aspects should be considered. The production design or design for production include simplification, standardization and modularity.

Design simplification attempts to reduce the number of parts, subassemblies and options into a product. Standardization refers to use of commonly available and interchangeable parts and subassemblies. Modular design consist of combining standardized building blocks or modules in a variety of ways to create a unique finished product. Modular design is common in electronics and automobile industry.

5. Pilot Runs and Testing:

In the preliminary design stage, prototypes are built and tested after several iterations, pilot run of the manufacturing process is conducted. Adjustments are made as needed before finalizing the design. Apart from continuously testing the product for performance, market testing is also carried out to check the acceptability of the product in the defined market and customer group. This helps to know in advance, whether customer will accept and buy this product on launching in the market. Thus, test marketing is a powerful tool.

Final Design and Process Plans:

The final design consists of detailed drawings and specifications for the new product. The accompanying process plans are workable instructions for manufacture including necessary equipment’s and tooling, component sources job descriptions, work instructions and Programmes for computer-assisted machines.

6. New Product Launch:

Launching a new product or service involves ramp up production. The process has been refined and debugged, but it has yet to operate at a sustained level of production. In ramp up, production starts at a relatively low level of volume as the organization develops confidence in its abilities to execute production consistently and marketing’s abilities to sell the product, the volume increases. Launching the new product or service involves co-coordinating the supply chain and rolling out marketing plans. Marketing and production will work in a co-coordinated way during this phase.

Rebranding Strategies: A Step-By-Step       Approach for Professional Service

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There are many reasons why a professional services firm might consider rebranding. Most of them are firmly rooted in a need to reposition the firm in the marketplace. 

It could be as simple as the merger of two firms or as complex as a major shift in target clients or business strategy. But whatever the reason, a firm eventually faces the question of how to rebrand in a way that yields the desired business result.

That is what we are going to cover. What is the right strategy to rebrand your professional services firm? (Our Rebranding Kit explores these issues in-depth.)

1. Start With the Business Reason

Any rebranding strategy should start with a thorough understanding of the business reason behind the rebranding. Is it driven by a need to accelerate growth? Does your firm need to compete with larger, more established competitors?

Some of these business cases are very easy to make, such as a merger of two firms. Others are more subtle, such as outgrowing your image. If you are not clear about the business reason driving the effort, you run the risk of wasting a tremendous amount of resources. Some of the other top reasons to rebrand your professional services firm includes:

• You need to compete at a higher level or in a new market.
• Your brand no longer reflects who you are.
• Your firm is spun off from an existing brand.
• You have a legal reason compelling you to change.
• You need to simplify and focus your message.
• You have a new marketing team.
• You are launching a new service line.

2. Research Your Firm and Your Target Clients

When you are clear on the business case for a rebranding, the next step is to conduct independent research on your firm and your clients. If you are attempting to move into a new market, that research should include your new target clients as well. The goal is to have an objective understanding of your current brand perception and competencies.

Without this research, you will be operating from an internal perspective only. Our own research on professional services buyers and sellers shows that virtually all firms have blind spots and distort how the marketplace sees them. After all, we are all human. Without objective research, you will build a brand on false assumptions.

3. Use Positioning and Messaging to Capture Your Brand Strategy

As you develop your firm’s market positioning and messaging architecture, you will uncover the essence of your brand strategy. Your market positioning is a brief description of where you fit into the market space. Are you an innovative leader or a low cost provider?

This positioning will drive many of your subsequent decisions. But you can’t just make something up. It needs to balance who you are as a firm and who you want to become. You must be able to support your positioning or your brand will be hollow.

Your messaging architecture articulates your messages to each of your main audiences. These messages must be consistent with your overall brand and supportable. This is not marketing copy. It is the skeleton upon which marketing copy is built.

4. Build Your Brand Identity

This is the part of the rebranding strategy where you develop the visual elements that will communicate your brand. Think firm name, logo, tagline, colors, business card design, stationary, and the like. These elements are often described in a brand style guidelines document, which provides a set of parameters to ensure your brand is implemented consistently across all of your marketing materials.

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Many folks confuse these elements with your brand. Your brand is your reputation and your visibility, not your firm’s name or its logo. Your brand identity is a sort of visual shorthand for your brand.

5. Build Your Website and Online Presence

Your website is your single most important communication and business development tool. It is the place where you can tell a compelling story to each of your audiences. It is the first place a prospective client or employee will turn to learn more about your firm.

It is no exaggeration to say that a website and your online presence are the heart of a modern professional services firm. All rebranding strategies eventually involve your website. In a very real way, a website is built on the framework of your messaging architecture. Together with your remaining online presence (think social media, for example), it is the full expression of your positioning.

6. Marketing Collateral

At this point in your rebranding strategy, you will develop all of the marketing materials that you need to communicate your brand and services messages. Think pitch decks, proposal templates, brochures, one-sheet fliers and trade show booths.

These are the tools that you will use to communicate your message. They should be firmly anchored in your brand strategy.

7. Brand Building Plan

The final element of your rebranding strategy is to develop a plan to promote and strengthen your new brand. How will you launch it internally? In professional services, it is essential that your employees embrace the new brand. After all, they are your product.

It’s also important that you build the brand in a way that communicates your firm’s reputation and expertise, as well as its name. It must communicate your market positioning. Brand building is different for professional services.

Stages in the Product Lifecycle

There are four stages in the product life cycle: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline .

                            

        Firm Life Cycle

           Firms progress through stages of development, indicated by their changing profits over time.

Introduction

After all research and development has be done it is time to launch the product and begin its lifecycle. The introduction stage of the product life cycle is when the marketing team emphasizes promotion and the product's initial distribution. Often the product will have little or no competitors at this point. Nonetheless, sales may remain low because it takes time for the market to accept the new product. At this stage of the life cycle, the company usually loses money on the product.

Growth

In the growth stage of the product life cycle, the market has accepted the product and sales begin to increase. The company may want to make improvements to the product to stay competitive. At this point, there are still relatively few competitors.

Maturity

In the maturity stage of the product life cycle, sales will reach their peak. Other competitors enter the market with alternative solutions, making competition in the market fierce. The company that introduced the new product may begin to find it difficult to compete in the market.

Decline

In the decline stage of the product life cycle, sales will begin to decline as the product reaches its saturation point. Most products are phased out of the market at this point due to the decrease in sales and because of competitive pressure. The market will see the product as old and no longer in demand.

There is no set schedule for the stages of a product life cycle. Differences will occur depending on the type of product, how well it is received by the market, the promotional mix of the company, and the aggressiveness of the competition.