This is what you see here is what is known as the product development funnel.

Essentially, what it says is that there are multiple customer needs and there are multiple technological possibilities.

And what is happening when you develop a new product is that you're combining customer needs with technological possibilities and you're developing what is known as a concept.

So the first stage in the product development process is the development of a concept, and you might develop a number of different concepts to start with.

Then what you do is you go through a concept selection.

Now, the selection may be based on what may be possible, what is worth doing, there may be assessments of the different concepts and some may be ruled out very easily, some may be ruled out after a careful examination and then you come to a set of concepts which are likely to work.

Now, as you can see from concept generation to concept selection, the number of concepts have already reduced, and that's how the funnel becomes narrower.

Then you get to the next stage, which is the product design.

In the product design, you are working further on the concept that you have selected to come up with the exact specifications of each component and so on.

Then the next stage is the actual development stage, where you develop each component, you create a prototype, and then you test it.

Then as you go further, once your prototypes are tested and they work, you can launch the product in the market.

So as you can see, over the whole process, the number of concepts that you start with get whittled down till you reach the product release.

Now how do you manage this whole process?

Maximum flexibility is of course at the beginning of the project.

As the project evolves, commitments are made to specific concepts, product design and product architecture, and the funnel starts narrowing.

Now, what has been found is that if you start with a broad funnel then you are better off.

If you start with a narrow funnel, you start with only a few ideas.

It is quite possible that a few ideas that you start with are not adequate and eventually the product fails.

But if you start with a broad funnel, you evaluate all possible ideas, then it is quite possible that a good idea will come out at the end of the funnel.


Speaker 0: Now, we look at doing things right. This is what you see here is what is known as the product development funnel. The depiction looks like a funnel. Essentially, what it says is that there are multiple customer needs and there are multiple technological possibilities. And what is happening when you develop a new product is that you're combining customer needs with technological possibilities and you're developing what is known as a concept.

So the first stage in the product development process is the development of a concept, and you might develop a number of different concepts to start with. Then what you do is you go through a concept selection. Now, the selection may be based on what may be possible, what is worth doing, there may be assessments of the different concepts and some may be ruled out very easily, some may be ruled out after a careful examination and then you come to a set of concepts which are likely to work. Now, as you can see from concept generation to concept selection, the number of concepts have already reduced, and that's how the funnel becomes narrower. Then you get to the next stage, which is the product design.

In the product design, you are working further on the concept that you have selected to come up with the exact specifications of each component and so on. Then the next stage is the actual development stage, where you develop each component, you create a prototype, and then you test it. Then as you go further, once your prototypes are tested and they work, you can launch the product in the market. So as you can see, over the whole process, the number of concepts that you start with get whittled down till you reach the product release. Now how do you manage this whole process?

Maximum flexibility is of course at the beginning of the project. As the project evolves, commitments are made to specific concepts, product design and product architecture, and the funnel starts narrowing. Now, what has been found is that if you start with a broad funnel then you are better off. If you start with a narrow funnel, you start with only a few ideas. It is quite possible that a few ideas that you start with are not adequate and eventually the product fails.

But if you start with a broad funnel, you evaluate all possible ideas, then it is quite possible that a good idea will come out at the end of the funnel.

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Week 1- Project Management