Product development process are the steps taken to conceive, design, and commercialize a product [2]. Product development includes improvement to existing products, product line extensions, new product lines, and new-to-the-world innovations. Most successful companies are more likely to have some type of formal and well-structured product development process. People think of product development as a purely creative process, but in fact it is a process that involves specific steps, documentation, and improvement. This approach facilitates to: (1) make the decision process explicit, (2) ensures that all important issues are included in the discussions, and (3) structured processes are usually well documented, which helps as a future reference and to train new team members.
References
1. Cooper, R.G., Winning at new products; creating value through innovation 4th ed. 2011, New York, NY: Basic Books. 408.
2. Ulrich, K.T. and S.D. Eppinger, Product design and development. 2011, Boston: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. 432.
3. Schneider, J. and J. Hall, Why Most Product Launches Fail. Harvard Business Review, 2011. 89(4): p. 21-23.