Learn to make a product more successful
- Don't neglect proper product development
- Take the time to optimise your product's chance of success
- Learn more techniques for making your goods and services better for selling and customer satisfaction
Lesson Structure
There are 9 lessons in this course:
-
NATURE AND SCOPE OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
-
What type of product is it?
-
Who is your customer?
-
The development process
-
Research and development
-
Product planning
-
Prototypes and testing
-
Pre-production phase
-
Commercial release
-
Product lifecycle
-
Importance of customer in product design
-
What research should be done
-
Case study
-
VIABILITY ASSESSMENT
-
Product concept analysis
-
Supply and demand
-
Product validation
-
Competitor analysis
-
Product differentiation
-
SWOT analysis
-
Case Study - Developing a drinks menu
-
DEFINING THE PRODUCT AND THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
-
Generating ideas
-
Brainstorming
-
Product planning
-
Production and plant equipment
-
Sourcing raw materials and components
-
Staffing requirements
-
Getting others involved in product planning
-
Product planning for lone wolves
-
Product roadmap
-
Outsourcing
-
Focussing on suppliers when developing products
-
Case study - Disability Aids
-
PRODUCT LEARNABILITY
-
Learnability factors
-
Important considerations
-
Learnability for the right audience
-
Children and learnability
-
Evaluating learnability
-
Testing learnability
-
Review what you have been learning
-
COSTING
-
Cost of development
-
Cost of packaging design
-
Cost of certifications
-
Cost of manufacture
-
Marketing costs
-
Product delivery
-
Product pricing
-
Pricing strategies
-
PRESENTATION AND PACKAGING
-
Packaging design
-
Packaging supply
-
Spending time on packaging design
-
Competitor analysis
-
Research
-
Understanding your customer
-
ESTING THE PRODUCT
-
Useability
-
Reliability
-
Process of testing
-
Rapid prototyping
-
Ongoing market research
-
Role of competitor analysis
-
Case study: a hospitality business
-
PRODUCT LIFECYCLE
-
Development and introduction
-
Growth phase
-
Maturity phase
-
Decline phase
-
Rebirth
-
FUTURE PLANNING AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
-
Success metrics
-
Product evolution
-
Predictive product development
-
Considerations on product marketing
-
Online marketing
-
Social media
-
Search engine optimisation
-
Direct marketing via email
-
Advantages and disadvantages of being first to market
-
Protecting your product
-
Case study - a gift shop
-
Final assessment
Improve your Products to Improve your Business
Businesses sell products. Even charities and public enterprises exist to provide products.
Products can be tangible or intangible things. They can be goods or services for example:
- Something grown on a farm or harvested from nature.
- Something made in a cottage industry – from crafts to clothes.
- A service, such as a holiday package or a restaurant meal
- A cable TV service or a gym membership.
Product development can involve anything that happens between when the idea of a product is conceptualised, through to the point where it is made available to be bought. It is not the making or producing of the product, but it might involve making and testing different options, in order to refine what will be produced for sale. The development process typically involves taking a concept, then research, followed by product planning, prototyping, pre production then finally release.
This course builds your understanding of the stages you should work through, and various ways of approaching each stage.
