Here's how you can create a timeline that accurately reflects the deadlines for a product innovation project.

The first step in creating a timeline for a product innovation project is to clearly define its scope. This involves determining the project’s objectives, the product features, the target audience, and the resources required. It also includes identifying key stakeholders and ensuring that the project's goals align with overall business strategy. By having a clear understanding of the scope, the team can estimate timeframes and set realistic deadlines for each phase of the project.

One thing that should be also considered in this phase is the market that aim to be reached. It is recommended to do deep analysis on the market, which products are being offered and who are competition. Evaluate their strong and weakness comparing with your project characteristics.

It's also important to analyse the work breakdown and identify any dependencies, these are often overlooked and impact the critical path

Define Scope Before you dive into creating a timeline, clearly define the scope of your product innovation project. This involves understanding the project's objectives, deliverables, and the resources available.

Here's why scope is extremely important: Without it, you're creating without a fully defined vision. As you get midway through your project, you'll start taking on more and more, otherwise known as 'scope creep'. Eventually, you'll be six months past your projection date and little show for it. When in doubt, keep your V1 simple and easy to iterate off of. Show bits of progress in a timely fashion, rather than promise the world and deliver a dumpster fire.

The research phase is critical to the success of a product innovation project. During this stage, the team conducts market research, gathers insights about customer needs, analyzes competitors, and explores potential technologies. This helps in identifying opportunities and challenges, which in turn informs the design process. It’s essential to allocate enough time for thorough research to avoid potential roadblocks later on.

When creating a project timeline, especially for a product innovation project, the first step should be 'Research'. A deep understanding of the project scope will help you anticipate and address potential challenges proactively. Researching will also help in determining appropriate buffer times for each milestone and setting realistic deadlines. This phase should be allocated sufficient time to avoid future hiccups and ensure timely project delivery.

Once the research is complete, the project enters the design stage, where the actual product takes shape. This involves brainstorming ideas, creating prototypes, and iterating based on feedback. The design team collaborates with other departments to ensure that the product not only meets the aesthetic and functional requirements but is also feasible to develop. Timelines in this phase should account for multiple iterations to perfect the product before moving to development.

At this point, it will important to identify if all resources will be be available in house or would require external resources In positive case, it would be recommend to initiate the identification of potential partners and evaluate their capability to support project needs

In a recent mobile app project, the development cycle began with translating wireframes into functional features. We focused on building a minimum viable product (MVP), starting with core functionalities like user authentication and basic navigation. To avoid delays, we set clear milestones for each phase—UI design, backend integration, and testing—while allowing buffer time for potential technical challenges, such as API integrations or unexpected bugs. When we encountered performance issues during testing, we leveraged this buffer to troubleshoot without impacting the overall timeline. This careful planning ensured a smooth development process and on-time delivery of the MVP.

Make sure that testing would cover relevant requirements for related application. Also evaluate further requirements based on market focus to be sure that all would be evaluated at this phase