How can you mitigate risks in your product development process?

Kantar’s BrandZ tells us brands that grow the most are meaningful, different and salient. To mitigate risks, one therefore, needs to develop products that are meaningful and different. These products should be developed to be truly incremental, this comes from strong market understanding, good portfolio play and from the above focus. Additionally, not all products are right for all brands. For mature brand, check your new product idea is going to add value to your long term brand equity. To develop these successful products you need, consumer empathy, co-creation and testing. One needs to learn, test and learn, to build up data, insight and confidence across the product development, testing assumptions as one goes, to best mitigate risk.

One comment: Requirements are different for professional vs consumer products. Consumers will buy what they want on a whim. Professionals will buy what they need. The challenge is to be able to differentiate the want vs need for products targeted at professionals. Surprisingly, many professionals will express wants as needs. Basically all I'm saying is that you truly need to understand the market to develop successful products. Deep collaboration between Product Management and Product Development maximizes the potential to create a great product.

10 WAYS TO MITIGATE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT RISKS 1. Thorough Market Research: Understand your target audience and their needs. 2. Prototyping: Build and test prototypes m to identify potential flaws. 3. Cross-functional Teams: Bring together experts from various disciplines. 4. Iterative Development: Break the process into smaller phases. 5. User Feedback: Involve users to gather insights and validate. 6. Risk Analysis: Identify potential risks and their impact. 7. Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Launch an MVP with essential features. 8. Agile Method: Embrace agile practices to adapt. 9. Quality Assurance: Implement robust testing procedures to catch bugs, glitches. 10. Communication: Maintain clear communication within your team.

Talk to customers first to validate the problem space. Use techniques like jobs-to-be-done and empathy mapping to really understand their world and ensure the pain is real. With the problem validated, brainstorm solutions and rapidly prototype to test assumptions with users. Adopt a "fail-fast" iterative approach - don't go big-bang! Continuously loop back to user feedback and be ready to adapt - as you will need to! By understanding user problems upfront and validating solutions iteratively, you can better define and solve problems whilst mitigating the risks associated with product development.

- Product Development The product development process is the result of identifying a real problem to solve with a business-feasible solution with a maximized business model. - Problem matters Not all problems are worth solving - use a critical mind. - Next Steps The next steps are more related to securing success by measuring results and confirming your initial hypothesis, or maybe not. - Team Build a team that understands the 'problem matters' and helps you to pivot if and when necessary. Don't let them venerate rules, hypes, books, or recipes. But problem solvers.

Invest time early in the project (Phase 1) to hash out in scope vs out of scope and document both...especially what's out of scope. Have the difficult and contentious arguments early when it's still on paper; not when you're trying to freeze the design or getting ready for launch.

Too often we hear clients complain about "scope creep". The sources are many - desire to add new features, address competitive concerns, stakeholder misalignment, etc. But one often unrecognized area is "internal initiatives". I've seen PMs fail to push back on "new initiatives" coming from manufacturing, quality, and other areas. Once the project is authorized it can become a convenient place to add any scope that someone in the organization feels is important. Perhaps moving to a new and unproven CMO (Contract Manufacturing Organization); using a newly developed (and unproven) "Product Development Process"; or being the first to use a new documentation system. You need to push back on these late additions to scope.

One important thing that businesses/ product team in general tend to miss out is on core competencies while scoping and streamlining priorities. This is true across scales of teams, especially in complex industries. For instance, whenever a requirement is scoped and being discussed, it is generally being thought from customer needs and wants and ROI, but whether the business is truly alligned and ready to deliver it in time, that part is left out. The result - it creeps over when the product is particularly in development. The resources are not ready and lots of precious time is diverted towards rework. One of the ways this can be handled is to use Agile at every stage, continuous improvement helps in delivering strong solutions in pieces.

Gedanken experiments galore: repetitive, comprehensive and mind-numbing thought experiments -- that's how I eliminate flaws before prototyping anything. It's been rare that any first prototype has failed to exceed the established minimum performance criteria through this process, but the loss of sleep is not much fun. It's a process that naturally evolved when I was young and poor, btu even with a well-equipped lab and assistants, access to production equipment and a generous budget, I've stuck with the old faithful method, at least for back burner projects...until they ripen in the grey matter.

Some Product Managers tend to overlook the importance of reviewing their Minimum Viable Product (MVP), either with fellow PMs, team members, or customers. A well-defined MVP is crucial for avoiding time wasted on unnecessary MVP changes and for staying on course. An effective practice is to regularly reiterate the project's goals and expectations during sprints and daily stand-up meetings. This repetition serves as a constant reminder for the team, reinforcing the "why" behind the product development effort

First, you’d make a basic layout, then add some features, test it out, get some feedback, and then revise. That’s what we call an iterative approach. It’s about developing in cycles, improving with each turn.

Product testing is a crucial stage in the development process and has the following important functions: Defects detection - Defects can be found through testing, which enables you to fix them before they have a detrimental impact on your customers. Validating functionality - By testing your product, you can make sure that it works as intended and satisfies the needs of your target market. Enhancing user experience - You may give your clients a more fulfilling and engaging experience by detecting and fixing usability problems. Lowering expenses - Early problem detection and resolution can help you prevent expensive fixes and possible harm to your brand's reputation.

Prioritize prototyping and testing to catch issues early on, conducting regular reviews to track progress and adapt as needed. Be adaptable and embrace agility, swiftly adjusting to changing circumstances, while ensuring compliance with regulations and maintaining transparent communication with stakeholders.

Avoid "big bang" integration by defining a handful of major system integration points that must be demonstrated during the Development phase. This allows different work streams (e.g. hardware, software, chemistry, etc.) to each operate independently for long stretches but forces the system to come together periodically to bring all work stream back in sync.

S2insight focuses on medical devices, diagnostics, and therapeutics, and so the idea that you can release preview versions of products mostly doesn't apply. However, when looking into why clients failed to meet critical milestones and finish projects on time, we realized their schedules were siloed by function. By building schedules around a sequence of key prototypes (each with objectives, entrance and exit criteria, and success factors), they became able to de-risk the development effort in a meaningful manner. We also learned that this "sequence of prototypes" needed to be present in all phases of development - Concept, Feasibility, Development, and Qualification.

Collaboration has the power to spark innovation in the workplace because everyone brings a unique set of knowledge and skills to the table. Working together and embracing these differences gives birth to new ideas through the blending of unique viewpoints.

Eine Sache die ich auch sehr hilfreich finde ist, Risiken transparent für alle darzustellen, um sie nicht mehrfach zu bewerten. Dies k?nnte z. B durch ausgewiesene Risikopuffer erfolgen, die vor wichtigen Meilensteinen platziert sind, oder um den Projekttermin am Ende zu schützen. Insgesamt hilft es dass alle Stakeholder im gleichen System mit dem gleichen Tool Arbeiten. Das Hauptrisiko besteht aus meiner Sicht darin, dass jeder unterschiedliche Tools benützt und dadurch keine Transparenz über Aufgaben, Reihenfolge/Fokus und Ressourcen gegeben ist.

Clear roles and responsibilities among all team members and one integrated schedule showing how the critical path flows through different work streams at different phases of the project. Having the full team scope and plan the project creates a level of "functional empathy" encouraging collaboration.

I simply believe that a product shines with cross functional teams or pods rather than through traditional approach. A team that collaborates and keeps the information flowing through each and every member can focus on all the aspects of the product including development. A product can be tested incrementally via different team members (i.e., the product undergoes through different mindset) while it's being developed and immediate feedback can help the process. Moreover, if members of different backgrounds like design, risk, development, business, marketing and even compliance/ legal come together in a pod to work on a product (or on any feature) it may result in faster TTM and launch.

I've faced situations where our product strategy had to change due to COVID. Effective communication with the team is crucial. As a Product Manager, I've repeated key information patiently to ensure full understanding. I employ various methods, such as weekly emails highlighting changes and regular open slots for discussions with developers and UX designers. Communication is key, especially during shifts in strategy

Consider 5 important areas when learning to adopt to change... 1. Regular / periodic product reviews, leveraging SWOT analysis. 2. Embed Product Retros(pectives) - to focus on continuous improvements. 3. Champion a customer-centric approach - "mmm... it's all about your customer" 4. Monitor the Market - make sure your CI (Competitive Intelligence) is fine-tuned so you're able to innovate and be two steps ahead. 5. Insert agile methodologies when / where needed. Doesn't fit every organization but if your market moves fast - so should you. --Ohad

While innovation propels us forward, adaptability ensures we can navigate the twists and turns along the way. In a rapidly changing business environment, the ability to adapt to new trends, technologies, and market dynamics is crucial. Adaptability is about flexibility and resilience. It efers to changes that improve design, materials, feel, look, capacity, functionality, and overall user experience. An improvement can be tangible, such as a physical product, or intangible, like software or services.

The focus is not solely on your personal learning but on the collective learning of your entire team. In the context of Scrum, the retrospective is a pivotal concept. It involves the team discussing how they could have improved and what changes can be made in each stage of the product development life cycle

A blend of #agile approaches and classic #riskmanagement will do the trick best: 1.) Perform systematic risk management in a cross-functional team and regularly (see 2.), collect risks and assess: a) impact of risk (cost, delay, ...) as low / mid / high or similar b) probabaility of risk, as low / mid / high / probable Then rank the risks by multiplying a) x b) and conduct for all risks beyond a defined threshld c) risk measures d) risk owner e) review cycle 2) conduct this regularly in an agile approch, e.g. at each sprint or release train or ...

Accept and embrace that all development is iterative and that decisions must be made with imperfect information. When new information is available (whether proactively sought or reactive), evaluate the design requirements, assumption, plan, and schedule honestly especially if it's news you don't want to hear.

Early phases should encourage risk taking and exploration, later phases must focus on predictable execution. Don't "move to the next phase" just to make the milestone date; ask yourself "are we really ready for the next phase and did we accomplish the objectives of the current phase?"

As @Brad Hedstrom said, risk mitigation should be the focus of the early phases of your Product Development Process (P1 - Concept, P2 - Feasibility). Phase 3 is Development, and this should be the epitome of the Nike tagline "Just do it!" But of course that is easier said than done. At S2insight we tell clients that their ability to deliver on time is tied closely to prototyping and technical risk reduction in P1 and P2, and of course the development of a solid System Architecture that links HW, SW, Disposables, and Accessories together in a comprehensive system that meet User Needs/Customer Requirements.

There are four common ways to mitigate risks, including avoiding them, accepting them, reducing them, and transferring them. Deciding which approach to use for each risk isn't an exact science, and you'll have to use your judgment and expertise to determine which is best.

The reason that life starts to mess around with the established order of things is because something has already changed. The risk lies in not sensing it early enough. The most striking thing about the natural growth patterns of new things is how slow, fragile, and invisible they are at the outset. By the time you see 'em, you can never catch 'em.

The risk I’ve most often faced is that to not match a deadline or to partially fail a requirement. A practice I’m used is working with scenarios: multiple answers to a simple question “What if …” help to focus on priorities and direct resources at the right time. It goes without saying, higher the risk level, higher the effort, i.e. the money required to mitigate.

Psychological models can aid risk mitigation in product development: Cognitive Load Theory: Design products to minimize cognitive load, improving usability and satisfaction. Fogg Behavior Model: Understand motivation, ability, and triggers to design products influencing user behavior. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Prioritize user needs from functionality to self-actualization. Kübler-Ross Change Curve: Manage user reactions during major product updates. These models help understand users and make informed design decisions, reducing risks associated with user acceptance and satisfaction.

One of the key things to follow consistently is always looking out for risks. It can start with small things being, missing the requirements to more complex ones involving the market trends where the changes are outdated. During the kick off the project team need to discuss and identify the possible risks from design to development to GTM strategy or approach. This list can be exhaustive. The more we identify the better we will be prepared. The lists of risks can be reviewed during every sprint planning and retrospective meeting to discuss if they are still applicable and how can we mitigate . By constantly doing we may not avoid the risk but when it happens we will have a fall back plan to work on

The most obvious and difficult aspect is to identify possible risks across the product, organization and business. With a well defined risk mapping, one can then drill further into how these can be handled and what is the likelihood/probability of such occurring. Evaluating other products within and external to the organization can help produce relevant risk baselines too.

There are 4 different risks you need to mitigate 1. Value Risk: developing a high level of confidence that your product will be used/purchased by your users. If you're an outcome focused product team, you will be able to mitigate this risk. 2. Usability Risk: Ensuring that your solution is simple enough for your users to understand. A lot of early stage testing has helped my teams with this. 3. Feasibility Risk: Do we have the time, skills and capacity to build the solution. This is where the process becomes a lot more cyclical. The PM, designer and tech lead need to work closely to align on this 4. Viability Risk: Is our solution viable for the business. In an empowered product team, the PM should be able to mitigate this risk

Most important: manage all new product development projects as a portfolio with clearly aligned KPIs based upon decision-makers objectives and criteria. Most projects are not executed due to internal problems and misalignment, this can and should be avoided early next on. A well-aligned portfolio strategy provides the frame for all following iterative development and testing…