TEI 005: How Relying on Aggregate Marketing Data Can Doom New Product Developmen

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you another
episode of The Everyday Innovator. The podcast is all about helping
people involved in developing and managing products become more
successful, grow their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers.
George Farkas is CEO of an electronics engineering service company
in the Pacific Northwest called Tsuga Engineering. His company
creates portable power components for electronic devices, such as
integrated power in backpacks and business cases. Over his career
George has helped several companies develop products that provide
customers value.  He is also certified as a New Product
Development Professional (NPDP) by the Product Development and
Management Association (PDMA). Highlights from the discussion
include: The winning product formula is developed by studying the
customer and collaborating as a cross-functional team to deliver
what the customer values.Using aggregate market data only, in
isolation from real customers, results in a “me too” product that
is more likely to be a failure.Watch out for those who say “we know
what the customer needs” – the way to know is to iterate and
co-develop prototypes with customers.Wrong assumptions early in the
process can set product development work on a path that leads to
failure because time is not available to correct the
issues.Skipping proven product development and management processes
leads to expensive failures.Executives role in product innovation
includes developing the company culture to support innovation and
create alignment in strategies.Executives need to understand the
best practices in product innovation processes and know that such
training exists.Don’t design a product based on opinions – base the
design on real customer needs.