The product plan helps resolve issues related the markets, the types of products and the opportunities that the company will invest in and the resources required to support product development. More specifically, the product plan is used to:

• Define an overall strategy for products to guide selection of development projects;
  
• Define target markets, customers, competitive strengths, and a competition strategy (e.g., competing head-on or finding a market niche);
  
• Position planned products relative to competitive products and identify what will differentiate or distinguish these products from the competition;
  
• Rationalize these competing development projects and establish priorities for development projects;
  
• Provide a high-level schedule of various development projects; and
  
• Estimate development resources and balance project resource requirements with a budget in the overall business plan.

Few companies have a formal product planning process, let alone a rigorous process. While a product plan is generally prepared on an annual basis, it should be reviewed and updated at least quarterly, if not monthly. Market conditions will change, new product opportunities will be identified, and new product technology will emerge ­ all causing a potential impact to the product plan. These opportunities need to be evaluated and the product plan changed if needed. This changes may result in re-prioritizing development projects or making a decision to hire additional development personnel to undertake a new development opportunity.

PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM

PROCESS DESCRIPTION

DEVELOP PRODUCT CONCEPT

Based on the product requirements and specifications, multiple product concepts are developed that can potentially satisfy those requirements. Brainstorming and other creativity techniques are used to generate a range of concept alternatives. These concepts are analyzed with respect to the product requirements as well as the existing technology portfolio, company capabilities, and business strategy in order to select the most promising architecture. The architecture is refined and the best aspects of other concepts are synthesized into the concept.

TASKS

• Brainstorm and develop top-level product or system concepts to satisfy product requirements.
• Analyze, evaluate and select a preferred product concept considering product requirements, company technology and capabilities, development risks, and business strategy.
• Partition the system into subsystems or modules (and derive subsystem requirements
• Brainstorm and develop subsystem concepts to satisfy lower-level requirements.
• Analyze, evaluate and select subsystem concepts considering requirements, company technology and capabilities, development risks, and business strategy.
• Identify need for risk-reduction development or investigation and launch effort.
• Document the concept.