183_十个你容易在产品开发中犯的大错误.docVIP

The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make in Product Development by Mike Elliott and Sally Slevin Introduction Whether your product is the next gen Internet device, an exciting new game console or a toothbrush, you want to get it designed right the first time. If you’ve gone through this process before you know that mistakes can be costly, both in budget overruns and time delays. Over the past 20 years developing products, we’ve made a few mistakes and seen many others. As Historian Martin Vanbee said “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” Whether you are the engineering director, inventor, product manager, CEO or manufacturing engineer you need to know what the mistakes are to be able to avoid them. Here’s what we concluded are the 10 biggest mistakes you can make in product development (not in any particular order). 1. Oh no! Why didn’t I think about that feature before? You can accompany that with a slap on the forehead. Gather as much detail information as possible up-front. It’s important to know what you want before beginning the design process, but you should also think about what you want the product to do, not only now but in future enhancements. Spend some time in a conceptual development session. It’ll save you time and money. A good product designer will look at your goal and offer a couple of ways to reach it. Figure out what skills/resources are needed: program management, Industrial design, mechanical or electrical engineering, graphic design? What data is available: sketches, CAD files and competitive information or focus studies? What about existing products? What are the engineering and production requirements? Agency compliance? Packaging needs? And what about scheduling? There will always be some feature-creep, so plan for that too. In addition to meeting all the engineering requirements don’t forget to include buy-in from senior management or the marketing guys. Don’t wait until you’re