Product Development Processes, or PDP’s, have been heralded as an elixir for product development. If this is the case, why are PDP’s difficult to institute, intermittently successful, and often ignored in organizations that have already instituted such a process? This article will address:

1. Why PDP’s are exigent.

2. Some ways to improve your PDP.

The PDP Challenge

Product Development Processes have gone far in moving product development from an art to a science. PDPs such as Robert Cooper’s Stage-Gate ™ process have helped many development companies become more efficient, reduce development cycle times, make decisions, and identify organizational deficiencies.  However, from our experience, many Product Development Processes don’t work as promised or as effectively as they should.

Here a few common problems we have seen in instituting a PDP:

1.    The Organization in not ready

Instituting a PDP is like starting a 12-step program. The first step is to admit you have a problem and prepare to fix it. If the company is not committed to the culture change, has not designated champions for the process, and does not have management support, the PDP is doomed.

2.    The PDP is seen as “Engineering”. 

Engineering is often perceived as the guilty party if a PDP goes astray. They typically employ the keepers of the process (Program Management), are inherently good at process, and are strongly correlated with “development”. But Engineering can’t own the PDP. A PDP must be company driven. Engineering can facilitate the process, but Senior Management, Product Marketing, Finance, Operations, and other functions all must take partial ownership and participate in the process.

3.    The Process starts with the MRD. 

Development often starts with a Marketing Requirement Document, frequently when management has not yet agreed on which opportunities they will pursue. This leads to false starts, organizational frustration, and failed products. Therefore, the process must start earlier than the MRD with a thorough investigation of products and markets with a focus on high-potential opportunities. This requires management participation and support before the MRD is written.

Making your PDP work

A PDP can be successful if it has been architected correctly and has been designed for your company’s culture. Here are three areas to look for improvement in your PDP:

1.    Start with clear input

A clear understanding of the opportunities you are pursuing will provide the vision that drives the process. This does not mean you need every product requirement. However, having a thorough understanding of your target market, competitors, market trends, technology trends, and potential customers will significantly reduce initial confusion when kicking off a project. 

2.    Involve Engineering in discovery

If your marketing team spends too much time “selling” their product plans to engineering you should consider involving engineering team members in the discovery process.  An on-going cross-functional team that is tasked with spotting new products and services can help short cut the selling process by allowing engineering discovery team participants to sell new product concepts into engineering.

3.    The PDP Must Be Dynamic

A product will never be fully defined before development starts, nor should it be (or you will never get started.)  But time and resources spent on any path that is not directed toward your goal are wasted. Your organization should have a system in place to make decisions as the need arises. This system could involve one person with authority to make decisions, a small team, or any other mechanism that allows for quick decisions.

A PDP is a dynamic set of rules that provide a check and balance system for your development organization, but for a PDP to work your organization must 1) agree there is a development system in place, 2) understand and participate in the system, and 3) use continuous feedback to improve the system. If designed properly and maintained, a PDP is a powerful tool for launching successful products.

Done