product development business plan example

Integrations

What's new?

In-Product Prompts

Participant Management

Interview Studies

Prototype Testing

Card Sorting

Tree Testing

Live Website Testing

Automated Reports

Templates Gallery

Choose from our library of pre-built mazes to copy, customize, and share with your own users

Browse all templates

Financial Services

Tech & Software

Product Designers

Product Managers

User Researchers

By use case

Concept & Idea Validation

Wireframe & Usability Test

Content & Copy Testing

Feedback & Satisfaction

Content Hub

Educational resources for product, research and design teams

Explore all resources

Question Bank

Research Maturity Model

Guides & Reports

Help Center

Future of User Research Report

The Optimal Path Podcast

Sep 6, 2021

Product development strategy: How to define the direction of your new product

Let's explore what a product development strategy is, why it matters, types of strategies and examples, and how you can create one for your product.

Giada Gastaldello

Content Marketing Manager at Maze

Scroll Down

To stay competitive, companies need to find new ways to innovate and deliver continuous value to their customers. Yet creating winning products requires more than an innovative idea. Careful planning and strategy are a must for success. You'll need a clear direction to follow to optimize resources, identify priorities, and ensure a smooth product development process.

In this article, we’ll look at what a product development strategy is and how you can develop a great one for your product. For expert insights and best practices, we spoke to Vicky Volvovski , Senior Director & Head of Product Management at Postlight and former Head of Product at Zapier; Enzo Avigo , Co-founder & CEO at June and former Product Manager at Intercom, Zalando, and N26; and Ian Booth , Senior Product Manager at EduMe.

What is a product development strategy?

A product development strategy is a fundamental part of the new product development process (NPD) . It’s a high-level plan that describes the actions needed to develop new products or upgrade existing ones and introduce them to current or new markets.

New product development strategies link together the product vision and the strategic steps to realize that vision. In other words, a product development strategy guides a company's product development efforts—from concept to testing to launch—and aligns the new product's features and functionalities with the business strategy and target market needs.

The benefits of defining an effective product development strategy

Defining a product development strategy before you begin development is crucial. It will set the direction of your product and help you set clear goals. Let’s dive into the top three benefits of developing a strategy for your new product.

1. It gives you clarity

There are a million things that could get prioritized and a million directions that the product could go in. A product strategy allows you to say “yes” to the things that are aligned with your direction and say “no” to the rest.

Vicky Volvovski , Senior Director and Head of Product Management at Postlight

When you’re building a new product, deciding what to do, and most importantly, what not to do, is challenging. A product development strategy gives you a clear direction to follow. It helps you set priorities and make decisions that align with the company's overall strategy. "Sometimes the things you say 'no' to might be good ideas, but they don't align," explains Vicky. "That’s where product strategy gives you clarity."

2. It improves decision-making

The more your team can understand the strategy, the more they can make decisions in their day-to-day that help you reach that goal rather than having people pulling in different directions because they don’t understand what you're working towards.

When goals and priorities are well understood, product teams can make better decisions throughout the development process. They will know what ideas are worth pursuing, what features they should prioritize, or how to adjust the plan if challenges arise. This brings us to the third benefit.

3. It maximizes product development efficiency

I think a clear strategy is really what differentiates the companies that move fast from the others. If you know what you want to achieve and communicate it clearly to your teams, they will be able to find the best way to reach the goal. It maximizes the time and energy of all the people who work in your company.

Enzo Avigo , Co-founder and CEO at June

When product teams have a well-defined strategy to follow, they can better manage resources, estimate timeframes and costs, and make quick, confident decisions. Enzo points out that a product development strategy not only is a way to optimize resources but it also keeps your teams motivated and your organization healthy.

Product development strategies and examples

Now that you know how a product development strategy can benefit your organization, let's look at three different types of strategies you can adopt and some real-life examples of product development strategies.

Data-driven product strategies

Being data-driven means making decisions based on data and key metrics. Data-driven companies break down the product development strategy into quantitative objectives to measure progress and success. What to measure and why usually depends on the company's high-level strategy. Product teams translate the high-level strategy into key metrics and generate initiatives to achieve the desired goals.

N26 is a company that adopts a data-driven approach to product development strategy. The company was founded with this vision: A global digital bank to transform the way we manage money .

“One of the ways to achieve our vision was to reach as many people as possible and increase our user base,” says Enzo Avigo, Co-founder of June and former Product Manager at N26. He and his team identified the metrics they wanted to move, such as the conversion rate and the number of active users, and worked on the main product initiatives to unlock those metrics.

While data-driven companies use data to lead the decision-making process, data-informed companies acknowledge the limitations of data and use them to inform their decisions. Learn more about the difference between data-informed and data-driven .

Vision-driven product strategies

A vision-driven strategy starts with a view of the future—a clear picture of what the company wants to build. Innovation is driven by intuitive vision and personal goals rather than market research data. Founders of such companies rely on this type of strategy when they want to create truly innovative products and explore a market where users don’t know much about the new product and what features they’d like.

Yet “vision-driven” doesn’t mean that product teams won't use data. Insights and data are still needed to understand user behavior, test assumptions, or understand how to upgrade the product in the future.

Apple is one of the best examples of a company executing a vision-driven product strategy. Historically, Apple was known to build the products first and then find the market for them. In an interview, Steve Jobs explained : "We do no market research. We just want to make great products. When we created the iTunes Music Store, we did that because we thought it would be great to be able to buy music electronically, not because we had plans to redefine the music industry."

Research-driven product strategy

This third type of product strategy is based on market and user research . Product teams start the new product development process with product discovery and use research to inform their decision-making at all stages of the process. They reach out to users to understand their needs and expectations and based on data and user feedback, they determine how to build a product that satisfies those needs and delivers value to customers.

One example of a research-driven product strategy is Intercom. During his time as Product Manager at Intercom, Enzo Avigo worked in the platform group. The team was developing the Intercom App Store , where users can browse and install third-party apps and integrations. User research was crucial to figure out what to build. “We knew that the more integrations our users had, the better retention they had,” says Enzo. “We created the platform group to make sure that all the users could find the right app, for the right use case, at the right moment.”

While this is a "formal" distinction between different types of strategies, the most successful products employ a mix of these strategies: they are driven by data, do research, and have a clear vision of where they want to get to.

Bring your customers' voice to product decisions

Create and share dynamic surveys with your customers, and track results in real-time to validate ideas and fuel product decisions.

How to create a winning product development strategy

As we saw, there are different approaches to product development . But whatever strategy you choose, here are some simple steps to develop and execute a successful new product development strategy.

1. Define your vision

Your product development strategy is the bridge between your product vision and the actions needed to realize that vision. So, as a first step, you’ll need to clearly define where you want your product to go and what you want to achieve. In simple words, your vision communicates the intent behind your product and the high-level goal driving your product development.

Sometimes, companies use mission and vision statements interchangeably, but they have different purposes. A mission statement focuses on the here and now and what the company is doing to achieve its goals. A vision statement focuses on the future and where the company wants to be in the long run.

One example of a successful vision statement would be Google's: To provide access to the world’s information in one click .

2. Do your research

A successful product development strategy has to be rooted in real user problems and goals and a real market opportunity.

The second step is to conduct in-depth research of your target audience, existing market, and competitors . In this way, you and your team can mitigate risks, use accurate data to inform your decision-making and increase your chances of building a successful product.

First, define and understand your ideal audience. Who are your target customers, and what problems are they facing? How will your product solve their problems? Interviews, surveys , or product analytics are just a few methods to get to know your users and identify their wants and needs.

Ian Booth, Senior Product Manager at EduMe, explains: "We have fantastic customer support and user research teams who constantly communicate with the customers and understand what they’re looking for from a strategy perspective. They’re so focused on being the champion for the user within the conversations that we’re having."

As a product manager, you're trying to balance the commercial side and the user side. You want to make sure that you’re not missing any information. Leaning on internal teams such as Customer Support and Research to champion the user's voice for me is the best route to go.

Ian Booth , Senior Product Manager at EduMe

Second, conduct market research and competitor analysis to learn what other products are available in the market, understand how users perceive your product compared to your competitors' offers, and identify what makes you unique. This is a fundamental step to decide how you will position and differentiate yourself in the market.

Learn more about how market validation justifies product investment by assessing how viable your product idea would be in the market.

3. Set product goals

When you have a deep understanding of your target market, you should use the data gathered to establish a series of goals you want your product to achieve to deliver value to customers and gain a competitive advantage. Set SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. They will help you decide what to build next and give you a tool to measure the success of your product.

We always have a really good objective to focus on and good key results to track success. If you’re able to set them early, track, and understand them, you can determine if your product launch is successful because you can see the actual progression.

As part of our product development process at Maze, we always include a summary of our goals in the product development strategy document and regularly track our progress on every goal. This allows our product team to make decisions and align on the next steps.

4. Plan the product roadmap

It’s now time to define the initiatives, features, and releases that will help transform your goals into action. A product roadmap is a high-level visual that allows you and your team to execute the strategy. Product managers use roadmaps to plan tasks, communicate priorities, allocate resources, and see the evolution of a product over time.

A product development strategy ensures that all the initiatives in the roadmap are linked to the product’s vision and goals so that you can start development with a detailed and solid plan.

🎧 Learn how to balance intuition, analytics, and user feedback to make better product decisions & discover frameworks for building a clear product strategy in this podcast episode with Ravi Mehta, Co-Founder & CEO of Outpace. Tune in to The Optimal Path Podcast .

Looking for a comprehensive list of product management tools? Check out our list of the best 13 product management tools to streamline your workflow.

Final thoughts

We’d like to conclude with a piece of advice from Enzo Avigo, Co-founder and CEO at June:

Strategy is like chess. You can think for hours before you start the game, but nothing ever happens until you play. The same occurs with product strategy. The best thing to do is not to think about the perfect strategy but move a piece, build something, and see what it yields. So usually, building the easiest prototype or finding a way to validate your assumptions.

Rapid prototyping can help you explore and validate ideas early in the product development process. With tools like Maze, you can test prototypes with users and get actionable results that help you make informed product decisions.

We hope this article has provided an insight into what a product development strategy should include. Now it's your turn. Start testing things out and get ready to launch a successful product.

Frequently asked questions

A product development strategy is a strategic plan that guides the new product development process. It aligns product teams around the product vision and outlines the actions needed to bring new products to market or upgrade the performance of existing products.

What are the main product development strategies?

Companies can consider three main types of product development strategies: data-driven strategies rely on data and analytics, vision-driven strategies are based on intuition and personal experience, and research-driven strategies depend on market and user research.

• Start free trial

Start selling with Shopify today

Start your free trial with Shopify today—then use these resources to guide you through every step of the process.

What Is Product Development? 7 Steps to Making a Product (2024)

Learn everything about the product development lifecycle as well as tactics to improve your workflow to help bring your vision to life.

Even for the most successful ecommerce businesses , the journey to a finished product rarely resembles a straight line. If you’re an aspiring entrepreneur, the product development process might even seem shrouded in mystery—how does an idea in your head become a 3D object you can hold in your hands?

Effective product development involves market research, product management, and plenty of trial and error. While every story is different, there are a few best practices founders take on the road to starting a business and shipping a finished product.

In this guide, learn everything you need to know about the product development lifecycle as well as tactics to improve your workflow to help you bring your vision to life.

What is product development?

Product development refers to the complete process of taking a product from idea to market. It also describes the process of renewing an existing product or introducing an old product to a new market. This includes identifying market needs, conceptualizing the product, building a product roadmap, launching a product, and collecting feedback.

New product development (NPD) specifically refers to creating a new product from scratch and bringing it to a market. The process doesn’t end until the product life cycle is over. And, you can continue the product development process after launch by collecting user feedback and iterating on the product and developing new versions.

Who is responsible for product development?

How to create a product development plan

A product development plan (or product development strategy) is the methodology that a business will use to guide its product development. It is a detailed plan with milestones and checkpoints that keeps a multi-disciplinary team on track and heading toward the same goal until product launch.

Before starting any stage of product development, put your plan to paper. Ask: How long do we need? What are the deadlines? How often will we meet? What are our goals?

Later on in this guide, we’ll walk through the product development process. You can use this as an outline to map mini-goals, ways of working, and areas of responsibility to each stage.

Get your free product development worksheet

Create a product that meets your customers' needs with our easy-to-follow, seven step product development worksheet.

Why is a product development plan important?

A product development plan is a critical stage in the process for the following reasons:

• It aligns the team. Having everyone on the same page from the get-go ensures that team members can have autonomy and move quickly toward the same end product.
• It creates checkpoints. Your plan should have a meeting cadence and goals to reach at each stage. This allows the team to come together periodically to stay on track.
• It eliminates risk. Having a plan in place that accounts for all competitive research, market research, and target audience research means you’ll leave no stone unturned.
• It contains success metrics. How do you know if your process is successful? Your plan sets out exactly what success looks like and how it will be measured.
• It lets you get more creative. With guardrails in place, you don’t need to micromanage the process. The teams will have clear guidelines to innovate within. 

📦  Read more: How To Create a Successful Product Development Strategy

The 7-step new product development process

• Generate an idea.
• Conduct market research.
• Develop a plan.
• Create a prototype.
• Source materials and production partners.
• Determine your costs.
• Launch your product.

Although the product development process differs by industry, it can essentially be broken down into seven stages: idea generation, research, planning, prototyping, sourcing, costing, and commercialization.

Use the following development framework to bring your own product idea to market.

1. Generate an idea

Many aspiring entrepreneurs get stuck on the first stage: ideation and brainstorming. This is often because they’re waiting for a stroke of genius to reveal the perfect product they should sell. While building something fundamentally “new” can be creatively fulfilling, many of the best ideas are the result of iterating on an existing product.

The SCAMPER model is a useful tool for quickly coming up with product ideas by asking questions about existing products. Each letter stands for a prompt:

• Substitute (e.g., faux fur for fur)
• Combine (e.g., a phone case and a battery pack)
• Adapt (e.g., a nursing bra with front clasps)
• Modify (e.g., an electric toothbrush with a sleeker design)
• Put to another use (e.g., memory-foam dog beds)
• Eliminate (e.g., get rid of the middleman to sell sunglasses and pass the savings on to consumers)
• Reverse/rearrange (e.g., a duffle bag that doesn’t wrinkle your suits)

By considering these prompts, you can come up with novel ways to transform existing ideas or even adapt them for a new target audience or problem. Using insights from business analysis can also be helpful to better understand the opportunities in the market.

📦  Read more: Find New Product Ideas in These 16 Places

2. Conduct market research

Starting production before you validate your idea can lead to failure. Product validation ensures you won’t waste time, money, and effort on an idea that won't sell. There are several ways you can validate your product ideas, including:

• Sending out an online survey to get feedback.
• Starting a crowdfunding campaign.
• Performing test marketing by releasing your idea to a very small group of your target market.
• Researching market demand using Google Trends.
• Gauging interest via email opt-ins or pre-orders.
• Asking for initial feedback on forums like Reddit.
• Running a feasibility study to assess whether your proposed idea is worth investing in.

It’s important to get feedback from a substantial and unbiased audience. Be wary of overvaluing feedback from people who “definitely would buy”—until money changes hands, you can’t count someone as a customer. Asking advice from your family and friends (unless they have prior experience in your industry) is also something to avoid.

Validation research will also involve competitive analysis . If your idea or niche has the potential to take up market share, there are likely competitors already operating in that space.

Researching competitors will help you understand how they attract customers and make sales. Ask your potential customers what they like or dislike about your competitors to define your competitive advantage.

The information compiled from doing product validation and market research will gauge the demand for your product and the level of competition before you start planning.

3. Develop a plan

Since product development can quickly become complicated, it’s important to take the time to plan before you begin to build your prototype. At this stage, it can often be helpful to have a clear product roadmap.

The best place to begin planning is with a hand-drawn sketch of what your product will look like. The sketch should be as detailed as possible, with labels explaining the various features and functions.

You don’t need a professional quality drawing, since you won’t be submitting it to a manufacturer at this stage. However, you can outsource this stage to a technical illustrator. Dribbble and UpWork are two sites that list freelancers for hire.

As part of your diagram, create a running list of parts or materials needed. For example, a purse design could be accompanied by this list:

• Zippers (large and small)
• Metal clasps
• Leather straps
• Protection pouch
• Embossed label
• Interior wallet

Your plan should also answer the following questions to inform pricing, brand positioning , costs, and marketing strategy:

• Will the product be an everyday item or for special occasions? 
• Will it be a luxury or price-accessible product?
• Will it use premium materials or be environmentally friendly ? 
• What will the packaging and labels look like?

4. Create a prototype

Prototyping difficulty depends on the type of product you are developing. The least expensive and simplest cases are products you can prototype yourself, such as:

• Food recipes
• Cosmetic or personal care formulations
• Some fashion and jewelry designs

However, more often than not, entrepreneurs will work with a third party to prototype their product. If you’re starting a clothing brand, work with local seamstresses, cobblers, or pattern makers. These services usually can be found online by Googling local services or reaching out to design or fashion schools for prototyping help.

For objects like toys, household accessories, electronics, and many other hard-exterior objects, you may require a 3D rendering in order to make a prototype. Use UpWork or Freelancer to find artists or engineers who are trained in computer-aided design and drafting (CAD) software. Or, try SketchUp , Tinkercad , or Vectary to create 3D models on your own.

With the innovation of 3D printing, digital designs can be turned into physical samples at a much lower cost and quicker turnaround time than the traditional method of mold-making.

The first usable version of your prototype (or minimum viable product) can be released to a small test group to gauge interest and test price sensitivity and messaging. The feedback gathered at this stage allows you to create iterations of the product and build something more valuable for your target market.

Founded in 2019 by childhood friends Charlie Bowes-Lyon and Freddy Ward, Wild wants to eliminate plastic and single-use waste from bathrooms across the world.

🌸 Podcast: Why Perfecting Product Design Was Key to This Brand's Success

5. Source materials and production partners 

Once you have a product prototype you’re satisfied with, it's time to start gathering the materials and securing the partners needed for production. This is also referred to as building your supply chain : the vendors, activities, and resources needed to create a product and get it into a customer’s hands. 

When finding manufacturers or suppliers , follow these sourcing best practices:

• Factor in storage, shipping, and warehousing partners.
• Find multiple suppliers for the different materials you will need to compare costs and create backups.
• Attend trade shows dedicated to sourcing. Discuss materials and build a personal relationship with suppliers, which can be valuable when it comes time to negotiate prices.
• Compare advantages and disadvantages of sourcing locally or internationally.
• Look for Alibaba listings with similar products to your own and then contact the factory to see if they can produce your specific design.

6. Determine your costs

You should now have a clearer picture of what it will cost to produce your product. Costing is a business analysis process where you take all information gathered to find your cost of goods sold (COGS) and determine a retail price and gross margin.

Your calculation should include raw materials, factory setup costs, manufacturing costs, and shipping costs. Factor in other costs such as shipping, import fees, and any duties you will need to pay in order to get your final product into the customer’s hands. These fees can have a significant impact on your COGS, depending on where you’re producing the product.

If you were able to secure multiple quotes for different materials or manufacturers during the sourcing phase, you can include different columns for each line item that compare the cost. Another option is to create a second version of the spreadsheet, so you can compare local production versus overseas production.

Once you have your total COGS calculated, you can come up with a pricing strategy for your product.

7. Launch your product

At this point you’ve got a profitable and successful product ready for the world. The last step in this methodology is to introduce your product to the market. At this point, a product development team will hand the reins over to marketing for a product launch.

If you don’t have the budget for expensive ads, don’t sweat it. You can still run a successful go-to-market strategy by using the following tactics:

• Sending product launch emails to your subscriber list
• Working with influencers on an affiliate marketing campaign
• Getting your product featured in gift guides
• Enabling Instagram Shopping
• Gathering reviews from early customers

📦  Read more: 25 Alternatives to Running Paid Ads to Promote Your Business

Product development examples

In the based-on-a-true-story 2023 film BlackBerry , the founders of Research in Motion (RIM) assemble a crude prototype of their mobile smart phone to accompany a pitch to investors. Although the final product looked nothing like the first iteration, the prototype serves as a proof of concept and a jumping off point to get funding or test the market. 

Product development became a key part of RIM’s (later named BlackBerry) business in the race against Apple, which the company ultimately lost by failing to understand the market and racing to the final product without adequate testing.

Don’t make the same mistakes—understand your industry and market. The product development cycle will naturally vary by industry, so let’s take a brief look at what you might have to consider with case studies for each.

Fashion and apparel development

In the fashion industry, product development usually begins the old-school way: with a hand-drawn sketch or the digital equivalent made using a program like Procreate .

A sketch is then developed into a sample using a pattern maker or seamstress. During the prototyping phase, a size set is created, which means a range of samples with different measurements for each size you want to sell. 

Production will either be handmade by the designer, produced by a factory, or printed by a print-on-demand company (in the case of graphic t-shirts or accessories). 

Other factors to consider:

• Hang tags: The branded tags that hang from a garment and usually contain information like price, size, etc.
• Labels: The fabric tags sewed or stamped into a garment that usually contain information about fabric contents and care instructions.
• Wash tests: Putting your product through wash tests to understand whether it holds up over time and how it should be cared for.

👗 Case Study: From Sketch to Sample to Successful Business

Sarah Donofrio dedicated her life to fashion working for major brands before launching her own clothing line. 👉 Read Sarah's story

Beauty and personal care development

From makeup to bath products to skin care , much of the beauty industry’s hottest new labels started in a kitchen. Founders experiment with ingredients, some even launching handmade products, before mass producing through a manufacturer.

White labeling is also popular in the beauty and cosmetics industry. It’s the process of finding an existing product or manufacturer, then packaging and branding the products they already produce. Whichever route you decide to take, mass manufacturing for cosmetics is usually done by working with a lab and a chemist to make sure quality stays consistent at scale.

• Labels and warnings. Identify all materials used in the product and any potential reactions.
• Laws and regulations. Research FDA regulations and how they pertain to your product and packaging, both where they are produced and where you intend to sell them.
• Shelf life. Conduct tests and add necessary expiration dates to products.

🏭 Case Study: Making the Leap to Manufacturing

In this guide to starting a skin care line, Meghan Cox discusses the early days of starting her business, Amalie. While she launched on handmade formulations, she eventually made the move to manufacturing—and then opened her own lab. 👉 Read Meghan’s story

Food and beverage

Food and beverage products are among the easiest to start developing at a low cost from home. Creating a new energy bar can be as simple as buying ingredients and tweaking the recipe in your own kitchen, like Lara Merriken did when she started Lärabar .

In order to move from recipe to packaged goods you can sell in stores or online, you will need to find a commercial kitchen that is licensed to produce food and has passed a health and safety inspection. These are manufacturing facilities that specialize in processing raw materials and producing food and beverage products at scale.

• Labels and warnings. You will need to display ingredient lists and nutritional information.
• Laws and regulations. Many countries have regulations around dietary information, allergen warnings, and health claims that you will need to comply with.
• Expiry dates. You will need to understand your product lifetime and how you will produce, package, and stock the product to accommodate this.

☕ Case Study: A Beverage Brand's Humble Roots

Hannah Mendoza spent a year in her own kitchen honing her recipe for Clevr Blends, a brand of superfood plant milk lattes. 👉 Read Hannah's story

Wrapping up the product development cycle 

During product development, each journey to a finished product is different and every industry has its own unique set of quirks involved in creating something new.

If you find yourself struggling to figure it all out, remember that every product that came before yours had to overcome the same challenges. By following the steps in this guide, you can better manage the overwhelming task of bringing a new product to market.

No matter what you’re developing, by putting in all the necessary preparation—through researching, planning, prototyping, sourcing, and costing—you can set yourself up for a successful final product.

Feature illustration by Pete Ryan Infographic design by Brenda Wisniowski

• How To Sell Sex Toys Online in 2024
• How To Source Products To Sell Online
• AliExpress Dropshipping- How to Dropship From AliExpress
• The Ultimate Guide To Dropshipping (2024)
• How To Find a Product to Sell: 16 Proven Methods
• The 13 Best Dropshipping Suppliers in 2024
• How To Find Private Label Products and Start Selling
• How to Start a Dropshipping Business- A Complete Playbook for 2024
• How To Choose the Best Domain Name in 2024 (7 Tips & Tools)
• What Is a C Corporation? How to Form and Operate a C Corp

Product development FAQ

What is the product development process.

The product development process refers to the step a business takes to bring a product to market. It can be a completely new product, renewing an old product, or introducing an existing product to a new market. It involves concept development and testing, prototyping, costing, and commercializing the product by marketing it online.

How can I come up with new product ideas?

• Brainstorming
• Customer reviews
• Test marketing
• Examining your competitors
• Audience surveys
• Social media
• B2B wholesale marketplaces
• Concept testing
• Online consumer trend publications

What is the difference between product development and product management?

Product development refers to the conceptualization and creation of a new product of the product life cycle. It involves a specific product strategy to bring an idea to life. Product management is responsible for guiding all product teams toward creating a usable product customers will buy, as well as the product roadmap. Both the product management and product development departments work together to plan and build the product roadmap that will bring the product to market.

What are the 7 stages in the product development process?

• Idea generation
• Prototyping
• Commercialization

What is a minimum viable product?

The minimum viable product (MVP) is a version of your product with just enough functionality for early customers to use. It helps validate a product concept early in your product development process. It also helps product managers get user feedback as fast as possible to iterate and make small, incremental improvements to the product.

Keep up with the latest from Shopify

Get free ecommerce tips, inspiration, and resources delivered directly to your inbox.

By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.

popular posts

The point of sale for every sale.

Subscribe to our blog and get free ecommerce tips, inspiration, and resources delivered directly to your inbox.

Unsubscribe anytime. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.

Latest from Shopify

Aug 16, 2024

Learn on the go. Try Shopify for free, and explore all the tools you need to start, run, and grow your business.

Try Shopify for free, no credit card required.

• Free Project Management Software
• Agile Project Management Software
• Project Management Software for Nonprofits
• Organization Apps to Boost Productivity
• Resource Management Software
• Monday Review
• ClickUp Review
• Monday Pricing
• ClickUp Pricing
• Wrike Pricing
• Asana Pricing
• Smartsheet Pricing
• Teamwork Pricing
• Airtable Pricing
• Scoro Pricing
• Asana vs Monday
• ClickUp vs Monday
• Wrike vs Asana
• Trello vs Asana
• ClickUp vs Asana
• What is Agile Project Management?
• Key Benefits of Agile Methodology
• Most Important Agile Metrics
• Agile Manifesto: Values and Principles
• Agile Project Management Certifications

Product Development Process: The 9 Stages (with Examples)

Without product development, product ideas will remain as ideas and never get launched into the market and reach the organization's target audience.

Before a company’s market launch, the product development process must happen from the brainstorming session where ideas are generated till the finished product is successfully launched.

Ensuring that an idea comes to life, becomes a widely accepted product in the market, and meets customer needs is the desire of every product manager. The product development process makes this achievable.

This article will discuss various aspects of the product development process and the factors that influence it.

Let's get started.

What is Product Development?

Product development refers to the strategic process of building a new product from start to finish. It is a vital aspect of product design. The product development process begins from the initial idea generation phase or brainstorming session till the product launch.

Furthermore, the product development process refers to all the activities and steps an organization takes to bring a product into the market successfully. It covers other aspects like introducing an old product to a new market and renewing an existing product.

Successful product development entails identifying a market need, building the product roadmap , conceptualizing the product, launching the product into the market, and collecting customer feedback.

Some of the best product roadmap software that helps you take a product from initial conception to development and launch include Monday.com, ClickUp, and Wrike.

New Product Development Process

The new product development process is a vital aspect of product design and does not end until the product life cycle is completed.

In simple terms, the new product development process involves bringing an original product idea to market. You can use the best product management tools for visual product planning and effective product process management.

9 Stages of Product Development

Different organizations use different product development techniques, but the product development process is broken down into nine stages.

1. Idea Generation (Ideation)

The first stage of the product development process is the ideation stage. Many entrepreneurs have issues moving beyond this sage; most get stuck here and either come up with unscalable ideas or no idea.

Product development begins when a new product idea is generated or birthed.

The ideation stage can also be called the product innovation stage, where you thoroughly brainstorm certain product concepts based on market research , concept testing, and customer needs.

The following factors should be considered when initiating a new product concept.

Target Market

Your target market is your potential customers. A target market is essentially the customer profile built specifically for your product.

Identifying your target market at the early stage is vital so that you can customize your product concepts in line with your target market from the start.

Existing Products

Accessing your existing product portfolio is important when you have a new product concept.

Some factors you must consider within your product portfolio include:

• Do your existing products provide solutions to similar problems?
• Do your competitors offer a product that does not permit market share?

If the answer to these questions is positive, you must consider whether your new product concept is substantially different enough to be viable. Acquiring the right answers to these important questions will guarantee the success of your new concept.

Functionality

You need to have a general idea of what functions your product will serve to the user and how it will benefit your customer.

At the initial stage, it is not compulsory to have a well-crafted report of the product's functionality is not compulsory. Having a general picture of its core functionality will go a long way.

You should consider why a potential customer will be interested in purchasing your product, what it looks like, and what esteem benefits it provides.

SWOT Analysis

Building the best version of your new product concept is feasible when you have considered every important factor and analyzed your product’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats early in the development process.

A proper SWOT analysis will ensure your product solves the market gap and is distinct from competitors.

SCAMPER Method

With brainstorming techniques like SCAMPER, you can refine your product ideas properly. SCAMPER is an acronym for substituting, combining, adapting, modifying, putting to another use, eliminating, or rearranging your product concept.

Documenting your generated ideas as a business case will further validate your product concept. With this SCAMPER strategy, your team members will clearly understand the original product features and the new product launch objectives.

2. Preliminary Idea Validation Using Market Research (Idea Screening)

After successfully generating your product idea, you should research before going into production, as most entrepreneurs do. Failure to validate your idea may result in various issues and problems.

Validating your idea (product validating) eliminates the constraints of producing a product that is not fit for the target customers. It prevents you from investing your precious time, money, effort, and resources on an idea that will not sell.

Producing a product your target audience will not be willing to pay for is counterproductive to the business goal of making a profit.

Here are some idea screening techniques to validate your product ideas.

• You can get useful and early feedback on your idea by sending an online survey using online survey software tools .
• You can start a crowdfunding campaign.
• Sharing your idea with friends and family is also a good way to validate your idea.
• You can ask for feedback on forums like Reddit, where you will get detailed insight into your idea's viability.
• With Google Trends, you can thoroughly research market demand and compare the information with your idea.
• You can get early user feedback and gauge the interest of potential customers via email opt-ins or pre-orders.
• Ask the opinions of people with strong industry knowledge in your target niche.

In validating your idea, you must be conscious that you require feedback from an unbiased and substantial audience concerning why they will buy your product or not.

You can implement an effective marketing strategy by running a technical feasibility study or carefully accessing the idea to know if it will generate a good return on investment ( ROI ) or not.

Product validation guarantees that you create a product people will be willing to purchase. A major aspect of validation research is competitive analysis. If your idea can take up a market share, inevitably, competitors are already operating in that space.

You can acquire relevant information to validate your product by visiting competitors’ websites and signing up for their email lists. These actions will give you clear insight into how your competitors attract customers and make sales.

Another step you can take is to gather information from your potential customers about their opinion of your competitors’ products. This information will be of great help when you want to define your competitive advantage.

All the information gathered from the market research you conducted and product validation will help you effectively project and gauge the demand for the product. You will get insight into the competitive landscape before you proceed to the planning phase.

3. Product Definition

Product definition means concept development or scoping, and the main focus is to refine the product strategy successfully.

Here are some specifics that you must define in this stage.

Business Analysis

The business analysis includes e-commerce strategy, effectively mapping your distribution strategy and more in-depth competitor analysis. Effective business analysis enables you to start building a clearly defined product roadmap.

Value Proposition

A value proposition describes what exact problem the product is solving. You should compare the difference between the product and other products in the market.

This value is useful for developing your market strategy and conducting market research.

Success Metrics

Clarifying your success matrices should be done early in the development phase for you to measure and evaluate success after launching your product.

Certain key success metrics you should consider are key performance indicators ( KPIs ) like average order value or custom set goals which are more direct and relevant to your organization.

Marketing Strategy

Start a brainstorming session to develop the perfect strategy that fits your need. Consider the best platform for promoting your product, such as a blog post, SMS marketing , or social media.

You may have to change your strategy eventually, especially when the finished product is out and ready to be launched. Still, it is best to be prepared and plan concerning what marketing strategy you will implement.

4. Prototyping

The prototyping stage entails intensive research and documentation of the product by the product development team.

Prototyping is done by constructing the product and creating a more detailed business plan. It involves creating a sample, release, or model of a particular product to evaluate a process concept.

An advantage of creating a prototype is that it helps you identify major risk areas associated with the product before it is created.

Here are the areas of focus in the prototyping phase:

Feasibility Analysis

Evaluating your product strategy based on feasibility is the next step in this process. You must eliminate assumptions and ensure the workload and estimated timeline are achievable.

After the analysis, if you discover that these parameters are not achievable, you can make the necessary adjustments by changing the dates accordingly and requesting assistance from stakeholders.

Market Risk Research

Before your product is created, you must analyze any possible risks associated with the product’s production process. Identifying the potential market risks prevents your product launch from derailing from the original business plan .

Document the information derived from the research in a risk register which is a useful tool for communicating risks to your team.

Development Strategy

At this stage, you begin to work through your development plan, which means you assign tasks, and the timeline of these tasks will follow. The critical path method can help you effectively plan tasks and estimate timelines.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

The prototyping stage's minimum viable product (MVP) is the outcome. An MVP is a product with the necessary structure required to launch and nothing above what is required for the product to function.

One of the advantages of creating an MVP is that it helps your team execute the product launch faster than when they have to build all the necessary features, which can extend the launch timeline.

The desired features can be added later when bandwidth is available. For example, an MVP motorbike would have features like breaks, fuel tanks, wheels, and seats without a basket or bell.

5. Initial Design

The initial design phase is characterized by project stakeholders working together to produce a product caricature of the product based on the MVP prototype.

While creating the design, you should make every decision with the target audience in mind. Consider the necessary features to meet your target audience's needs and complement your product's key functions.

A successful product design entails several activities that may require repeated interaction to get the design perfect. It may involve communicating with several distributors to acquire necessary materials.

Producing the initial product design involves:

Source Materials

To successfully design the initial product mockup, you must source relevant materials. Source materials may entail ordering equipment, working with various vendors, or creating your product.

Documenting your sourced materials in a shared space where they can be referred to later or when needed is important because these materials were sourced from various places.

Connect with Stakeholders

Communication Is a key component for any project to be successful. Regarding creating the initial design, keeping a tight communication channel is important to verify if your initial design is still on the right track and has not derailed.

You should share daily or weekly progress reports to keep the stakeholders updated and get approval as needed.

Receive Initial Feedback

After completing the design, you must request initial feedback from the senior management team and relevant stakeholders.

With the feedback acquired, revise the product design as required until the final design has come to the point where it can be developed and implemented.

You will then move to the validated phase once the senior management team and stakeholders have approved the product for final testing before launching the product.

6. Validation and User Testing

Before launching a new product, you must validate and test it first. The validation and testing process ensures that every aspect of the product, from the development to the marketing, is functioning before it is marketed to the general public.

The validation and user testing process entails:

Validation Testing

Validation testing is the process of confirming that the product meets its proposed use and that its features can meet the various beads of its users, resulting in the users being satisfied with the product.

Concept Development and Testing

After developing your product prototype, you need to access the prototype and provide viable solutions to issues encountered in the physical production or software development process.

You can test the product’s functionality by enlisting the help of beta testers and team members to assure development.

Front-end Testing

During the front-end testing phase, you are required to test the front-end functionality of the product to access risks with consumer-facing errors or development code.

Front-end testing also includes checking the eCommerce functionality and ensuring it is stable for launch.

Test Marketing

Testing your market plan for functionality and errors is crucial before you start the production of the final product. Ensure all necessary camping equipment is properly set up and ready to launch.

7. Sourcing (If It’s a Physical Product)

Before going into production, you must gather all the materials and secure the necessary partners. Build an efficient supply chain that includes the vendor's activities and resources required to create a product and market it to the right customers who will purchase it.

The sourcing phase is characterized by activities like finding suppliers and manufacturers and associated factors like storage, warehousing, and shipping.

Finding multiple suppliers and different potential manufacturers for the materials required for the product will enable you to compare costs to pick the one best suited for your needs.

Diversifying your supply chain has the added advantage of creating a backup option when one supplier fails to deliver.

Additionally, having multiple supply options helps to protect and safeguard your business for the long term.

During the sourcing phase, you will have to decide if you will produce your product locally or internationally. Both options have pros and cons; you should access them diligently before deciding the best fit for you.

8. Costing and Business Case Development

A clear picture of what it will cost to produce your product is essential in the development process.

Costing is a fundamental business analysis in which you compile all the acquired information and sum up your cost of goods sold ( COGS ) to determine the gross margin and retail price.

You can calculate the product cost by creating a spreadsheet with each extra cost broken out as a separate line item. Items within the spreadsheet should include your factory setup cost, all of your raw materials, shipping cost, and manufacturing cost.

An extra cost can significantly impact your cost of goods sold (COGS). These expenses include import fees, shipping, and any duties you may pay to make your product available to your consumers.

The amount you are expected to pay is largely dependent on the location you are producing the product.

Suppose you secured various quotes for materials or manufacturers while sourcing necessary resources. You can add different columns for each line item that compare the cost.

You can also create another spreadsheet version, comparing local and international products.

You can create your pricing strategy for your product after you have successfully calculated your total cost of goods sold (COGS) and subtract it from that price to get your potential gross margin, or profit, on each unit sold.

9. Commercialization

After creating a profitable and successful product ready for the world, the next step is to commercialize it.

Before you reach this stage, you must have quality tested your development and marketing efforts and finalized your product design. Checking off these activities should boost your confidence in your final iterations and be ready to produce your final product.

Here are the factors you should pay attention to in this stage.

Product Development

Product development involves physically creating the product you intend to launch or release to your customers. At this stage, you may require additional development for the software concept.

You should give the development team the MVP interaction and final prototype to produce the product to the perfect specifications.

Ecommerce Implementation

After the product has been successfully developed, it is time to launch. Your development team will transfer your eCommerce materials to a live state.

You may have to do additional testing to ascertain that your live product performs as it was designed to function during the previous front-end testing phase.

After every other important step has been carried out in the development process, the final product is then introduced to the market. The marketing team completes this step after the product development team has completed its job.

When it comes to marketing, you do not necessarily have to spend too much to run ads. Instead, you can use the following tactics for effectively marketing your product to the right audience.

• You can run chat marketing campaigns.
• Use gift guides to display your product features and increase awareness
• You can run an affiliate marketing campaign by working with major influencers
• Enable Instagram shopping
• Send product launch emails to generated leads
• Run chat marketing campaigns

Product Development Examples

The product development cycle is different for various industries. Since you have acquired an adequate understanding of the new stages of product development, let us look at real-world examples where they can be applied.

Let’s consider two popular and well-established industries: beauty & cosmetics and food & beverage. Here are some well-documented case studies about how the product development processes of these industries function.

Beauty and Cosmetics

Within the beauty and cosmetics industry is a wide range of products constantly expanding due to self-care and wellness trends. These products range from skincare products to makeup to bath products.

Additionally, reasonable beauty and cosmetics brands diversify into all-natural ingredients and sustainability, making it feasible and easier for you to craft a product using the readily available ingredient.

A relevant example is white labeling, which involves the strategic process of sourcing for an existing product or manufacturer and packaging and branding the product they produce with your brand name.

Whatever strategy you use is acceptable, but certain constants exist concerning mass manufacturing cosmetics. You would require a lab to carry out the manufacturing process and a chemist to ensure the quality stays consistent at scale.

Other factors to consider include:

• Shelf Life: You must conduct the necessary quality tests and include the product's expiration date.
• Labels and Warnings: You must identify all the available ingredients used in the product's manufacturing process and highlight the possible reactions.
• Laws and Regulations: You should thoroughly research FDA regulations and their relevance to your product and packaging. Factors considered include where the products are manufactured and where you intend to sell them.

Food and Beverage

The food and beverage industry is a major player in starting a business easily and developing at a low cost from the comfort of your home.

You can create a new soft drink business in the comfort of your home by sourcing the recipe you can purchase online and also market and sell online and in various stores within your reach.

To produce food that the FDA would approve and to move from mixing recipes to packaging the product and selling in stores or online, you would have to get a licensed commercial kitchen to produce food that has passed all the necessary health and safety inspections.

To set up your kitchen, you will require ovens and various cooking equipment to accommodate large batches.

Suppose you plan to produce in mass and packaging. In that case, you will require a co-manufacturer and a manufacturing facility specializing in processing raw food and beverage products on a large scale.

Here are some other factors you should also consider:

• Laws and Regulations : Within various countries are specific regulations concerning allergen warnings, dietary information, and vital health claims that you must comply with.
• Labels and warnings: Displaying the ingredients used for manufacturing and the nutrition information is vital.
• Expiry Dates: A clear understanding of your product life cycle helps make the right decisions about how you package, product, and stock the product to accommodate the expiration dates.

Who is Part of the Product Development Team?

The product development process is not successful without the input of many stakeholders and development teams who assist in ensuring the process's smooth sailing.

Among everyone involved in the process, the major leader is the product manager. Product managers oversee all product tasks related to idea generation, research, development, and product launch.

Here is a list of relevant stakeholders involved in the product development process.

Product Manager

A product manager is primarily responsible for overseeing all areas of the product life cycle and ensuring regular and constant communications between internal and external teams.

The product manager is responsible for initiating product creativity, new product launches, and relevant market research. He is responsible for all product management roles.

Project Manager

When it comes to cross-departmental communication in product development, the project manager plays a vital role.

Project managers assist product managers with task delegation , role and project management, and goal tracking. Every project manager must have the essential project management skills to manage projects successfully.

Design Team

The design team plays a vital role during the design and prototyping phase regarding the visual product concept.

Connecting UX best practices with product design and brand guidance is crucial for successful product development.

Development Team

The development team's responsibility is to make the implementation of your product on your website possible. In most cases, a team of developers collaborates to build the new product offering depending on the complexity of the concept.

Marketing Team

Before launching the product, the marketing team is responsible for creating and testing an effective marketing strategy. The marketing team measures the success of the marketing initiative.

The sales team collaborates with the project manager to develop a crafted sales strategy and a detailed report on the success metrics after product implementation.

Senior Management

Before the product can launch, the senior stakeholder has to access it and give the final approval.

Apart from these roles, other teams involved in the developmental process include finance, engineering, and other key stakeholders.

Was This Article Helpful?

Anastasia belyh.

Anastasia has been a professional blogger and researcher since 2014. She loves to perform in-depth software reviews to help software buyers make informed decisions when choosing project management software, CRM tools, website builders, and everything around growing a startup business.

Anastasia worked in management consulting and tech startups, so she has lots of experience in helping professionals choosing the right business software.

Forming a new product development business plan

Table of Contents

Creating a product idea 

Outline the concept and idea, do market research , create a pitch, business planning for your new product development , creating the product, consider the finances, determine a price point , research profitability, marketing your new product  , product launch , create incentives , keep your finances in good shape.

Introducing new products can be a good way to grow your small business. In fact, a survey with Neilson found that 63% of those surveyed liked when businesses offered new products. These products can bring awareness to your brand and fit a consumer’s needs. They’re also a good way to earn more income. 

But product development can be time-consuming and lead to profits if it’s not well-planned. 

This guide will discuss how to create a new product development business plan, including: 

• Marketing your new product 

If you’re wondering how to create a new product development business plan, you may want to start with brainstorming.  

The idea for your new product is the first step in developing new things to sell for your business. These ideas should keep your target customer and market in mind. Try to consider what your customer wants from your product . For example, if you have a baking business, you may think of ideas for baked goods or baking tools. 

The idea will be the actual product you may develop, whereas the concept is its purpose and plan. You may want to create a list of ideas to narrow down to a final concept. 

When considering your ideas, outline a few key factors for its development. Ask yourself about the functionality of the product. Is it solving a problem or answering a question? Would your customers be interested in buying it? Is it realistic to create and sell? 

Once you narrow down your idea and concept, do market research to understand the product’s marketability. You might look at similar product listings, prices, and reviews to get an idea of demand. 

Compile some information on your target audience . Determine how stable this market is and how long it may last. If the trend doesn’t last long, you may not be able to profit from the interest before it goes away.  

Also, outline potential competitors to see how difficult it may be to convince buyers to pick your product. Then, determine what you can do to stand out. 

With your idea and concept, put together a pitch. This pitch can be the beginning of your new product development business plan. The pitch will include a product description , a development plan, and potential customer benefits. You could also put together a sample.

Then, give this pitch to a few people you trust. If they agree that it could be a beneficial and successful product, you can get started on a more detailed business plan for the product development. 

The development plan will outline how you’ll create the product and sell it to customers to earn money from it. We’ll cover a few things you may want to consider in this business plan. 

First, determine what you’ll need and how you’ll put the finished product together. You may want to get quotes from vendors to get materials for your new product. If it’s more of a service than a product, outline what it will offer and how you’ll successfully achieve the service for customers. 

To develop your product, you’ll need to determine the money you’ll need. Start by deciding how much it will cost to make the new product. Then, decide how many you might make for a release. 

Use your vendor quotes to estimate the cost of production. When putting together a budget for your development plan, look at startup costs and ongoing expenses for the new product. Then, determine if your business’s cash flow can support these. If not, you may need to consider funding options or start saving for the product development. 

Once you outline the cost of production, use that information to determine how much you’ll charge for your new product. You may want to establish a competitive price so buyers may choose yours over competitor’s. 

Your pricing will need to promote profitability. To do this, establish a profit margin, or markup, which is the product’s price divided by the cost of the production. This might be about 10-20% or more, depending on the industry and the demand.   

After deciding on your product price, project how much you could earn from it. Consider how many products you might sell in the first few months. Plus, decide how many you’ll need to sell to cover your startup costs and begin earning revenue from that new product.

You may also want to consult your current customers to see if they’re interested in the product. In addition, consider putting together a focus group to see what a sample of people thinks of the new product. With this new information, you can set sales goals and create a timeline towards profitability.   

The last part of your new product development business plan will be to decide how you’ll market that product to earn sales. You’ll need to create buzz around it’s release. 

To build awareness and promote sales, you can create a product launch event that celebrates the product and demonstrates its usefulness. Consider sending out a newsletter that announces it’s release or posting on social media with a launch countdown. 

Since it’s a new product, you may want to incentivise it to potential customers to try it. You could offer existing customers a discount or free trial of the new product. A trial can help you understand the product’s effectiveness and see if it needs any tweaking. Then, consider asking these customers to review the product for others to see how well it works. 

As you plan for new product development, you’ll need to manage your finances to support your business growth. Financial management can be stressful and time-consuming when you’re self-employed. That’s why thousands of business owners use the Countingup app to make their financial admin easier. 

Countingup is the business current account with built-in accounting software that allows you to manage all your financial data in one place. With features like automatic expense categorisation, invoicing on the go, receipt capture tools, tax estimates, and cash flow insights, you can confidently keep on top of your business finances wherever you are. 

You can also share your bookkeeping with your accountant instantly without worrying about duplication errors, data lags or inaccuracies. Seamless, simple, and straightforward! 

Find out more here .

• Counting Up on Facebook
• Counting Up on Twitter
• Counting Up on LinkedIn

Related Resources

What is the difference between an invoice and a receipt.

As a small business owner or freelancer, you’ll have heard of receipts and

Small business health checklist

Running a business can be a fairly hectic job. There’s often so much

What is financial reporting? 8 must-measure metrics for small businesses

Financial reporting is a crucial part of any business. After all, you need

What is the difference between gross and net profit

Profit is categorised in two ways: gross and net. Each is important in

How to set prices for your small business

Your prices decide whether customers will buy your products or those of your

What are key performance indicators?

To gauge the success of your small business, you need to dive deeper

How to track expenses for a small business

Part of owning a business is spending money to keep it running. Any

What insurance does a self-employed hairdresser need?

As a self-employed hairdresser, you’re open to risks in your everyday work. Whether

What are assets and liabilities in a business?

Anyone going into business needs to be familiar with assets and liabilities. They

Personal car for business use: How does it work?

Access to a car is a must for most businesses, meaning that travel

Advantages and disadvantages of using personal savings in business

Have you got a new business idea? And are you considering using your

How to pay Corporation Tax

Corporation Tax is the main tax your limited company has to pay every

JavaScript required

We’re sorry, but Coda doesn’t work properly without JavaScript enabled.

How to Do Product Planning in 15 Minutes [+ Templates]

What Is A Product Plan?

How to Assign Roles to Team Members

How to Manage Features In Your Product Plan

How to Determine Effort Score: Story Points Vs. Hours

How to Set Achievable Timeframes

How to Allocate Resources & Estimate Effort Invested in Product Planning

Resource Utilization by Person

Resource Utilization by Feature

Resource Utilization by Team

Final Thoughts

Product planning faqs, what is a product roadmap, what is the best product planning software, who is responsible for the product roadmap, a few of the 40,000+ teams that 🏃‍♀️ on coda..

Advisory boards aren’t only for executives. Join the LogRocket Content Advisory Board today →

• Product Management
• Solve User-Reported Issues
• Find Issues Faster
• Optimize Conversion and Adoption

What is the product development lifecycle? 5 stages and examples

Product development frameworks enable product teams to respond to changes in the ever-evolving market and solve customers’ needs quickly. The product development lifecycle defines the stages the team must undergo to deliver a valuable product to end users before it becomes obsolete.

The product development lifecycle (PDLC) is a subset of product lifecycle management that focuses on building and delivering during each phase.

What are the 5 stages of the product development lifecycle?

The product development lifecycle goes through five stages. Depending on the size and scale of the organization and the product, these five stages can be broken down into the following steps.

Let’s explore each step in the PDLC in more detail and examine the product manager’s role throughout the process.

1. Ideation

Ideation is the fun part for most product managers. Ideas can pop up at any time, any place. Even so, most are forgotten or never see the light of the day.

In product management , ideation is a proper step that is included in all frameworks. There are many proven ways to extract great ideas and concepts, such as brainstorming, mind mapping, hackathons, etc.

The product manager is not expected to devise the next big idea alone. Instead, they should facilitate the discussions and encourage the subject matter experts working on the product to be creative and generate new concepts.

This step aims to create many ideas to solve a relevant problem for the user, screen the most impactful concepts, and take them to the next stage.

Once all the options are collected, the team filters them to see which ones fulfill essential criteria, such as feasibility, volume, competitors, target groups, etc., to narrow down the list. There are many proven ways to filter the list, such as by using an impact matrix followed by cost evaluation and SWOT analysis.

2. Conceptualization

In the conceptualization phase, the ideas become tangible. This stage aims to validate whether the concepts are worth developing and likely to produce value for the end user.

There are many ways to test and build a concept. Based on the size of the work required during this step, it can be divided into two sub-steps: prototyping and testing and analysis .

Prototyping

Prototyping can be as simple as drawing a few design frames on paper. A prototype can also be a more complex, interactive design made with tools like InVision . You can decide the way forward depending on the idea’s size and impact.

Before choosing the prototyping method, you must define the:

• Target segment — Detailing the consumer groups and determining where your product and services will fit in in their day-to-day life will help design the right design from the start
• Value proposition — Defining your functionality’s value to the consumer group will align the expectation
• Success metrics — In product development, it is vital to know early on whether your ideas are headed in the right direction. To evaluate success, define concrete metrics and clear goals

Testing and analysis

There are multiple ways to test a concept. User testing, surveys, A/B testing, alpha and beta testing, etc. Every initiative is different, and the method varies based on your organization’s needs.

The most important questions you want to answer during the testing and analysis steps are around:

• Usability — Is the functionality easy to understand and easy to use?
• Value — Is the functionality creating good value for the end user?
• Convenience — Does the functionality meets the user’s expectations?
• Pricing — How much is a user willing to pay for the new product or functionality?

3. Designing

When the product has evolved from testing and analysis, you’re ready to move forward when you have the answers to all the above questions and have finalized a solution.

The design step is critical for estimation and planning. Again, a good foundation helps you ensure your team builds the product in the right way.

The designing stage includes the following considerations.

Over 200k developers and product managers use LogRocket to create better digital experiences

The technical experts handle the details around architectural design. This includes defining the feasibility, tech stack, and competence required, identifying dependencies, and planning for development and testing.

Product managers can then plan the budget based on all the information gathered from the design and preliminary planning for building and launching the actual product.

During the designing phase, iterations can be made based on findings from testing and analysis. The development team may also consider a better way to build the product than what might have been proposed for iteration.

In all likelihood, the development team is composed of technical experts, so decisions ought to be made collaboratively and inclusively.

4. Development

When the product is in development, that’s the time to plan the solution’s actual development roadmap and technical implementation. This step also includes quality assurance and testing. The goal of the development step is to prepare the new functionality to deliver to the end user.

During this step, the entire development team comes together to align on a development strategy. This includes planning dependencies, third-party integrations if required, and considering all the nonfunctional requirements needed to build and deliver a solid product.

MVP planning includes a preliminary plan for the sprints and grouping features into buckets ( e.g., must-have, should-have, nice-to-have), along with an estimation and time plan for development and resource allocation. Each MVP should be ready to release to end users once completed.

The team must also agree on a quality assurance strategy, which involves testing on various levels (e.g., system test, integration test, regression test, etc.) and building a fail-safe mechanism and backup plan in case the release fails.

5. Delivery

Even if your product checks all the right boxes, if you don’t commercialize it in a strategic way, it won’t reach the right audience at the right time.

There are some phenomenal products live in the market that never reach the level of success they deserve simple because people don’t know about them. End users don’t have the time or energy to evaluate which products are most worth their time and attention; it’s the company’s job to market its products effectively.

Finally, a good delivery plan contributes as much toward the success or failure of the product as the quality.

While creating a delivery plan, the product manager should involve marketing experts , analytics, and sales if needed. Involving people close to your end users at the beginning and the end of the product lifecycle ensures the complete circling of the process.

Launch plan

The product launch plan should clearly articulate whether you plan to release the new feature to your entire customer base all at once or to conduct a round of beta testing involving a select group of users.

The product manager can lean on inputs from subject matter experts to identify the segment and the market to launch the feature with maximum impact. But, at the end of the day, the final word on the launch plan rests with the PM.

Marketing activities

When a product is addressed to the end-user, or if the product is generating revenue, it is crucial to plan marketing activities around the feature to increase its reach and achieve the maximum impact.

To prepare for marketing activities, the product manager should set the budget and estimate ROI to get marketing plans approved by management before launch. Then, the marketing experts can carry out the actual campaign with the involvement of the product manager.

PDLC vs. SDLC: What’s the difference?

The software development life cycle (SDLC) is focused on developing the product as quickly as possible, at a low cost, and with maximum efficiency.

The five stages of the software development lifecycle are:

• Requirement analysis
• Solution design
• Implementation
• Deployment and maintenance

The fundamental difference between the product development lifecycle (PDLC) and the software development lifecycle (SDLC) is the focus and the goal. The PDLC is an overarching process focusing on the product as a whole, whereas the SDLC is a subset of the PDLC that concentrates on the technical implementation of the product development.

Because the PDLC focuses on bringing the right product and feature to the market in a suitable way, the process usually takes longer from ideation to delivery. The SDLC focuses on delivering quality product implementations, so the cycle can be as long as a few sprints until the next process cycle resumes.

Example of the product development lifecycle in action

To demonstrate what the product development lifecycle looks like in practice, let’s explore the example of a retail clothing chain that has identified a need to revamp its digital platform to accommodate customers less inclined to visit stores in-person due to a public health scenario.

During the ideation phase, multiple ideas are produced, including new designs, try-at-home, VR opportunities, etc. These ideas are then ranked using a matrix for cost evaluation, user impact, and SWOT analysis , and prioritized for the next conceptualization step.

Let’s take the redesigning option in the conceptualization step. First, a prototype is created with the new design and analyzed in the market with some user testing and A/B testing for multiple opportunities. After the analysis, a conclusion is drawn that redesigning by itself will not create much impact unless combined with some additional features for the virtual trial.

This concept of redesigning, including the virtual trial, is then moved to the designing phase, where architects scrutinize the current systems, analyze the feasibility, evaluate the technology and tech stack, identify the competence required and dependencies, etc.

Secondly, the design is iterated per the testing results and finalized.

Finally, success metrics — e.g., 15 percent increase in conversion rate, 10 percent value proposition increase in customer satisfaction rate, 10 percent increase in revenue, etc. — are defined as goals.

Once a concrete concept is created, budgeting and planning are done, and the idea has final approval, it progresses to the development stage, where the team considers planning of technical implementation, resources allocation, time estimation, and dependencies. Finally, the team plans testing and quality assurance and estimates time to market.

Once the product manager has the estimated time to market, they can start working on the launch plan and marketing activities to commercialize the revamped website. The goal is to maximize traffic and awareness about the new virtual trial feature as their new unique selling point.

The product lifecycle does not end at delivery; it’s a cycle, not a linear process. Once delivered, the team conducts a continuous evaluation on performance, identifies any new needs, and then begins the PDLC process all over again, starting from ideation.

The product development lifecycle is a process to identify the market’s need and set the team up to develop and deliver value to the customer at a good pace.

The ideation and conceptualization steps are designed to extrapolate the most suitable product to build. The designing and development steps are meant to promote efficiency. Finally, the delivery and commercialization steps help you deliver the product in the right way to your end users.

Product managers play a crucial role during each phase of the development cycle. PMs are responsible for gathering competencies and expertise at each stage to plan and execute products from an idea to a tangible thing that is both valuable to the end user and the right fit for the market.

As with every process in agile development , the product lifecycle management process is designed to deliver value quickly and effectively through learning and iteration.

Featured image source: IconScout

LogRocket generates product insights that lead to meaningful action

Get your teams on the same page — try LogRocket today.

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• #product strategy

Stop guessing about your digital experience with LogRocket

Recent posts:.

Are daily standups worth it?

In theory, a daily meeting should fine-tune the team alignment and facilitate collaboration. But does it actually?

Leader Spotlight: The importance of storytelling and transparency, with Tim Hall

Tim Hall emphasizes the ability to articulate why something is being built, the value it holds, and why people should be excited about it.

An overview of benchmarking

Especially when more productized methods hit a culture wall, benchmarking allows you to evolve into a more strategic PM.

Leader Spotlight: Reducing liabilities through strong data, with Neda Nia

Neda Nia, Chief Product Officer at Stibo Systems, talks about how the company has used AI to minimize liabilities around data ecosystems.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

• Share on Twitter
• Share on LinkedIn
• Share on Facebook
• Share on Pinterest
• Share through Email

7 Key Stages Of New Product Development Process (+ Examples)

Marta Lee-Perriard, Ph.D., has twenty years of experience in product management, most recently as VP of Product. She advises executives in Fortune 500 companies with a focus on women in product.

“Everyone thinks they can create new products, but in actual fact few people do,” my first manager wisely informed me about new product development.  Looking to build a new product?  Then the reliable new product development process I outline below will increase your odds of success.   Fast forward to twenty years of my building new […]

“Everyone thinks they can create new products, but in actual fact few people do,” my first manager wisely informed me about new product development. 

Looking to build a new product?  Then the reliable new product development process I outline below will increase your odds of success .  

Fast forward to twenty years of my building new products in three different markets: what I have seen repeatedly are product managers who present new product ideas that aren’t a strategic fit for their product line or organization. I made the same mistake.   

One failed new product idea I spearheaded was a product that helped engineers learn how to apply standards. Our customers needed this; they were well-funded and willing to pay for it; and there was ample, compelling customer and market research in support of the idea.

And yet, this new idea died several deaths. Nonetheless, a foolhardy product manager (me) resurrected it multiple times. This new product idea finally expired forever and almost took me with it.

The new product idea did not fit with the strategic direction of the organization’s new product development. Best to accept this and move on. Do not attempt to raise a product idea from the dead!  It does neither your company nor your career any favors.

Below are the seven key stages in any new product development process , but keep in mind that new product development is not a linear process. You will go through these phases, multiple times, while building a new product. I also included some product development process examples to help guide you.    

1. Customer Research

Get To Know Your Customers

Most new product development strategies tell product managers to start with brainstorming.

Sitting in a Zoom room dreaming about new product ideas is super fun but futile. Product managers need to start with their customer needs.

As a product manager, your job requires the same understanding of your customers that an anthropologist has of her subjects. You need to know what irks them, what they don’t have, what they have that they don’t like, and how they behave.

Example Of Customer Research

When I studied my customers (librarians) in their native habitat, I uncovered their frustrations. 

For example, until the 2000s microfilm preserved and displayed old newspapers. The microfilm reader—a hulking monstrosity invariably broken—lived in the basement. Genealogists, historians, and social scientists hated using microfilm and loudly complained about the impossibility of searching newspapers, and made their displeasure loudly known to the helpless librarians.

Librarians live to help their patrons. Their patrons’ irritation and the librarians’ ensuing frustration took the form of a question: wasn’t there a way to make newspapers more easily searchable? 

Through the new product development stages below that question resulted in a series of new products that made historical newspapers searchable.

There are proven methods to do thorough customer research and to understand customer needs, both qualitative and quantitative. Here’s a piece covering how to create a customer feedback loop to get you started.

3. Ideation 

How to brainstorm the right way

Once you have that customer problem and you understand all aspects of it, then you want to start idea generation or ideation. According to IDEO,  ideation is brainstorming with your colleagues and customers with the goal of answering ‘how might we”.

Stay in-the-know on all things product management including trends, how-tos, and insights - delivered right to your inbox.

• Your email *
• By submitting this form, you agree to receive our newsletter and occasional emails related to The Product Manager. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more details, please review our Privacy Policy . We're protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
• Phone This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Example Of How To Do Ideation

You’ll want to choose the participants in any ideation session with care, and ideally develop a solid idea management process . One of the features of product development software is that it can help guide this process.

Nothing dampens the mood more than a naysayer. Select individuals who are zany, creative, and open-minded. One of my best product managers would schedule a day and provide a brief summarizing the customer, market, and problem but no solution.

I walked past the ideation room, peering in to observe marketing managers, engineers and customers jumping up and down to scribble on a whiteboard and waving half-eaten cookies.

Involving stakeholders from inside the organization ensures strategic fit; involving potential customers seeds the market. Oh, and if your organization doesn't have a whiteboard—as most remote organizations don't— idea management tools make an excellent substitute.

After the ideation session, this product manager examined all the ideas and distilled them into two or three concepts she could prototype. For tips on how to create prototypes easily and for free, read this article .

3. The Prototype Process

Cupcake and then cupcake again

New product development is not a linear process. Once you have a simple prototype—a cupcake vs a whole cake—you’ll show it to customers.  

During your customer research, these same customers said they wanted exactly what you created. But now, they will turn up their noses. This is normal.

Example of Prototyping

The bigger the irritation for your customers, the more likely they will be to hate your first cupcake. 

I once built seven different prototypes in this stage for a new, low-cost product. It was classic Goldilocks: too little functionality, too much functionality to be low-cost, too hard-to-use, too easy-to-use and so on, until I found just the right mix. Persevere.

Make your cupcake with your designers, keeping marketing engaged and your engineers on hand: remember to bring everyone along. 

Along the way, cultivate mini evangelists. To understand how useful evangelizing about your product concept can be both internally and externally, read this Harvard Business Review article.

4. Concept Development

Check all the ingredients

At this stage, your customers are excited about the prototype. Your colleagues feel a sense of ownership. This is the time to do a strategic fit check-in before you go too far. 

Examples of a Concept

Write a concept paper—or whatever your organization calls it—that outlines your product vision , including the following:

• The customer problem you are solving
• The target market, market size and your market research
• The product launch plan (including a marketing test)
• A P&L (however rough but all executives want estimated costs and revenue)
• What product investment you need to move to the next step
• What you don’t yet know (be honest and have a plan to find out)

For tips on how to write a compelling vision and strategy, I recommend you read Five Crucial Parts of a Product Development Strategy .  

Present the concept paper to the decision makers in your company. Hopefully, your company has an established new product development process to review new product ideas. If it doesn’t then this is your chance to show initiative and/or possibly look for a product manager job in a company that does have an established investment process.

Be compelling, concise, and clear. Listen carefully to the feedback. This is a key check-in. 

Example of When Concepts Fail

If the decision-makers don’t see a strategic fit, it may be time to cease and desist. One of my product managers, Bill, was tenacious in the extreme, presenting different versions of the same new product idea in the product review meetings.

Bill’s product was shot down every time: there simply wasn’t a fit.

You may need to refine your product idea. You may need to do more business analysis and market research. You may need to do more idea generation, hone your process for idea management , or build another prototype.

In 75% of organizations, you will then proceed to a full-blown business case in which you will describe everything above but in far more detail. You’ll also need to answer any open questions.

At this stage, you will ask for the investment to build this product. Ask for enough investment. New products always cost more and take longer than you think. 

5. Building A New Product

Time to bake the cake

The Chief Product Officer approves your concept paper or business case. You’ve picked your favorite product development software and you’re ready to go. Now you start to build the product, using Agile methodology .

Engineering (including UX), quality assurance, marketing and your customers will all be critical in this stage.  

If you were able to involve engineers and designers early in the process, then the development team will understand your product vision. As a result, everything will go much more smoothly despite the inevitable delays and compromises. Collaborating well with engineers requires finesse and precision.

Example of What To Do and Not Do During the Product Build 

Having at times overestimated my ability to convey a product concept to the engineers, my products emerged looking nothing like what my customers needed. Agile enables you to catch a mismatch before these have progressed too far.  Agile also allows for creative solutions no one imagined in the product concept phase.

In the headlong rush to market, we often sacrifice quality assurance time to launch products sooner. When you are trying to convince customers to make a change—always a risk—nothing undermines their confidence more than a bug.

In one particularly critical product launch, I embedded customers into our engineering process to provide instantaneous feedback on a complex new product.  Marketing and product chose customers based on their size and ability to influence the rest of the market as we knew they were likely to be early adopters. 

Keep marketing involved and active, so they are thinking about the marketing strategy as the team moves through the new product development stages. They are about to become the lynchpin. 

6. Go-To-Market And Product Launch

Marketing is your co-chef

Ideally, the market seeding with potential customers began in Stage One, and now is the time for the marketing manager to unfurl the full marketing strategy. The product launch is critical. According to this Harvard Business Review article , it is also frequently bungled. 

As a product manager, you will want to be actively involved with the first customers to ensure everything goes smoothly. Sometimes the marketing tests are misleading, and you will have to adjust your marketing message. Here’s a great article to help you understand more about the role of marketing in product development .

Remember to have a Plan B if everything goes wrong. 

Example Of A Difficult Product Launch 

I once built an online learning product in conjunction with a third party. We did minimal quality assurance. Glitches riddled this product. The product also had an exceptionally poor user interface. It was painful to move customers back to their original version but infinitely preferable to losing their business altogether. Fortunately, it was an option.

Also, be certain to have a Plan A+ if the final product exceeds all expectations, so you are not struggling to meet insatiable demand. You never know.

7. Ongoing Enhancements And New Features

Your work is never done

Imagine you are celebrating the most successful product launch in your company’s history. Enjoy the moment but know that new customers, and old ones, will demand new features. That is why Apple rolls out a new iPhone every year or so. A benefit of good product development software is it can help you track these as you go. No idea left behind!

Strategic Fit In New Product Development

To ensure strategic fit you will have brought the organization along with you on the new product development journey. And you’re not alone! Different types of product development software will help with the heavy lifting across all stages. At every stop along the way, remember to evangelize, explain, and elucidate the strategic fit.

The OKR Roadmap: What It Is & How to Use It

Product strategy: what it is, and how to nail it, the top 10 ux design trends of 2024.

• Integrations
• Learning Center

How to Create a Product Development Strategy

Product development describes the entire process of bringing a product to the market. The process can include identifying a product concept, seeking market feedback about the idea, creating a prototype, preparing marketing and sales campaigns, building the product and releasing it to customers, and making adjustments based on market feedback.

The product management team plays a crucial role in product development—acting as the strategic directors of the process. But although we use the two terms often interchangeably, product development is not synonymous with product management . Product development is a much broader process that involves the coordinated effort of many teams across a company, including:

• Product management
• Design (UX/UI)
• Development (or manufacturing)
• Testing and QA
• Shipping or distribution

What is a Product Development Strategy?

To achieve market success with its product, an organization must first map out a methodology. It should be a step-by-step plan that will allow the team to move the product forward at each stage along its journey from concept to market launch.

We call this predefined process and sequence of events the product development strategy.

A product development strategy is crucial for several reasons. Here are just a few.

1. It helps align the cross-functional team around the big-picture goals and priorities from the start.

This will help the team make better-informed tactical decisions throughout the development process when challenges and questions arise—which they always do during product development.

2. It provides the team with feedback and guidance for every step of the product’s development journey.

Imagine that during the market-validation stage of its new concept, the product team finds lower-than-expected levels of interest from its user personas.

If the team is operating from a predefined product development strategy they will be in a better position to know whether to proceed with their original plan or to pivot and prioritize other functionality first.

3. It enables more efficient development.

When a company has a clearly defined product development strategy, there will be a better sense of how to allocate resources and estimate timeframes throughout the development cycle.

In an agile development organization, this will also help clarify which task-level initiatives take priority at any given time, and which ones to include in an upcoming sprint.

Build a Product Development Strategy Around Design Thinking

Product development strategies differ by company, industry, and other factors. There is no one-size-fits-all approach that works under all circumstances. There are common elements to many successful product development strategies.

Let’s discuss how a company could build a product development strategy around the design thinking approach—a framework for creating products based on looking at the world from your user’s perspective.

The Design Thinking Approach:

• Empathize with users
• Define the problem
• Brainstorm potential solutions
• Build a prototype
• Test your solution

Applying a Product Development Strategy to The Design Thinking Approach:

Step 1: empathize with users..

Home appliance manufacturers devised a simple strategy decades ago to see the world through the eyes of their users. The product managers for these companies would visit the homes of customers and ask to watch as they used their products—dishwashers, vacuum cleaners, blenders, etc.

The PMs would take note of which features customers used, how they activated those features (which often wasn’t the way the company intended), what problems they encountered while using the products, and what if any workarounds they came up with.

For example, let’s say a customer is dealing with a vacuum cleaner with a long cord that tangled easily. The customer might simply throw the cord over her shoulder while vacuuming. It signaled to the product team that they needed a better solution to help users keep the cord out of the way while they vacuumed.

You might not be able to visit your customers’ homes, but what strategies can you devise to gain a sense of how your user persona views the world. And, how can your products solve their real-world challenges?

Step 2: Define the problem

Now that you’ve been able to view how your users view the world, you can think through some of the challenges they face. Where have you noticed them throwing a vacuum-cleaner cord over their shoulders?

For every step in your product development strategy, you will want to create a structure, a plan.

You might organize your work into the following 3 steps:

1. Write down every user pain point you’ve identified.

2. Distill these into a shortlist, just a handful of pain points. You can narrow the list to only the most severe pain points you’ve found, or according to pain points that you believe your team could most quickly and easily develop a solution. Or a combination of both.

3. Run the list by your product team for additional input, and to arrive at a list the team agrees is worth pursuing.

Step 3: Brainstorm potential solutions

Again, in a product development strategy, you’ll need structure at every step. Brainstorming does not mean simply sitting in a room alone, thinking of ideas. Build a process around it. For example:

1. Pull together your cross-functional team for an open brainstorming session. Before this meeting, you’ll also want to share with the team your findings from whatever research you did to gain more empathy from your users’ point of view. It will help the team better understand the types of solutions you’re hoping to build, and why.

2. Establish go/no-go criteria for each suggestion at the beginning of your session. You might decide, for example, that each person who presents a product idea has 5 minutes to persuade the group that it’s viable. Then, if a majority of the team agrees, the idea advances to the next level.

3. After you’ve narrowed your list of product concepts down to a manageable number, conduct a rough calculation of time, budget, and resources needed to develop a minimum viable product or even a minimum viable feature . Now you have another set of criteria to help you narrow your choice of which product concepts to pursue.

Step 4: Build a prototype

Here you will coordinate with your designers and your development team to build an MVP or a working version of your concept that you can put in real users’ hands to gauge their level of interest.

At this stage, you will have a broad idea of the market problem you’re addressing and your product’s big-picture strategy for solving it. Share this idea with your designers and developers. Let them apply that strategic understanding of their work.

Step 5: Test your solution

In the design thinking approach, this final stage refers not to internal QA testing but to allowing your user personas to try your product and tell you what they like and don’t like about it.

And because this is part of your step-by-step product development strategy, you will want to apply structure to this stage of your product’s journey. You might, for example, want to establish your go/no-go metrics upfront. Will you consider this concept viable if 30% of users say they were impressed with your MVP? If 10% say they’d buy it? Would these numbers need to be higher?

Note: The hypothetical above applies an example of a product development strategy to a specific approach for creating products. But the design thinking approach is only one of many ways that product teams can go about coming up with product ideas worth pursuing. In those other approaches—the New Product Development (NPD) framework is one example—the individual steps in your product development strategy would look different.

An Agile Product Development Strategy

The basic concepts of a product development strategy should remain constant in any type of organization. That means creating a step-by-step approach to development, keeping everyone aligned around the overall strategy. But agile companies approach development differently, and this will affect some of the details of how they plan and execute their product development strategy.

The main difference will be in how quickly the team iterates its product based on market feedback. In a traditional organization, the product team will spend more time and build a complete product before putting it into users’ hands and analyzing their feedback.

In an agile development organization, by contrast, the team will build the minimum functional solution they can and release it to users as quickly as they can. It is where we get the concept of a minimum viable product.

Product Development Strategy for Existing Products

To this point, we’ve discussed product development strategies only in terms of creating a new product. But product teams can and should apply this step-by-step framework to a wide range of other strategic plans. Use a product development strategy for:

• Creating a new product
• Updating an existing product
• Enhancing or repositioning an existing product to enter a new market
• Extending an existing product to including new pricing models or tiers
• Reducing and eventually eliminating product updates and support as it declines
• Sunsetting a product at the end of its lifecycle

4 Steps to Managing Unplanned Work

Unplanned work happens no matter how much you try to plan. Things change and they can change quickly for agile...

Four Product Management Skills You Might Not Know You Need

If you’ve worked as a product manager, or even researched job postings looking for your first product management position, you’re...

The Definition of Done: What Product Managers Need to Know

Are we there yet? This is a difficult question to answer when no one agrees on where exactly “there” is....

Continue exploring

You can search or explore specific categories.

Product Updates

Company news and updates, templates and workbooks, remote product management, product metrics and analytics, product strategy example, product managers, prioritization and backlog, tools and resources, customer-centricity, product leadership, product management, roadmap and roadmap management, product strategy, agile & product development, career and interviews, talk to an expert.

Schedule a few minutes with us to share more about your product roadmapping goals and we'll tailor a demo to show you how easy it is to build strategic roadmaps, align behind customer needs, prioritize, and measure success.

Share on Mastodon

Product Development Plan Template

What is a Product Development Plan?

A product development plan outlines the objectives and projects for developing a product. The plan will typically include the focus areas, objectives, actions, and KPIs (key performance indicators) necessary to achieve the desired outcome of the product development process. It is essential for any product team, as it provides a clear roadmap for the product's successful development.

What's included in this Product Development Plan template?

• 3 focus areas
• 6 objectives

Each focus area has its own objectives, projects, and KPIs to ensure that the strategy is comprehensive and effective.

Who is the Product Development Plan template for?

This product development plan template is ideal for product teams of all sizes and industries who want to create a plan to develop their products. It provides a clear structure for a product team to define the objectives and strategies necessary for product development success.

1. Define clear examples of your focus areas

Your focus areas are the areas of your product that you want to focus on for improvement. Examples of focus areas could include product development, product launch, customer engagement, and overall product strategy. Each focus area should have its own objectives and strategies that are tailored to achieving its goals.

2. Think about the objectives that could fall under that focus area

Objectives are the goals that you want to achieve through your product development plan. Each focus area should have its own objectives that are tailored to that focus area. Examples of some objectives for the focus area of Product Development could be: Increase Product Quality , and Increase Product Design Efficiency .

3. Set measurable targets (KPIs) to tackle the objective

KPIs are measurable targets that you set to track your progress towards your objectives. Each objective should have a KPI that is tailored to that objective. An example of a KPI for the focus area of Product Development could be: Decrease defect rate from 0.5% to 0.2%.

4. Implement related projects to achieve the KPIs

Projects (actions) are the activities that you will complete to achieve the KPIs. Each KPI should have a related project that is tailored to achieving that KPI. For example, if the KPI is to decrease defect rate from a specific initial value to a target value, the related project could be to increase quality assurance testing.

5. Utilize Cascade Strategy Execution Platform to see faster results from your strategy

Cascade Strategy Execution Platform helps you to easily create, manage and monitor your product development plan. Cascade enables you to quickly and easily create and manage your product development plan, set objectives, set KPIs, implement projects, and track your progress against your objectives.

6 Free Business Plan Templates for Product Managers

Editor's note: Guided templates are now available in all Aha! Notebooks plans. (Templates are also available in Aha! Roadmaps , Aha! Ideas , and Aha! Develop .) Each template was created by product development experts, is fully customizable, and ready to use right now.

Lightweight business plans are not just for startups. These tools can be just as valuable for product managers at big companies with established products. Because even if you are not capturing plans to develop and build your company’s first offering, you still need to make a business case for the opportunity you are pursuing.

Rather than build out a business plan from scratch — start with a template that will help you quickly communicate what is most important.

A business plan can serve many purposes depending on your goals. You can use it to define the key elements of a new product you are developing. Or if you are at a mature company, it can be used to summarize your strategy for a new market opportunity.

Our team at Aha! knows how important it is to choose the right plan that serves your goals. That is why we include so many different types of business planning tools in our product roadmapping software — including a comprehensive business model builder based on our 20+ years of experience building breakthrough products and software companies.

But what if your company is not yet ready to sign up for Aha! or does not have access to these kinds of tools? You still need to organize your thinking, define your assumptions, and share your plans. So we created six business plan templates for you to download at no cost .

Along with SWOT templates and roadmap templates , these latest templates are designed to be quick and easy to use to help you with your strategic planning. The templates are fully customizable so you can adapt them to your unique situation and download in both spreadsheet and presentation file format.

Think about your most pressing need and who you will be sharing this information with. Because whether you are using a purpose-built tool or a static template for your planning, you want to choose the view that will work best for your audience.

Here are six scenarios where a business plan template can help:

Lay the foundation

Define the problem, understand the customer, survey the market, analyze the product, plan your marketing.

Often the most useful thing for a broad audience is to represent the foundational elements of your plan in a simple layout. In those cases, you want to present the fundamentals like key messaging, customer pain points, and future opportunities in a single view. This makes it easy for stakeholders from all across the company to understand the business model and provide their input.

Sometimes you want that single view, but you also want to center the conversation around the main problems the customer is trying to solve. The ideal template will direct your audience’s attention to the top customer challenges and succinctly capture how your product addresses each one.

Generally, you will not target your product at a single customer segment but several. Building a profile and business plan for each one is a lot easier when you start with a good template — one that lets you define both the set of customers and your approach to serving them. You can then compare and contrast the plans for each segment and decide which customers you are best positioned to deliver a superior product experience to.

You want to make strategic decisions. For that, you need to see the competitive landscape . You do not want to react to every competitor move, but you do need to know what alternatives customers have to your product. Start with a template that summarizes the market and outside threats — both existing and potential.

Just as you need to understand the market, you also have to be realistic about your product’s place in it. A business plan that conducts a strategic analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats can illuminate what your product is doing well and where it can do better.

In order to successfully market a product, many teams focus on the 10Ps: product, price, people, process, promotion, programs, place, physical environment, partners, and positioning. The right template allows you to answer the key questions about each of these elements. Then, together, the team can develop and execute a winning go-to-market strategy.

The right template can help you make your product plans easily understandable for your key stakeholders.

It helps you zero in on what is most relevant and present it in a visually accessible and logical layout. When others can grasp the information and provide their insights, it makes your plan that much stronger.

Build product like you always wanted. See for yourself — start a free 30-day trial.

Additional resources

Business plan templates

How to build a business model

What is a business roadmap?

Ron builds lovable products. He was the vice president of product management and UX at Aha! — the world’s #1 product development software . Ron has more than 15 years of experience in entrepreneurship and leading product teams. Previously, Ron founded and sold his own company and has been on the founding team of multiple venture-backed companies.

Build what matters. Try Aha! free for 30 days.

Follow Aha!

Related articles

The Best Cover Letters That CEOs Love to Read

A well-crafted cover letter is a great way to get noticed. Find out what to include in your cover letter to catch the attention of a CEO.

New Marketing Managers — Do These 8 Things in the First 30 Days

Are you a new marketing manager? Check out these suggestions from eight marketing experts on how to show your true value in your first 30 days.

• Privacy policy
• Terms of service

7 ultimate templates for every stage of the product development process

This post is also available in: German

What is product development?

Product development is the driving force of any product-driven company. From conception, to design and ultimately execution, a great new product helps you stay one step ahead of the competition, capture new markets and drive profits.

However, new product development is not a simple process. With multiple stakeholders involved throughout the process, it can quickly get messy. Following a clear, systematic approach will help maintain control and efficiency, creating less friction along the way.

To help you structure your ideas and create a clear, strategic overview, we’ve created templates for each step of the new product development process.

What is an example of new product development?

Apple inventing the iPhone is an example of new product development. Nike’s new Go FlyEase shoes that can be put on without using your hands is another example of new product development.

What are the 7 stages of product development?

To help you navigate this complexity, it helps to break the product development process up into seven stages. The seven stages are:

• Concept/Ideate – Generate new ideas
• Feasibility study and design planning – Making the right choices
• Design & development – Building the vision 
• Testing & verification – Prototype, iterate, rinse, repeat 
• Validation & produce collateral, validate against customer needs
• Manufacture/launch – Building your product
• Continuous improvement – Feedback and review

7 free Product Development templates 

To help you navigate each stage, our free templates will help you focus on the big picture, visually organize your ideas and work collaboratively with your team. They are perfect for teams following Agile methodologies , or models such as Waterfall or the Stage-gate process .

And of course, as they are all available on our collaborative online whiteboard, they are suitable for remote or distributed teams.

So let’s take a look at the seven product development stages and corresponding templates.

1. Concept/Ideate – Generate new ideas 

The product development process begins with extensive ideation brainstorming sessions . This stage involves all stakeholders and participants engaging in ‘ Blue sky thinking ’- brainstorming without limits! The objective of this stage is to spark inspiration. 

Given the sheer volume of ideas generated, it is important to have the right tools to facilitate this. The   Crazy 8s template is an excellent technique to produce a wide range of diverse ideas from the whole team. Give each team member eight minutes to sketch out eight ideas on a Crazy Eights template.

T he frenzy that follows can produce some pretty wild, unfiltered ideas, and one of them might just be your new product. Simply click on the image below to use the template now.

Use template

2. Feasibility study and design planning – Making the right choices

After extensive brainstorming and idea generation, product managers look for actionable insights that can translate into products and features. This stage in the product development process is perhaps most critical to the product’s long-term success. 

The sheer volume of ideas generated can be overwhelming for product managers, so how do you choose the right product that matches the set goals?

This simple Priority Matrix template helps prioritize from within a list of possible product ideas and organizes them in a convenient matrix. Prioritize products with greater product/market fit and shelve low-priority ideas with this simple yet powerful tool.

Simply click on the image below to use the template now.

3. Design & development – Building the vision 

Envisioning the purpose of a product, the intention behind creating it and how customers will use it prior to building it will ensure everyone starts off in the right direction. 

The Product Vision Board is a simple template that focuses on five key components of the desired product: The overarching vision for the product, the Target Audience , why their needs, the key functions of the product and how it achieves the business goals. 

By completing this before, you get too far down the process, you will ensure you are designing a product with customers in mind. Simply click on the image below to use the template now.

4. Testing & verification – Prototype, iterate, rinse, repeat 

Now it’s time to put your hard work to the test. Take the prototype to your customers and collect their feedback to identify any possible issues or roadblocks. Whether it’s a new website, or a new piece of technology, it’s important to show, not tell. 

By putting it to the test in, you can gather real feedback. Don’t be afraid of feedback, both positive and negative, will help you continually refine your product. 

A useful template to compile the feedback of each test phase is the Retrospective canvas . It prompts you to answer: What went well? What was bad? Further ideas? Possible actions?

5. Validation & collateral production

User panels help you better understand product-market fit and make last-minute tweaks to the product. A customer journey map not only captures feedback during test panels, but also helps you garner a deeper understanding of your customer’s motivations, needs and pain points. 

Use this opportunity to understand preferred touchpoints and refine the go-to-market strategy for the product launch. Simply click on the image below to use the template now.

6. Manufacture/Launch – Building your product

Now that all stakeholders are aligned on the project milestones and responsibilities have been assigned, it’s time to get down to business! It falls to the Product Manager to ensure all deliverables adhere to projected timelines. 

The sheer number of moving parts in this stage can make it a project management nightmare. The Product Management Canvas is a product manager’s best friend. Designed to act as a checklist when undertaking product planning, but it’s also the perfect tool to capture the current state of an evolving product, especially when multiple departments are involved.

Use template now

7. Continuous improvement – Feedback and review 

While we’ve outlined the important stages in the product development process, the process itself is by no means linear. Constant user feedback and analysis of usage data should feed into the development at every stage. This is especially true post-launch. Once the product has been launched, it is time to revisit the process and understand opportunities for future optimization. 

While it is important to recognize and acknowledge what went right, it is equally important to understand and analyze what went wrong. 

The Lessons Learned template is one of our most popular retrospective templates to capture feedback. It promotes positivity as it places equal emphasis on documenting the failures as well as the wins, so they can be replicated for future projects. Alternatively, check out one of our other popular retrospective templates here .

The templates outlined are extremely useful in the product development process as a means of organizing, prioritizing and presenting complex information. Feel free to explore our entire template library to see what other templates can help you, or read some of our recent articles:

• 11 best retrospective templates for sprint & project retrospectives
• 15 brainstorming techniques & templates for 2023
• 3 collaborative product roadmap templates that drive agile principles
• 9 virtual icebreaker games for remote teams & meetings

Conceptboard is an online-whiteboard that helps you collaborate visually and seamlessly with your team, regardless of location. Discover how to simplify your product development workstream on a daily basis using Conceptboard here . 

Give Conceptboard a try by signing up for a free 30 day trial now.

More interesting articles for you

OZG 2.0: The future of digital administration in Germany is FIM

Since its introduction in 2017, the Online Access Act (OZG) has aimed to make it easier for citizens and companies to access administrative services and make them available digitally.

Unwrap the Joy: Elevate Your Team’s Holiday Spirit with Our Exclusive Christmas Game Template!

The holiday season is upon us, and at Conceptboard, we’re thrilled to unwrap the gift of festive cheer with our special Christmas Game Template!

Wireframe Template – A structure to build something great | Free Template

By using Wireframe Templates, you can streamline your workflow and ensure a more efficient and effective design process.

11 Comments . Leave new

This was a very meaningful post, so informative and encouraging information, Thank you for this post. on demand home service app development

I was very pleased to find this web-site.I wanted to thanks for your time for this wonderful read!!

The more we read the more we learn and blogs are the most efficient ways in today’s time to enhance your learning. They are short and yet provide brief details on the topic. Amazing blog written.

Totally agree with you. Thanks for your comment, we are happy you like it and are working hard to provide you with more blog articles that offer real value :)

Well Explained blog

Happy that you liked it!

Your blog got me to learn a lot,thanks for sharing,nice article

Thanks for the good blog

Good and informative blog

What an invaluable resource for product development teams! These templates are a game-changer at every stage of the process. Thanks for sharing these ultimate tools that streamline and elevate product development. Let’s create exceptional products together!

Glad you found the templates helpful! Collaboration makes exceptional products happen—happy innovating! 😊

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Post Comment

Experience the power of visual collaboration

Experience how Conceptboard boosts your team’s hybrid collaboration and communication.

No credit card

No commitments

Start right now

• Product Management
• Product development

What is product development? Stages and best practices

Browse topics.

Behind every great product is a great product development team. New product development transforms a simple idea into a finished product and puts it in the customer’s hands. However, not all product development teams are equal in terms of effectiveness.

To build an effective team, you must understand the stages of product development and implement the right strategies. This guide will break down these stages, best practices, and how you can use your resources to deliver the best products.

Try out the free product development template from Jira.

Definition of product development

Product development is a multi-step process that includes every aspect of developing a product, from when the idea is conceived to when it reaches the consumer. A good product development strategy helps you brainstorm and organize ideas to coordinate the launch of your product.

Stages of product development

Developing and delivering the best product starts with understanding the product development process. An effective product management plan can help you stay on track throughout the product development life cycle. We’ll break down the common stages of product development below.

Every good product starts with a great idea. During this stage, you’ll develop new product ideas using strategies like idea screening, concept development, and business analysis.

This product discovery stage is all about brainstorming, so don’t expect your first idea to be perfect. It takes time to develop refined product ideas, and you’ll have plenty of time to test and develop your product as you move through the process.

Idea screening

Idea screening is a crucial part of designing a new product. When feedback and ideas come at you from all angles, it can be tough to figure out what to focus on and how to use that information in the product development process.

Idea screening can help you stay organized and ensure you’re on the right path. Essentially, you want to evaluate each product idea to determine if it aligns with your business goals and customer needs. Ideas can play a crucial role in product analysis , but eliminating ideas that likely won’t be feasible or successful can help you focus on what’s most important.

Concept development and testing

Now that you’ve completed the early brainstorming, it’s time to bring your idea to life as a minimum viable product . This is the stage where you create the first version of your product to give target customers a more hands-on experience with it. Creating and testing a prototype helps you understand potential challenges your product may face so you can solve those problems before your product reaches your customer base.

Make sure you’re collecting detailed feedback from the customers who test your product. The more feedback you get, the more you can refine and optimize your product.

Business analysis

After you get your product in the hands of a few customers and receive feedback, it’s time for the business analysis stage. Even great products can’t succeed if the market isn’t right. Analyze the current demand for your product and how much people are willing to spend. You can also set up a focus group to get feedback about your product idea before you start the design and manufacturing stages.

If there’s no market for your idea or people simply aren’t willing to spend enough to make your concept feasible, you may need to return to the drawing board.

Product design

The design phase of product development often takes a while — but this is where you want to focus on getting things perfect. The product design stage starts with prototyping to get a general idea of what your product will look like. From there, you follow an iterative design process to test, analyze, and refine your product throughout the design stage.

Product roadmaps can help you better understand how you want to develop and evolve your product over its lifetime, which is an essential consideration in the design process.

Market testing

You’ve already let a handful of target customers try your product, but now it’s time to test it on a larger scale. You don’t have to launch your product all over the country or world during the market testing phase — even a limited release in a small area can help you gather feedback.

There are several ways to collect feedback from your customers. You can use surveys to collect easy-to-read feedback or work with a focus group. Use this feedback to refine your product.

Commercialization

The final stage of product development involves developing marketing strategies and preparing to launch your product. This is also when you need to scale production to meet the demand for your product.

How to create a product development plan

Whether you’re using product development software or developing your product the old-fashioned way, you can follow some basic steps to create an effective product development plan:

• Define your product vision: Your product vision is a detailed outline of the future of your product, which may include its strengths and weaknesses, competitors, and the total market value for your product.
• Create a product roadmap: Once you’ve detailed your product vision, you can use it to develop a product roadmap. Your roadmap should include both short—and long-term goals.
• Implement the roadmap: Use your product roadmap to streamline the product development process. Everyone, from marketing and sales to engineering, should be aligned with it.

Examples of product development

Think about a major beverage brand like Coca-Cola. People buy Coca-Cola because they know and love the taste, but what about the new and seasonal flavors? 

When Coca-Cola or any other soft drink company develops a new flavor, they start with market research to determine what customers want. Testing begins once there’s a minimum viable product, ultimately leading to a more refined product. After countless hours of perfecting products based on customer feedback and expert taste testers, the new flavor is finally ready to launch.

Smaller brands use product development, too. From the innovative products you find on Amazon to some of the most popular Shark Tank items, every great product begins with a thorough product development plan. Household products like Scrub Daddy sponges wouldn’t be in stores today without countless hours of research, testing, and development.

Best practices for effective product development

Following best practices is crucial in product development. A good product development strategy starts with a customer-centric approach—that’s who you’re building the product for.

Agile methodologies help you break your product development strategy down into smaller chunks so you can stay aligned with your product roadmap. It’s also important to evaluate each project or stage to better understand how you can improve.

A good product specification can help with collaboration, but Jira can provide even more resources to help your team collaborate and succeed. Visualize and manage projects with Jira Boards and break those Boards down into more manageable chunks called Issues. Jira is even designed to integrate with other Atlassian products so your software and entire team can work together seamlessly.

Streamline product development with Jira

A solid product development plan leads to a great product—and our software can help. Project management tools like Jira help you visualize and organize your thoughts to stay on track during each stage of product development.

Jira is the leading project management tool for software development. It unlocks a new level of customizability, connectivity, and efficiency for every team involved in the product development lifecycle.

Product development is a team sport, and Jira is designed for collaboration. Use Jira with other Atlassian products like Confluence and Jira Work Management to keep your teams connected and organized. Get Started with Jira Scrum Boards to see how our software can help.

Product development: Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it important to have a product development plan.

A good product development plan helps you brainstorm and organize ideas to create a better-finished product. It also helps you stay aligned with your product roadmap and be more efficient, which saves you time and leads to a better product. Market research can also help you avoid fruitless product development endeavors

What is the difference between product development and product management?

Generally, product managers focus more on ideas, while product developers focus more on bringing ideas to life. Project management plays a key role in generating ideas for products and refining those ideas, but product development is where ideas become tangible products.

How long does the product development process usually take?

There’s no set time for product development—it’s all about the complexity of the product and the resources available. Small teams may spend several months developing a product, while major companies may finish it in a few weeks. Perfecting your product is more important than speeding through the development process.

Create an agile board in Jira

Find out how to create agile boards in Jira with this step-by-step guide. Set up agile and Jira automation to keep up to date seamlessly.

Agile teams in action: from formation to high performance

Discover the essence of effective agile teams, their growth stages, and the importance of shared skills and mentoring.

• Product overview
• All features
• Latest feature release
• App integrations

CAPABILITIES

• project icon Project management
• Project views
• Custom fields
• Status updates
• goal icon Goals and reporting
• Reporting dashboards
• workflow icon Workflows and automation
• portfolio icon Resource management
• Capacity planning
• Time tracking
• my-task icon Admin and security
• Admin console
• asana-intelligence icon Asana AI
• list icon Starter
• premium icon Advanced
• briefcase icon Enterprise
• Goal management
• Organizational planning
• Campaign management
• Creative production
• Content calendars
• Marketing strategic planning
• Resource planning
• Project intake
• Product launches
• Employee onboarding
• View all uses arrow-right icon
• Project plans
• Team goals & objectives
• Team continuity
• Meeting agenda
• View all templates arrow-right icon
• Work management resources Discover best practices, watch webinars, get insights
• Customer stories See how the world's best organizations drive work innovation with Asana
• Help Center Get lots of tips, tricks, and advice to get the most from Asana
• Asana Academy Sign up for interactive courses and webinars to learn Asana
• Developers Learn more about building apps on the Asana platform
• Community programs Connect with and learn from Asana customers around the world
• Events Find out about upcoming events near you
• Partners Learn more about our partner programs
• Asana for nonprofits Get more information on our nonprofit discount program, and apply.

Featured Reads

• Product management |

Product development template

Standardize your product development process—from idea generation to product development and launch—with a custom template. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, track development progress, and communicate with stakeholders all in one place.

Sign up to create your own template.

INTEGRATED FEATURES

Recommended apps.

Product development is a complex process that requires many different teams with countless stakeholders. But complexity doesn’t have to mean complicated. You can align your product development process—making it more efficient, consistent, and successful—with a custom product development template.

What is a product development template?

Templates help to reduce confusion and error on development teams. They streamline the process, and ensure that you (the product manager) can create a standardized set of steps that everyone can follow (no matter their team). In turn, this helps encourage cross-functional collaboration—a critical piece of the project development process. And, instead of a team member forgetting important steps—like receiving buy-in for a recent prototype—you can build this step in as part of the process in your product development template. 

In short, your product development template is a way to standardize your roadmap for product development, to ensure that your deliverables are consistent across projects and product teams.

What is product development? 

Product development is the process for developing a new product. It follows the entire product development lifecycle, from that initial brainstorming session all the way to market launch. Usually, the process follows six steps: 

Product definition

Prototyping

Product launch

Why you need a product development roadmap template.

Product releases are a complex, time-consuming process—especially for large companies. Using a digital template for product development can help your team stay focused on each task of every stage, so they don’t get overwhelmed or lose sight of the end goal. 

In Asana, you can build a digital template that:

Coordinates cross-functional efforts: Digital templates ensure that all tasks—including cross-functional ones—are captured. That way, no matter which cross-functional stakeholders are involved in the product development process (even those who don’t have product development experience), they don't miss any critical steps. 

Boosts efficiency: Standardizing your product development process with a template will streamline efforts and ensure that all crucial work gets done, even if it’s a new person doing the tasks each time. This reduces work about work —so you spend less time chasing down prioritization lists and more time focused on development.

Modernizes the process: Your processes are often only as good as the tools you use. By creating a product development template in a work management tool , you can connect integrations and workflows into one space that is accessible to all stakeholders. Instead of spending the time to find and load the latest Figma file iteration, you can connect it directly to the product development project.

Customize your workflow: Build your template in a project management tool to rotate between views (such as Kanban boards , Gantt charts , and lists) to experiment with how your team works best. Include the sections in your template that are most relevant to you, and skip unnecessary steps that don’t work in your company or industry.

6 sections to include in your product development template

Your template should reflect how your team and company moves through the product development process. It will likely link out to other workflows to keep all related projects connected. If you’re a startup or you haven’t defined your process yet, one way to structure your template is around the six stages of product development.

Section 1: Ideation 

Here is where you brainstorm, get creative, and imagine what’s possible in product development. When you use your template, connect brainstorming sessions , user stories , or a product backlog to this section to coordinate ideas and, ultimately, develop product strategy. Factor in space for metrics on product/market fit that will help to determine which products move forward. 

Section 2: Product definition

Your product definition is exactly what it sounds like—this will be where you define your project planning when you use your template. In your template, connect your business analysis, project scope , and the marketing strategy for when your product’s new features are ready to go to market .

Section 3: Prototyping

This section should include your workflow for prototyping. In your template, add in space to attach a feasibility analysis , example use cases, and product requirements so developers can quickly and easily get to work.

Section 4: Design

Design is where you bring your product vision to life. Make this part of your template inclusive, so that stakeholders will always be kept in the loop on design updates and decisions. Where applicable, note which tasks are dependent on other initiatives, to help team members stick to deadlines.

Section 5: Testing

Testing is a rigorous process that often has its own teams and tasks associated with it. But the purpose of including this section in your template is to ensure that all product stakeholders have access to the data you receive from testing.

Section 6: Product launch

The final piece of your template should be all about launch—your strategies for it and retrospectives for after. 

Integrated features

List View . List View is a grid-style view that makes it easy to see all of your project’s information at a glance. Like a to-do list or a spreadsheet, List View displays all of your tasks at once so you can not only see task titles and due dates, but also view any relevant custom fields like Priority, Status, or more. Unlock effortless collaboration by giving your entire team visibility into who’s doing what by when.

Board View . Board View is a Kanban board-style view that displays your project’s information in columns. Columns are typically organized by work status (like To Do, Doing, and Done) but you can adjust column titles depending on your project needs. Within each column, tasks are displayed as cards, with a variety of associated information including task title, due date, and custom fields. Track work as it moves through stages and get at-a-glance insight into where your project stands.

Timeline View . Timeline View is a Gantt-style project view that displays all of your tasks in a horizontal bar chart. Not only can you see each task’s start and end date, but you can also see dependencies between tasks. With Timeline View, you can easily track how the pieces of your plan fit together. Plus, when you can see all of your work in one place, it’s easy to identify and address dependency conflicts before they start, so you can hit all of your goals on schedule.

Milestones . Milestones represent important project checkpoints. By setting milestones throughout your project, you can let your team members and project stakeholders know how you’re pacing towards your goal. Use milestones as a chance to celebrate the little wins on the path towards the big project goal. 

Jira . Create interactive, connected workflows between technical and business teams to increase visibility around the product development process in real time—all without leaving Asana. Streamline project collaboration and hand offs. Quickly create Jira issues from within Asana so that work passes seamlessly between business and technical teams at the right time.

Miro . Connect Miro and Asana to streamline workflows and see the full picture of every project, all in one place. Embed Miro boards into Asana project briefs, allowing team members to interact, view, comment, or edit directly from within Asana. Or, attach an existing or new Miro board to any Asana task, automatically inviting task collaborators to view, comment, or edit the board. 

Figma . Teams use Figma to create user flows, wireframes, UI mocks, prototypes, and more. Now, you can embed these designs in Asana, so your team can reference the latest design work in context with related project documents. And, unlike screenshots, live embeds update in real time to reflect changes made in a design file, eliminating the overhead that comes with finding the right files and updating images.

Loom . Loom videos help you add personality, context, and clarity to your Project Overview. You can easily embed Loom videos to explain your project, set expectations, and highlight key milestones. A Loom video message adds nuance and context to get your team up to speed on the project faster. The best part is—your team can watch the videos without leaving Asana.

How do you create a product development template? .css-i4fobf{-webkit-transition:-webkit-transform 200ms ease-in-out;transition:transform 200ms ease-in-out;-webkit-transform:rotateZ(0);-moz-transform:rotateZ(0);-ms-transform:rotateZ(0);transform:rotateZ(0);}

Build out your digital product development template to include the six sections of your product development workflow. For example a section for generating ideas, product design, and the launch. If you’re using project management software , you can automate your workflow with task dependencies , signify important milestones , and connect directly to the team within your template. 

Do you need a product development template?

Yes! If you’re in product development, a template is the best way to kickstart your work. First, build out your template to follow your workflow. If you’re a newer product team or don’t yet have a standardized workflow, we recommend using the six sections of product development to outline your template. Then, when you’re ready to start your next product feature, you can skip over the repetitive steps of project planning and jump directly into development. 

When should you use a product development template?

A product development template is most useful for repetitive workflows. If you follow the same series of steps and processes during product development, you can keep those same steps organized in a template. This reduces the time you spend planning out your workflow because, instead, you can just duplicate your template and get started.

Related templates

Gantt chart template

Every aspect of your project is interconnected—and your Gantt chart shows how. Build a custom Gantt chart template to map tasks, roles, and deadlines on a timeline for every project.

Product marketing launch

Don’t reinvent the wheel for every product launch plan. Keep goals and responsibilities clear, manage timelines, and more with our template.

Production schedule

Create a production schedule template to streamline your work and reduce delays. With a template, everyone is on the same production schedule.

Customer feedback

What if you could collect customer feedback in one place to finally figure out what they love and loathe? You’d probably have happier customers. Get started with this customer feedback template.

Usability testing plan

With our usability testing plan, you can easily create and repeat processes to save time on setting up every research session.

How can you hit product launch deadlines, connect cross-functional teams, and see launch updates all in one place? With a product launch template.

User research sessions

Don’t let valuable user research insights fall to the wayside. Track, sort, and action feedback to delight your customers with our template.

Simplify product development with Asana

Bring products to life with a product design template. Organize work for faster, better development.

Start your free trial

Try Asana for free. No credit card required.

See how it works

Watch the demo to see how Asana connects companies at scale.

Speak with a sales rep

Chat with a specialist to see how Asana can help you streamline work across departments.

🔥 Upgrade to a new style of analyzing VoC with sentiment checks, video clips, custom reports & more!

Product Management

How to Create a Product Management Roadmap + Examples (2024)

Content Writer

Created on:

August 14, 2024

Updated on:

Transform Insights into Impact

Build Products That Drive Revenue and Delight Customers!

Creating a product management roadmap is a crucial task that sets the direction and vision for your product's development. A well-structured roadmap aligns teams, clarifies product goals , and communicates the strategic plan to stakeholders, ensuring everyone is on the same page.

Whether you're launching a new product or refining an existing one, this article will show you how to build product roadmap to navigate the complexities of the product management process .

What is a product management roadmap?

A product management roadmap is a strategic plan that outlines the priorities, direction and progress of a product over time. It shows what features and improvements will be developed and their expected release date.

At its core, the roadmap states the product's vision , providing clarity on its purpose, target audience, and anticipated market impact. This vision helps align the product team's efforts, ensuring everyone understands and works towards common objectives. 

The roadmap defines what features, enhancements, or initiatives will take priority over others, thus focusing resources and efforts where they can have the most significant impact.

How to create a product management roadmap

To create comprehensive, dynamic and impactful roadmaps that align with business goals, customer needs and team collaboration requirements you need a proper tool. Zeda.io focuses on efficiency, customization, and data-driven decisions, making it an excellent choice for the product development process.

If you're not a tool user yet, sign up for the free trial, and you'll be ready to create your very own roadmap . Next, follow these steps:

Choose a product management roadmap template

Zeda.io provides various pre-built product roadmap templates. It allows you to quickly start with a format that fits your needs. Here are different product roadmap examples you can choose from:

Feature roadmap 

This type of roadmap monitors the creation and launch of product features. It enables you to establish timelines for specific features and follow progress through a schedule.

Feature roadmaps are useful for communicating upcoming features and their expected release dates. 

For instance, a software company might use a feature roadmap to inform stakeholders about new functionalities planned for the next quarter and their anticipated launch dates. This helps the company plan its resources so the development team can meet its goals.

Product portfolio roadmap

A product portfolio roadmap helps you gain a clear overview of your comprehensive product management strategy and timelines. 

By providing a single view, the product portfolio roadmap facilitates tracking progress and ensures the development team’s coordination on the most crucial tasks.

Goal-oriented roadmap

Instead of focusing solely on specific features, a goal-oriented roadmap emphasizes the outcomes or objectives of a product team. It also outlines the steps to reach these goals.

A goal-oriented roadmap contains the following components:

• Clearly defined goals of the product
• Key projects or initiatives that will help achieve these goals
• Important milestones and achievements along the way
• A timeline that outlines when goals and milestones should be reached
• Key performance indicators or other metrics to measure progress 

Status-based roadmap

A status-based roadmap focuses on the current status of various initiatives, projects, or features within a product's development lifecycle. Instead of organizing tasks by timeframes or release dates, this type of roadmap categorizes work based on its current state, such as "Planned," "In progress," "Testing," and "Done."

This type of roadmap is regularly updated to reflect the current status of each task. It allows teams to see real-time progress and identify bottlenecks and delays. It also provides a transparent view of the development process for stakeholders, highlighting completed, ongoing and upcoming tasks. 

Now-next-later roadmap

Focusing on deadline-based delivery isn't always effective. Therefore, the now-next-later roadmap prioritizes customer needs and business opportunities instead of concentrating on timeliness.

The Now-next-later agile product roadmap arranges tasks into three columns:

• Now: This section includes tasks, projects, or features that are currently in progress or will be addressed immediately. These are the highest priority items that the team is actively working on.
• Next: This section includes tasks or projects for the near future. The team isn't working on these items at the moment but has prioritized addressing them once they complete the current work in the "Now" section.
• Later: This section includes tasks, projects or features for the longer term. These items are on the roadmap but are not an immediate priority. They represent future opportunities or longer-range strategic goals.

Building an agile product roadmap enables companies to swiftly adapt and evolve in response to user needs, fostering ongoing innovation. It also comes in handy when balancing vision and execution in the project management process. 

Customize it to your liking

Zeda.io offers several options for product roadmap  customization like:

• Groups and subgroups: You can add group and subgroup classifications based on features like product, importance, assignee, status, type or custom fields.
• Timeline and board views: This feature allows you to switch between timeline and Kanban roadmap views.
• Milestones : You can include important deadlines like releases, launches, etc., as color-coded milestones on the roadmap
• Selective display: You have complete control over what's displayed on the roadmap. Decide whether you want to show or hide information about specific groups, feature properties, etc

These customization options allow you to drive impact by making roadmaps more visually appealing and easier for all stakeholders to understand.

Make it accessible

Zeda.io enables you to create customized public roadmap views for external stakeholders and customers, fostering transparency and keeping them informed about upcoming features and product direction.

The platform offers a customizable user portal where you can set up various boards to gather customer feedback and ideas. Users can also easily submit their feedback through an in-app widget.

Zeda.io centralizes feedback from multiple sources into a unified dashboard, streamlining the collection of customer insights.

Choose product management metrics

The next step in creating an effective product development roadmap is selecting the right product management metrics . These provide a comprehensive view of the product's performance, customer satisfaction and overall business health. Here are key metrics to consider:

• Monthly recurring revenue (MRR): A standardized measure of your business’s monthly income from active subscriptions. It helps track business performance, forecast budgets, and manage cash flow efficiently.
• Customer lifetime value (CTLV): The total revenue you can expect from a customer throughout their relationship with your product. This metric helps prioritize features and enhancements that deliver long-term value.
• Customer acquisition cost (CAC): Monitoring CAC helps evaluate the efficiency of your marketing and sales strategies, enabling you to optimize spending and improve customer acquisition processes.
• Retention rate: Indicates the percentage of users who continue using your product over a specific period. Tracking retention rates helps identify potential issues affecting customer loyalty and provides insights for enhancing user experience.
• Customer satisfaction score (CSAT): Measures how satisfied customers are with your product and their interactions with your business. This metric provides direct feedback on customer satisfaction and highlights areas for improvement, helping you to create a customer-facing roadmap .

By focusing on these key indicators, you can create a strategic product roadmap that aligns with your goals and drives continuous improvement.

Learn how to present a roadmap to stakeholders

A product roadmap presentation aims to outline the vision, direction and planned development of a product or service over time. It serves to align key stakeholders, such as executives, product teams, developers, marketers and customers on the product evolution and strategic objectives.

A product strategy roadmap typically includes:

• Goals: Define specific, clear and measurable goals to set up the direction of the meeting. They should span a defined period, usually 3 to 12 months, taking into account budgetary planning cycles.
• Product vision: Present your plans within the broader product strategy and its future direction. Address the essential questions of your plan, such as why, when, and how. Include key details about the product vision, such as goals, user personas, market demand, competitors and potential ROI generation.
• Strategy: Offer a well-defined strategy that provides clarity on priorities, milestones and key initiatives that will drive the product forward. This will give stakeholders confidence in the product's direction and align their efforts and resources effectively. A robust strategy ensures that every aspect of the product roadmap presentation is purposeful, coherent and in line with the broader organizational objectives.
• Audience : Tailor each product development roadmap presentation to the specific needs of your audience. Executives, sales teams, and engineers each have distinct perspectives on product strategy. Focus on presenting the most critical information in your roadmap presentations.
• Feedback : Gather feedback on the product roadmap from both internal and external audiences. Ensure you have ample time to address questions and comments, and diligently record any feedback for future use.

When communicating with stakeholders, always use clear, straightforward language. It enhances the effectiveness of product plan communication, particularly when there are several stakeholders to align.

Crafting a product management roadmap is a strategic endeavor that brings clarity, direction and purpose to your product development efforts.

As you embark on building and refining your product roadmap, remember that flexibility and communication are key. A roadmap is a living document that should evolve with your product and market conditions. Regularly update it to reflect new insights, technological advancements and shifting customer needs.

Ready to take your product roadmapping to the next level? Unleash the future of product roadmaps with Zeda.io today and experience the power of AI-driven insights, customizable templates, and seamless collaboration tools that will transform your product strategy. Sign up for free and start building impactful roadmaps that drive real business outcomes!

Join Product Café Newsletter!

Sip on the freshest insights in Product Management, UX, and AI — straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, I agree to receive communications by Zeda.

What is a roadmap in product management?

A roadmap in product management is a strategic plan that outlines a product's vision, direction, priorities, and progress over time. It serves as a guiding document for both the product team and stakeholders, ensuring everyone is aligned on the product's goals and the steps necessary to achieve them. A well-crafted roadmap includes key milestones, initiatives, features, and timelines, providing a clear path from the product's current state to its desired future state. It helps in resource allocation, tracking progress, and communicating the product's strategic direction to all involved parties.

What are the steps of the product roadmap?

Product roadmap creation typically begins with thorough research and analysis to understand market trends, customer needs, and the competitive landscape. Next, product managers prioritize features and initiatives based on pivotal objectives and stakeholder input. After that, managers establish a timeline outlining the dates of completing specific features and releases. The timeline helps manage expectations and plan resources effectively.

How to present a product roadmap?

To present a product roadmap effectively, start by outlining the vision and goals, and explaining how they align with the overall business objectives.Next, highlight key milestones and initiatives, demonstrating how each contributes to the strategic direction. Use clear and concise language, avoiding jargon, to ensure all stakeholders understand the plan. Tailor the presentation to the audience, addressing the concerns of executives, product teams, and customers. Finally, encourage feedback and questions, and be prepared to adjust the roadmap based on stakeholder input.

IN THIS ARTICLE:

Latest articles

Product ideation process & 8 effective techniques for your team.

Discover 8 customer-centric product ideation techniques that will help your team always come up with ideas.

MVP Product Management: What Is It and How to Build One

MVPs bring in a lot of learning with minimum investment which makes the MVP product management process better. Here are five steps to build one.

Creating Intelligent Experiences: The Role of AI for Product Managers

Learn about the role of AI for product managers. Explore the dynamic intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Product Management (PM), revealing how AI is not just a trend, but a game-changer in evolving product strategies.

AI-powered product discovery for customer-focused teams

Try it FREE

Business Strategy , Product Management

A complete product strategy guide (+10 examples).

Don’t be intimidated by the lofty definitions of product strategy you’ve seen so far!

Product strategy is like the GPS you trust.

Just as a GPS helps you get to your destination avoiding traffic jams & roadblocks, a product strategy steers your idea from a whiteboard to sustained market success.

Notice the emphasis on ‘sustained’? That’s right!

It means, Product strategy is not static. It evolves with the product & the market it operates in.

Ever tried assembling IKEA furniture without the manual? Did you end up with extra screws and a wobbly chair?

A clear product strategy is like that instruction manual. It ensures you have the right parts and steps to build a sturdy product that everyone loves.

Product strategy is essential because it helps you align your team, set clear goals, and navigate the competitive landscape.

In this definitive guide, we’ll explore what product strategy is, why it’s important, its components and how to create one that drives success.

In the last section, we will also cover 10 product strategy examples for product managers.

By the end of this post, expect to have a solid understanding of how to build a product strategy that works.

What is a Product Strategy?

Product strategy is a plan that defines what you want to achieve with your product and how you plan to achieve it, in the long term.

It is not just about what the product is.

It is about why the product exists, who is it for & how it will grow.

Think of it as a blueprint that guides your product development and marketing efforts.

A well-defined product strategy helps you make informed decisions about product features , pricing, and positioning. It also helps ensure that everyone on your team is working towards the same goals.

Importance of Product Strategy

Product launch & growth activities are chaotic with a lot of unknowns thwarting your plans to succeed.

That’s where a strong product strategy acts like a lighthouse guiding your ship through stormy seas.

A detailed product strategy acts as a compass, guiding decisions about product features, target customer segments , and competitive positioning.

Here’s why a strong product strategy is important –

• Market alignment : A key impact of strong Product strategy is that the products are developed with a deep understanding of market needs, keeping in mind trends and opportunities.
• Resource optimization : With limited resources at your disposal, optimizing them becomes a priority. Here, a thought through product strategy helps in efficient allocation of time, money, and human resources. It focuses your efforts on the most promising initiatives.
• Risk mitigation : Market research necessary for formulating product strategy uncovers potential challenges, leading to risk mitigation efforts well in advance.
• Competitive advantage : With emphasis on differentiation, a strong product strategy delivers competitive advantage & helps in creating unique value propositions.

Imagine you’re trying to build a puzzle without the picture on the box. A strong product strategy provides that picture, making it easier to put the pieces together.

Components of a Product Strategy

A robust product strategy is like a well-built car. It has several key components, each serving a unique purpose. These components work together to create a solid structure.

Let us look at each of these components in brief:

• Vision & Mission: The Guiding Stars
• Product Goals & Objectives
• Initiatives: Translating Vision Into Action
• Measuring Success: KPIs & Metrics

Vision and Mission: The Guiding Stars

Vision & Mission statements are the soul of every product strategy.

While product vision is the big picture – the ultimate goal your product is meant to achieve, product mission is more specific. It articulates ‘how the product will help achieve that vision’. Together, Product vision & mission statements provide a clear direction for your product team.

Product Goals and Objectives

Once you have a clear vision and mission, next logical step is to set goals (or OKRs , if you prefer).

These are the milestones that your product aims to meet.

They provide a roadmap for your product development process. And they help you stay the course in the mid to short term.

Initiatives: Translating Vision into Action

Initiatives are the actions you take on a day-to-day basis to achieve your goals and objectives. They translate your product vision and mission into concrete steps.

Each initiative should be tied to a specific objective. And each initiative should contribute to your overall product goals.

Initiatives can involve various activities. These can include developing new features, improving user experience, or enhancing customer support.

Measuring Success: KPIs and Metrics

This one is a corollary to the above point where you are setting up goals & objectives. You need a way to measure the success of your product strategy.

This is where KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and metrics come in. KPIs are the key measures of success for your product.

They help you track your progress towards your goals and objectives. (Similar to the GTM metrics detailed here )

Metrics, on the other hand, are specific measures related to your initiatives. They provide detailed insights into the performance of your product.

Choosing the right KPIs and metrics is crucial.

And they should provide actionable insights to your product team.

Product Strategy  vs Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy

To avoid confusion, let us take a step back to understand the difference between Product strategy vs Go-to-market (GTM) strategy .

Think of product strategy as planning the journey and GTM strategy as how you start the trip. Both are crucial, but they serve different purposes.

For example, a company like SpaceX might have a product strategy focused on building rockets that are capable of reaching Mars. Yet their GTM strategy, on the other hand, would detail how they plan to initially gain market share in satellite launches, target potential customers, and handle other logistics.

Create an Effective Product Strategy – Step by step

Crafting a successful product strategy isn’t a mysterious art – it’s a systematic process that combines research, analysis, and creative thinking.

Let’s break it down into manageable steps that you can follow to develop a strategy that will drive your product’s success.

Define Your Product Vision

Start by painting a clear picture of what you want your product to achieve in the long run. This vision should be inspiring and ambitious, yet grounded in reality.

Ask yourself:

• What problem does your product aim to solve?
• Who are your target customers?
• How does your product benefit these customers?
• What makes your product unique?
• Where do you see your product in the future?

Your vision might be something like: “To become the go-to platform for remote teams to collaborate seamlessly, fostering productivity and connection across time zones.”

Conduct Thorough Market Research

You can’t create a winning strategy in a vacuum.

Dig in deeper into your market:

• Analyse competitors: What are they doing well? Where are the gaps?
• Study industry trends: What’s changing? What’s on the horizon?
• Talk to potential customers: What are their pain points? What do they value?

Use frameworks like SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) to organize your findings. This research will help you identify opportunities and potential pitfalls.

Define Your Target Audience

Get specific about who your product is for. Create detailed user personas that include:

• Demographics (age, location, job title)
• Psychographics (values, goals, challenges)
• Behaviour patterns (how they currently solve the problem)

Remember, trying to please everyone often leads to pleasing no one. It’s okay to focus on a specific niche.

Set Clear, Measurable Objectives

Transform your vision into concrete goals. Here are some tips for setting effective product goals and objectives:

• Make them specific and measurable
• Align them with your product vision and mission
• Ensure they are achievable and realistic
• Set a clear timeline for each objective
• Regularly review and update them as needed

For example: “Increase user engagement by 30% within the next 6 months” or “Launch in two new market segments by Q4.”

Identify Your Unique Value Proposition

What makes your product special?  Your UVP should clearly communicate:

• The specific benefit your product offers
• How it’s different from competitors
• Why customers should choose you
• Keep it concise and compelling

For instance: “Effortless team collaboration with AI-powered project management, designed for remote-first companies.”

Map Out Your Product Roadmap

Now, plot the course to achieve your objectives. Your roadmap should:

• Outline key features and milestones
• Prioritize items based on value and effort
• Be flexible enough to adapt to changing circumstances

Use techniques like the MoSCoW method (Must have, Should have, Could have, Won’t have) to prioritize features. Remember, your roadmap is a living document – review and adjust it regularly.

Define Your Go-to-Market Strategy

How will you introduce your product to the world? Consider:

• Pricing strategy: Will you offer tiers? Freemium model?
• Distribution channels: Direct sales? App stores? Partnerships?
• Marketing approach: Content marketing? Paid ads? Influencer partnerships?
• Align your go-to-market strategy with your target audience and objectives.

Establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

This is slightly different from just setting goals & objectives. Here, determine how you’ll measure success.

Here are some common KPIs to track success of your product strategy:

• User engagement: How often and how long users interact with your product
• Customer satisfaction : How happy users are with your product
• Conversion rate: The percentage of users who take a desired action
• Retention rate: The percentage of users who continue to use your product over time
• Revenue growth: The increase in revenue generated by your product

Make sure you have systems in place to track these metrics consistently.

Plan for Continuous Learning and Iteration

Your strategy shouldn’t be set in stone.

Plan for regular check-ins to:

• Analyse performance against KPIs
• Gather and incorporate user feedback
• Stay updated on market changes
• Adjust your strategy as needed

Consider implementing an agile approach, with sprints and retrospectives to continuously improve your product and strategy.

Develop a Competitive Advantage

Identify what will set you apart in the long run. This could be:

• Proprietary technology
• Unique partnerships
• Superior customer service
• Network effects

Focus on building and maintaining this advantage as you execute your strategy.

Plan for Scalability

Think ahead to ensure your product can grow without breaking. Consider:

• Technical architecture: Can it handle increased load?
• Team structure: How will you organize as you grow?
• Processes: What needs to be standardized or automated?

Building with scalability in mind from the start can save headaches later.

Anticipate and Mitigate Risks

No strategy is without risks. Identify potential obstacles:

• Market risks (e.g., new competitors, changing regulations)
• Technical risks (e.g., scalability issues, security vulnerabilities)
• Business risks (e.g., funding challenges, key personnel departures)

Develop contingency plans for each major risk you identify.

Creating an effective product strategy is a journey, not a destination.

It requires a blend of analytical thinking, creativity, and adaptability. By following these steps and constantly refining your approach based on real-world feedback, you’ll be well on your way to developing a product strategy that drives success.

Remember, the best strategy is one that’s actually implemented. So once you’ve crafted your product strategy, the real work begins – bringing it to life through focused execution and continuous improvement.

The product strategy helps managers prioritize features and timetables faster to meet the most critical customer needs.

A well-planned product strategy focuses on the collective product development efforts and customer needs, market positioning, and the ultimate business goals. This focus on value enables the team to deliver a product launch with every feature in alignment with the original vision.

• Provides Clarity on what the team should do, resulting in increased productivity. 
• Enhances Strategic Decision Making by laying the foundation for a thorough roadmap. Following some product roadmap examples can help you figure out which one will work best for you.
• Prioritizes feature sets and future actions of organizations so that the roadmaps are dynamic and meet customer needs

10 Product Strategy Examples

A product strategy is a high-level, general plan that helps product managers go into detail.

It does not tell what exactly to do but gives essential directions on what can be done to launch the product or features in the best possible way.

We talk about 10 product strategy examples below along with a brief around each one of them. The idea is to make you aware of the space & help take informed decisions for your own contexts.

1. Differentiation strategy

Differentiation is a product strategy example when the product is unique compared to existing solutions in the market.

The special features, which competitors don’t possess, become highlights in communication. The idea is to draw customers in through capabilities they may need to extract maximum value from the solution they are using. This can be achieved by developing an entirely new feature, including related features, and providing a comprehensive experience, increasing the product’s usability.

Example – Take the example of Snap (earlier Snapchat) in the Social media space. It continues to co-exist with other social media companies such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter through its differentiated offering.

2. Quality strategy

Quality and reliability matter a lot in B2B software, as business-critical functions rely on them.

Ensuring the highest quality of reliability, experience, and capabilities positions the product as the must-have solution. If the customers get accustomed to the high-end aesthetics, this is a good product strategy example to get easier buy-ins into the ecosystem and offer more solutions. It is also important to measure the customer satisfaction using metrics like nps vs csat .

Example – Look at the ITSM space. Legacy giants such as Servicenow are ceding their marketshare to a relatively new entrant such as Jira service management.

3. Cost strategy

Making a good yet affordable product is the idea behind the cost strategy.

Products using this strategy are usually priced at a lower price point than their competitors. New entrants into an established market tend to start with this strategy, especially if the product differentiators and other value-centric aspects are incremental.

This strategy is contingent on gaining enough customers and streamlining the development process. The cheaper it is for product managers to develop a competitive product, the lower they can price it – but the focus should always be on improving the value provided.

A pricing race often makes customers skeptical, as the belief that an inexpensive product can’t be of high quality is prevalent. This is a good product strategy example that nudges customers to pay more for something they believe adds value to their systems.

Example – Consider SpaceX & its reusable rockets. Their engineering innovation has helped them achieve success through their cost strategy. They charge fraction of a cost for launching satellites into orbits as compared to the traditional leaders in that business.

4. Focus strategy

Product vendors operating in the B2B sphere can gain much using a focus strategy.

Focus strategy allows organizations to develop features for a well-defined segment. It helps them target a particular demographic, geographic area, or problem segment across industries.

Having a place to focus on also allows vendor organizations to be the thought leader in the sphere, which can attract newer clients looking for similar solutions.

Example – Tesla is a good example of a focused product strategy. In its initial days, Tesla’s strategy was to enter at the high end of the market, where customers are prepared to pay a premium, and then drive down market as fast as possible to higher unit volume and lower prices with each successive model.

5. Pioneer strategy

Providing quality without considering pricing is a high-risk, high-reward strategy, but product organizations can pull it off by hiring the brightest minds and building the best versions possible.

But this expertise is costly, and the product’s final pricing reflects this.

These products are often considered ‘luxury,’ but areas like data security and finance transactions need the most evolved versions of products at all times—which only makes the product more desirable. This example of product strategy forces customers to streamline their processes to make the most out of the solution they’re using.

Example – Inevitably, Apple comes to the mind. Although they have successive incremental improvements in the iPhone segment for past few years, they continue to come up with products that are at the edge such as Apple vision pro.

6. Niche strategy

While focus strategy narrows the field of competition, niche strategies allow product managers to focus on narrowing the features to address the specific needs of a small group.

Unfunded startups usually start with a niche strategy by serving a very narrow target audience to test their assumptions. Once they have a foot in the door, they find ways to expand their relationships & grow their target audience as well as their products. 

Example – Our apps on the Atlassian marketplace are a classic example of the niche product strategy.

7. Challenger strategy 

This global product strategy example is similar to competing on price strategy but also encompasses competing on features provided by the market leader.

The aim is to challenge the price, efficiency, or feature set status quo.

Product managers should be clear about their product’s vision to identify areas where they can challenge the leaders. They can do so by creating an economical version of a popular product, a faster version of a feature, or any process that saves time and resources for customers.

Example – Challenger banks are called ‘Challengers’ for a reason! They try to challenge the traditional banks on various aspects – such as convenience & user experience.

8. Equivalence strategy

This is a strategic approach where a company aims to compete by offering products that are nearly equivalent to those of the leading competitors in the market.

Subtle differentiation underpins this product strategy example.

Example – Observe the smartphone market over time & you immediately understand the equivalence strategy. You will notice that the hardware & software seems to converge in the same direction for all the different brands.

9. Requests-based strategy

When managers and teams are clear about the goals of the product, they can be dynamic about their strategy.

By establishing a robust feedback mechanism, product managers can streamline feature requests and evaluate them against the product vision. These requests can be discussed in an open forum involving all team members, and decisions on further actions can be taken.

Example – Typically, this strategy is used in the initial days of a product to test the customer traction. More or less, all products in their MVP stage rely on this.

10. Upselling strategy 

Suppose the product is matured and serves a saturated market. In that case, it makes sense for product managers to consider adjacent problems that can be solved – and increase the target market.

Product managers can emphasize user benefit by measuring and analyzing product awareness, sales leads, or customer lifetime value (CLV) results.

Example – Atlassian uses this strategy effectively to move customers from standard version of Jira to premium by offering better features.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in the Product Strategy

Product strategy examples we highlighted above are exactly that – examples. Product strategy in itself is a broad domain & it is impossible for anyone to create an exhaustive list of all such strategies.

More importantly, avoid following mistakes around the product strategy:

• Not documenting long term goals clearly. Without a clear vision, your team may lose direction.
• Ignoring customer feedback & building the product that does not actually meet their needs.
• Over complicating the product strategy can slow down your progress.
• Blindly sticking to a single strategy (from one of the examples above). Majority products combine one or more strategies to achieve their goals. And these too keep on changing depending on the product lifecycle & the market maturity.
• Not experimenting with various product strategies. Same product strategy with all other conditions being same, might work wonders for one product over the other.

Conclusion on Building a Product Strategy

Ideally, product strategy should focus on creating a product or solution – but to arrive at that, product managers have to sit down with various stakeholders like business, customer service & sales teams to identify unique user needs . By understanding how customers use the product, they can understand the reasoning behind any issues raised. This understanding helps them assemble a list of new features or processes they need to work on and build the strategy on a solid foundation.

Related blogs

Top 10 Metrics to Evaluate Your Go-To-Market (GTM) Success

Beginner’s Guide to Product Market Fit (PMF)

Go-To-Market (GTM) Strategy 101, A Beginner’s Guide

Stay updated with latest news at amoeboids.

Your email will be safe and secure in our database

Filter by Keywords

Employee Development Plan Examples to Fuel Growth

Sudarshan Somanathan

Head of Content

August 17, 2024

Start using ClickUp today

• Manage all your work in one place
• Collaborate with your team
• Use ClickUp for FREE—forever

Do you ever find yourself looking at your team and thinking, ‘We’ve got something really incredible here, but we’re just one step away from being great?’

That feeling of knowing you have the potential but it’s just waiting to be unlocked, is exciting. Maybe even a little daunting. But that’s where employee training and development plans come in.

We’re not talking about some staid corporate exercise that checks a box. This is about crafting a tailored, actionable plan that turns your team’s potential into real performance and results.

In this guide, we will share practical advice on creating, using, and implementing career development plans. We’ll also explore employee development plan examples to get you inspired. Ready to dig in?

How performance indicators inform development plans

Why employee development plans matter, performance-based development plan, goal-based development plan, skill-based development plan, career development plan, step #1: assess current performance and skills, step #2: set clear, measurable goals, step #3: identify development activities, step #4: create a timeline, step #5: monitor progress, step #6: evaluate and adjust the plan, drive team excellence with clickup.

What Is an Employee Development Plan?

An employee development plan is a structured framework designed to guide employees in improving their skills and careers. It outlines current abilities, future goals, and the steps needed to bridge the gap between them. 

This plan typically includes identifying strengths and areas for growth, setting specific objectives, and determining the required training .

Performance indicators are key to making development plans work. They offer a snapshot of an employee’s performance and areas of improvement. 

Let’s take an example:

You have a sales rep who is fantastic at bringing in new clients but struggles with maintaining long-term relationships.

Their performance indicators would show strong numbers in new client acquisition but might reveal lower scores in customer retention. That’s your cue to focus their development plan on improving relationship management and customer service skills.

By zeroing in on these indicators, you’re not just guessing what might help an employee improve; you’re basing their development on real, tangible data. This makes the plan more effective and ensures that you’re addressing the right areas.

Also Read: How to Create a 30-60-90 Day Plan for Effective Onboarding

Employee development plans aren’t just nice to have; they’re essential for anyone serious about  building a strong team . Let’s break down why.

Enhancing skills

When your team is constantly improving, they are more likely to adapt to new challenges and opportunities. 

Skill enhancement is the core of any professional development plan. It focuses on helping your team members improve their abilities, whether through mastering new software, honing technical skills, or refining communication techniques.

For example, if someone is good at data analysis but struggles with presenting their findings, their plan might include public speaking courses or workshops on data visualization.

Supporting career growth

Your employees want to know whether there’s room for growth within the organization. 

An employee development plan lays out exactly how someone can move up the ladder. It gives them a clear view of what they need to achieve to take on more responsibilities and move into a new role. 

This isn’t just good for the employee—it’s good for you, too, as this clarity motivates employees to excel and, in turn, benefits the organization by fostering a more ambitious workforce.

For instance, an entry-level marketer aspiring to become a marketing manager might follow a development plan that includes leading small campaigns, learning advanced marketing strategies, and honing leadership skills.

💡 Pro Tip:   Look at these HR strategy examples to benchmark your development plans against industry standards and ensure they meet best practices for career advancement.

Boosting engagement

When you invest in your team’s growth, they notice. They feel valued and appreciated, which naturally leads to higher engagement. Engaged employees are more productive, more positive, and more likely to stick around.

For example, providing opportunities to attend industry conferences or workshops can make employees feel more connected to the company’s goals and more invested in their roles.

Improving retention

Employee attrition is costly in terms of time and money. But when employees see opportunities for growth and advancement, they’re less likely to jump ship.

If someone feels stuck in their role with no clear path forward, they will start looking elsewhere. But if they have a plan that shows them how they can grow within the company, they’re more likely to stay put.

Employee Development Plan Examples and Samples

Looking for ideas on how to build effective employee development plans?

Exploring real employee development examples and samples can give you a solid starting point. They’ll help you see what works and spark new ideas, so you can tailor a plan that fits your team perfectly.

It aims to help an employee improve in areas where they’re currently underperforming. But it’s important to approach this positively—it’s not about criticizing or punishing someone. Instead, it’s about providing the support and resources they need to get better.

Employee name: John Smith Position: Sales Associate Department: Sales Date: (Add date)

Current performance

• Sales numbers are below target by 15%
• Customer feedback indicates room for improvement in communication and follow-up

Development goals

• Objective: Increase monthly sales figures by 20% over the next six months
• Attend a sales training workshop focused on advanced selling techniques (add date)
• Implement new strategies learned in workshops with weekly check-ins for progress (add start date)
• Review sales techniques with a mentor bi-weekly and adjust approaches based on feedback (add start date)
• Objective: Improve customer satisfaction scores by 10% within three months
• Enroll in a communication skills seminar (add date)
• Role-play customer interactions with a supervisor monthly to practice effective communication (add start date)
• Review customer feedback monthly and develop action plans to address recurring issues (add start date)
• Objective: Achieve a 90% follow-up rate with clients within the next quarter
• Create a follow-up schedule template and implement it for all client interactions (starting immediately)
• Learn to use the CRM tool to track follow-up tasks and set reminders (set due date)
• Analyze follow-up success and adjust strategies as needed in monthly meetings with the team (add start date)

Performance review schedule

• Mid-term review: (Add date)
• Final review: (Add date)

Additional resources

• Access to sales coaching and mentoring sessions
• Enrollment in a communication skills seminar
• Subscription to CRM software with follow-up tracking capabilities

Expected outcomes

• Increased sales performance and higher customer satisfaction
• Enhanced communication skills and effective client interactions
• Improvement in follow-up processes  leading to better client relationships and higher sales conversion rates

Tips for implementation

Regular communication is key in implementing a performance improvement plan. Check in with your employees frequently to see how they’re feeling and whether they’re finding the plan helpful. 

Make it clear that this is a supportive, not punitive, process. If they’re struggling with any part of the plan, be open to making adjustments.

A goal-based development plan aligns an employee’s personal career goals with the organization’s needs. This plan focuses on setting specific goals that contribute to personal and professional growth, ensuring organizational success.

Employee name: Jane Smith Position: Product Manager Department: Product Development Date: (Add date)

Current situation

• Taylor has solid experience in managing product launches but needs to strengthen strategic planning and team leadership skills to prepare for a senior role
• Objective: Prepare for and secure a promotion to Senior Product Manager within the next 12 months
• Complete a leadership training program to develop management skills (add enrollment and completion date)
• Take on additional responsibilities in current projects to demonstrate readiness for a senior role (start immediately, ongoing)
• Lead a cross-functional team on a high-profile project to showcase leadership and strategic planning abilities (add start date)
• Seek regular feedback from current senior managers and incorporate suggestions (add the start date for monthly feedback sessions)
• Objective: Enhance ability to develop and execute strategic product plans within the next six months
• Attend a workshop on strategic planning and product management (add date)
• Develop a strategic plan for an upcoming product launch and present it to senior management for review (add the date when the draft of the plan is due, add the date of presentation)
• Collaborate with a mentor who has strong strategic planning experience to review and refine planning techniques (add the start date for monthly meetings)
• Objective: Contribute to engineering inputs and documents to run better sprints 
• Upskill with a course on ‘Technical concepts for non-technical product managers’ (add enrollment and course completion date)
• Implement new concepts in daily interactions and improve sprint quality (ongoing)
• Lead sprint post-mortems with the engineering manager (next sprint onwards)
• Access to engineering and technical courses
• Mentorship and networking opportunities
• Support from the engineering manager
• Promotion to Senior Product Manager with enhanced engineering knowledge and technical skills
• Improvement in ability to manage sprints and collaborate with engineering teams
• An all-rounder product manager skillset leading to better team performance and collaboration

Start by talking with employees to understand their goals and where they might need improvement. From there, set SMART ( Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound ) goals that are both inspiring and realistic. 

Outline clear milestones and have regular check-ins to track how things are going and make any necessary tweaks. 

Keep revisiting and updating goals to ensure they stay relevant and challenging, all while creating a supportive atmosphere.

It hones in on specific skills that a person needs to develop to excel in their current role or prepare for a future one. This plan offers a targeted approach to skill development by focusing on areas that will have the most impact on the employee’s performance.

Employee name: Jane Doe Position: Marketing Coordinator Department: Marketing Date: (Add date)

Current skill level

• Proficient in basic marketing tasks
• Limited experience with advanced data analysis and digital marketing tools
• Objective: Gain proficiency in using data analysis tools and techniques within six months
• Enroll in an advanced data analysis course (add enrollment date)
• Complete online tutorials and practice exercises related to data analysis software (add the start date and completion date)
• Apply new skills by working on a project that involves analyzing marketing campaign data (add date)
• Review progress with a mentor and adjust learning strategies as needed (add the start date for monthly check-ins)
• Objective: Acquire knowledge of advanced digital marketing strategies and tools over the next four months
• Attend a digital marketing workshop or certification program (add date)
• Implement new digital marketing techniques in current projects (add start date)
• Analyze the impact of new strategies on campaign performance and report findings (add start date for monthly reviews)
• Seek feedback from the marketing team and adjust approaches based on their input (ongoing)
• Objective: Develop effective project management skills within the next three months
• Take a project management course to learn best practices and tools (add date)
• Use project management software to organize and track marketing projects (starting immediately)
• Lead a small marketing project to apply new project management skills (add date)
• Review project outcomes with the team and refine project management techniques based on feedback (monthly)
• Access to online courses and certifications
• Subscription to data analysis and digital marketing tools
• Support from a mentor for skill development and project guidance
• Enhanced ability to analyze data and derive actionable insights
• Improved proficiency in advanced digital marketing strategies and tools
• Better project management skills leading to successful marketing projects

To roll out a skill-based employee development plan, start by evaluating your employee’s current skill set and pinpointing any skill gaps. 

Use evaluations or feedback to get a clear picture of what’s needed. Regularly check in on the employee’s progress and adjust the plans as necessary to keep up with their career goals.

It focuses on an individual’s long-term career plan. This framework is helpful when employees wish to map out their path within the company. A career advancement plan is all about matching personal aspirations with opportunities available in the organization.

Employee name: John Doe Position: IT Systems Analyst Department: Information Technology Date: (Add date)

• Jordan is performing well as an IT Systems Analyst but aims to advance to an IT Project Manager role. Jordan has strong technical skills but needs to develop project management and leadership abilities

Career goals

• Objective: Secure a promotion to IT Project Manager within the next 18 months
• Complete a project management certification to build necessary skills (add enrollment date and completion date)
• Take on additional responsibilities in managing small-scale projects to gain relevant experience (start immediately, ongoing)
• Shadow an IT Project Manager to understand the role’s responsibilities and challenges (add the start date of this arrangement)
• Seek feedback from current managers and work on areas for improvement (add the start date for these monthly check-ins)
• Objective: Enhance ability to manage IT projects effectively within the next year
• Attend a workshop or course on project management methodologies and tools (add date)
• Lead the development of a project plan for an upcoming IT project and present it to senior management (add due date for draft plan; add presentation date)
• Work with a mentor experienced in project management to review and refine project management techniques (add start date for monthly meetings)
• Objective: Strengthen strategic thinking and decision-making skills to prepare for higher-level responsibilities
• Regularly review and analyze case studies of successful IT projects and strategic initiatives to identify key decision-making processes and outcomes (start immediately, ongoing)
• Conduct a SWOT analysis to identify strategic opportunities and challenges within the department, and share insights with your manager (add due date)
• Monitor industry trends and emerging technologies, and compile a quarterly report on how these trends could impact the organization’s IT strategy (add due date for first report, ongoing quarterly)
• Access to project management certification courses
• Opportunities for mentoring and shadowing
• Support from senior management for project leadership and strategic planning
• Promotion to IT Project Manager with enhanced project management and leadership skills
• Improved ability to manage IT projects effectively
• Stronger leadership abilities, leading to better team performance and successful project outcomes

Encourage open dialogue and offer constructive feedback to keep employees engaged and motivated. 

This approach to continuous learning ensures that your team members grow effectively while contributing to the overall success of your organization.

Also Read: How to Create an Employee Journey Map

Creating and Implementing Employee Development Plans

When done well, professional development plans turn everyday work into meaningful progress for individuals and the organization. 

Here’s a step-by-step guide to getting it done with a little help from ClickUp for Human Resources .

Before you can start developing a plan, you need to know where everyone stands. 

Use performance reviews and feedback to get a clear picture of each employee’s strengths and areas for improvement. This is your baseline—the starting point for any effective employee development plan.

You can set up ClickUp Custom Fields to track performance metrics, employee skills, and areas for improvement. This data helps you understand each employee’s current abilities and what they need to enhance their skills.

The Performance Review Template by ClickUp is designed to make evaluating employee performance easy and effective.

To get started, schedule a review session with the employee. Before the meeting, collect the relevant data—think sales figures, customer feedback, or any other important performance metrics. Once you’ve sorted your data and goals, use the template to put together your review document. This document will be your roadmap for the discussion.

With a clear understanding of current performance, it’s time to set goals. ClickUp Goals is ideal for this. You can set specific, measurable objectives and track progress in real time.

When everyone knows exactly what they’re aiming for, hitting the target is much easier.

For instance, if an employee needs to improve their project management skills, set a goal to complete a specific project management course and apply learned skills to a real project.

Once the goals are set, it’s time to determine how to achieve them. With ClickUp Tasks , you can assign activities, set deadlines, and monitor progress. 

Whether attending training sessions or learning on the job, you can ensure that the activities are directly aligned with goals.

For example, if the goal is to enhance presentation skills, create a task to attend a workshop and another to prepare and deliver a presentation. 

Set deadlines and attach relevant resources or materials directly within ClickUp. This way, all development activities are organized and easily accessible.

A plan without a timeline is just a wish. Use ClickUp’s Gantt Chart View to visualize the development plan timeline and ensure everything stays on track. 

Regularly review and adjust as needed to keep things moving forward.

You can easily see what’s coming up next and ensure that all activities are aligned with the employee’s goals.

Also Read: 10 Succession Planning Strategies (with Templates)

ClickUp’s Dashboards give you a real-time overview of all activities and their status. 

Create custom Dashboards to track key metrics such as task completion rates, goal achievement percentages, and upcoming deadlines.

You can set up widgets to visualize this data through charts, graphs, and lists, allowing for quick insights and easy tracking. This helps identify issues early and make necessary adjustments.

Finally, the plan’s effectiveness should be evaluated regularly, and adjustments should be made as needed. Continue using Goals and Dashboards to analyze progress and keep everything on track.

We also recommend using employee development plan templates to standardize the employee development planning process. Here are two of them:

Employee Development Plan Template

The ClickUp Employee Development Plan Template is a powerful tool for nurturing growth and productivity within your team. It helps you create personalized development plans that track goals, progress, and performance all in one place.

With this template, you can pinpoint current and future talent development needs , keep your team motivated, improve employee retention, and nurture potential leaders. It includes ClickUp Custom Task Statuses to track progress, Custom Fields for essential employee info, and different ClickUp Views to help you manage and organize data effectively.

Also Read: 10 Best HR Talent Management Software Solutions in 2024

Career Path Template

ClickUp’s Career Path Template is a great way to manage and visualize your team’s career growth. It helps you track each team member’s progress toward their professional goals and keeps everyone moving in the right direction.

With this template, you can set Custom Statuses like Open and Complete to monitor each step in the career path. 

The template offers two views: Start Here, which helps you list and organize the steps needed to achieve career goals, and Whiteboard, which allows you to map out timelines and visualize the progression

👀 Bonus: Explore career map templates to visualize and manage each team member’s career path, making employee development programs more strategic and effective.

Building and growing a team isn’t just about ticking boxes—it’s about setting them up for success, both now and in the future.

With the right development plans in place, you’re helping your employees grow and driving your business forward.

ClickUp makes creating, tracking, and adjusting career development plans easier, ensuring that learning and development never stop for your team.

Get started with ClickUp for free today!

Questions? Comments? Visit our Help Center for support.

Receive the latest WriteClick Newsletter updates.

Thanks for subscribing to our blog!

Please enter a valid email

• Free training & 24-hour support
• Serious about security & privacy
• 99.99% uptime the last 12 months

• Siemens PLM Software

Product lifecycle management

Teamcenter plm software.

Plan, develop and deliver innovative products with Teamcenter software. Discover why Teamcenter is a leading choice in product lifecycle management (PLM).

Take a sneak peek into the Teamcenter agenda for Realize LIVE Americas.

Why Teamcenter?

Leverage the digital twin.

Use digital twins to connect and optimize processes for designs, systems, software, simulation and visualization. Resolve problems before they become real.

Collaborate and innovate

Connect people across your business. Automate and streamline product lifecycle processes. Provide visibility for everyone to make innovative product decisions.

Rely on the leader

Start-ups to large enterprises - across industries - trust Teamcenter. Invest in the future with modern PLM of unmatched breadth, depth and usability.

Optimize your product lifecycle

Set the strategic direction and product definition to guide downstream decisions.

Design and document the multi-discipline product to leverage the digital twin.

Weave the digital thread to connect product development with manufacturing, service and suppliers.

PLM your way

Get Teamcenter delivered any way you want it – on premises or on the cloud – operated by your IT team or Siemens.

On premises

Host, manage and support your PLM software with your IT team. Explore the PLM software portfolio.

Choose your cloud provider, managed by your IT team. See all PLM solutions.

On cloud, SaaS by Siemens

Get started quickly using software as a service. Operation, maintenance and upgrades are included.

Teamcenter X SaaS grows with your business

See how even the smallest start-up business can grow with Teamcenter X. Cloud SaaS PLM is instant-on for fast time to value. You can manage your product digital twin efficiently to bring new and innovative products to market faster – and grow your business.

Engineering depth and business breadth

Adapt to business disruptions while driving product innovation. Teamcenter provides a single source of product information for every stakeholder across the business.

What PLM solution is best for you?

G2 ranks products based on customer reviews. G2 named Teamcenter the best PLM software for any size company – outperforming 99 others. Take a look at the PLM software comparison grid to see the top ranking for Teamcenter.

Top PLM software leadership recognition

Teamcenter is recognized by Forrester Research as a leader in PLM.

Teamcenter received the highest possible scores in more criteria than any other evaluated vendor in The Forrester Wave™: Product Lifecycle Management for Discrete Manufacturers, Q1 2023 report.

Northrop Grumman

Embracing digital transformation.

Company: Northrop Grumman

Industry: Aerospace & Defense

Siemens Software: Teamcenter