Contents
Simplicity, effectiveness, wide application – these are just a few attributes that the perfect product should have.
To be honest, to build a perfect product is always a “work in progress” situation because every product can use an upgrade or update from time to time. Yet, with a good plan and thorough research, you should be able to come up with ideas that will help you build a great product.
In order to support this process, we will suggest a few things that will definitely help you on this journey.
Think about customer-centric products
Your business exists and grows thanks to your customers. So, it makes sense for those interested in product development to focus on the creation of customer-centric products. Don’t forget that it’s very difficult to find new customers.
According to some experts, keeping existing customers happy should be more important than finding new customers (although this is important too).
If your entire focus is placed on the needs, requirements, and desires of your target audience, then you can rest assured that your new product development (or the process of upgrading an existing product) is going to the right direction.
Utilize a product map
As we said before, developing a new product is a journey and in order to get to your final destination safely and as planned, you need a map. That’s why your business needs a so-called product map. Thanks to these maps, team members can understand their roles and discover how to overcome potential obstacles on the road to success.
To be honest, a product map is a relatively new term in the world of business, and that’s why experts don’t have a strict definition of this term and what it should contain.
Yet, most of them agree that a product map must possess a few characteristics and features in order to be useful.
For starters, this map must provide a certain level of flexibility. This won’t be a smooth sail where every piece of the puzzle comes into place without effort and you must be prepared for problems and unexpected situations. In other words, you should have a map that can be updated quickly.
Furthermore, this product map must be organized in a way where every team member can get a quick overview of product features and be able to realize how the product will look like once it’s done.
Finally, this product map must have information about key performance indicators and provide user stories that could help you in the process of development on a micro level.
Design thinking as a tool that can be used for the creation of optimal products
Design thinking is all about innovation and so is new product development. This process is closely related to the customer-centric mindset we’ve mentioned at the beginning of this article.
Many business owners and managers make the same mistake and they are focused on the product they are trying to build. Obviously, this is somehow positive, but focusing only on the product as an object is not a good idea because this product has a purpose – it should help users solve a certain problem or meet their needs.
Furthermore, there are situations when people are placing their own business and their long-term objectives in the focus when they want to build a perfect product. That’s wrong because your customers are the most valuable asset of your company. Simply put, you should constantly look for their needs and desires.
Empathy for problem-solving
With design thinking, you will utilize an approach that includes the use of empathy when it comes to problem-solving. When applied correctly, this approach can help you find a connection between the current needs of customers and modern technological solutions. As a result of that, you can come up with the idea and build the perfect product.
There’s more than one way in which you can use design thinking in the development of products. Regardless of the option you’ve selected, you should know that this process involves a few stages of implementation. For starters, you have to become familiar with the target audience.
Next, you must create a specific point of view that is inspired by the needs and characteristics of your customers. After that, design thinking enters a stage where brainstorming is applied and creative solutions are suggested. After sharing all the pros and cons of a specific idea and accepting that idea, you should get back to the end users and test the idea. If everything goes in the right way, that specific idea should be implemented in the product.
This is a simplified explanation of how design thinking can be used during the process of product development. Maximizing the effects of design thinking for this purpose can be achieved with the help of professionals that are offering design thinking services.
Building the perfect product is an ongoing process which requires a good plan and strategy and external help too.