You're facing tight deadlines for product launch. How do you manage client feedback requiring major changes?

This is a straightforward question. Let's talk about the triple constraints and critical path. Anything that is not on a critical path, has no impact on security/privacy -etc can be added to the backlog. Minimal Viable Product (MVP), then iterate. Keep iterating, involving the customer on each release and new requests. That way change is expected and not a big deal.

First you need to understand the customer voice and his focus area towards the product. Need to convince rather confusing him how it will going to benefit on long term

This begs the question, what went wrong for you to end up in this position. However if it has happened, you should be up front with the client and come clean as soon as possible. Ideally being able to put forward a well thought through solution.

Facing tight deadlines with major client feedback can feel like a 'Kobayashi Maru' scenario. The key is a thorough impact assessment—understanding why the client needs the change and what happens if it's not implemented. This includes evaluating the impact on our portfolio strategy and our capacity to accommodate the change. I typically combine the Eisenhower Matrix with Weighted Shortest Job First (WSJF) to manage these last-minute scope changes. The Eisenhower Matrix helps prioritize by urgency and importance, while WSJF ensures we deliver the highest value with the shortest effort. Regardless of the approach, aligning stakeholders and maintaining transparent communication are critical to navigating these challenges effectively.

Any changes down line from a pilot manufacturing trial requires instant communication and client support. Decisions can be hard and settling on a sub par product doesn’t help anyone. But major changes would be worked through before manufacturing commitment. Prototyping and short run production must be fulfilled be for any launch. So addressing the question impacts are inevitable with any diversion from a master plan. Capturing all the influences and presenting them to the client in a clear and decisive format is paramount.

I agree, prioritizing is always helpful and can maintain the timeline. Sometimes amendments can be made during or right after launching product without changing too much in product line which can only be defined by customer priorities.

I vote in favor of this always. Be open throughout the development phase till product become production. Hiding details won’t help any stakeholders in long run. Try to educate your customers if they even don’t know about technical things.

Keep your feedback as simple as possible to avoid overwhelming your client with too much detail, which can cause them to lose focus or get caught up in minor issues.

When facing a tight deadline, thinking outside the box is crucial. However, it’s equally important to create a plan with a backup (Plan B) to ensure the best possible outcome.

This tool always works in such situations, you are wandering around solutions but limited or restricted thinking prevents you to find out an easy but creative solution available. I strongly believe that every problem has a solution but we need to find out it in many ways.