Business Analysis: Product Development at Its Finest

Business analysis is a weapon of change when it comes to the new product development (NPD) or bringing a solid transformation to the existing one. And though the sphere of BA implementation is wide, the fintech industry benefits from it even more considerably owing to its high dependence on the latest innovations and prior risks mitigation. Dashdevs are truly the fintech experts who provide the?life cycle service ?for the full-on development and further maintenance of the product. Our team is well staffed for that, and we’re ready to start working on your project without any intervention! But first, let’s disclose why our cooperation story should start with the business analysis.

The client is usually that enthusiast coming to us with the basic vision of the future product or service and asks for our professional assistance. On the part of the business side, we patiently listen to it, ask relevant questions, and end up with the business analysis. It helps see the idea’s advantages and drawbacks, potential threats and opportunities to restrain them as well as required resources and organizational structure of the new project. Only through this long and consecutive process, the client and the development team can come to the final product refinement through constant ‘grinding’ of the uncut diamond.

Without the preliminary BA, the newly appeared product takes risks of being unnecessary and unprofitable, though it can be interesting from scratch. It’s no coincidence that so?many startups fail because of? not understanding the business needs, lacking the clear-cut realization strategy and coordination, not thinking properly about the end-users, or poor initial communication with the software clients. So, if you don’t want a rocky start, never skip the stage of qualitative business analysis! Better invest in your future business’ well-being from the outset!

Stages of New Product Development: A Classic Approach

Now when you admit the importance of the early business analysis, let’s look at its place in the whole?product development scenario . Though the order of these steps can vary under the company’s?business model , the traditional approach towards the NPD looks like the following:

1. Ideas generation.?Start with the profound brainstorming for the new product and its market opportunities, shaping the competitive advantage of the novelty.
2. Screening.?Polish and sort out your ideas with the focus on good ones and examine them through the prism of the SWOT analysis and customer trends in the market.
3. Concept articulation.?When the leader is determined, move on to the formulation of the concept. Don’t overdo with your fancy statements; instead, better bring your mission and values as simple and understandable as possible.
4. Business case analysis.?Here the main part comes! Before the actual investment in the development, make sure you’ve correctly calculated the costs of production, market introduction, expected sales, and ROI. Also, think over its influence on brand positioning and social responsibility.
5. Marketing adjustment.?Define the channels you’re going to communicate on your new product with the audience and work out a marketing plan for the further activities. All this should coincide with your?marketing strategy ; otherwise, your product’s positioning can appear lame, wrong in terms of market, or unnoticed by your target customers.
6. Testing.?Resort to the help of the test group to get the intermediate results on the product’s first impressions and anticipate the future purchase behavior patterns.
7. First launch.?That’s the commercial appearance of the product that embodies the starting phase of its life cycle.
8. Evaluation.?Finally, you’ve got the data to access the product’s viability under the real-market conditions and come up with insights into what should be improved in the first place.

Though some can stop on that, the full-fledged product life cycle is usually prolonged to the 2 extra stages:

1. Corrections and updates.?The new iterations of the product appear as a result of the team’s intentional changes.
2. New launch.?Your dear project becomes a commodity for all to enjoy, use, and be aware of your brand!

Product Development Procedure by Dashdevs

Here, in Dashdevs, we’ve modified the classic approach towards product development to serve the best for the fintech realities. Without further ado, let’s get acquainted with our software development path right now!

Step 1: Idea

Before we start, you need to have a distinct vision of the problem your fintech appl is going to solve for users/clients and how it’ll contribute to the overall business development. On our part, we investigate the market, collect the data about your potential customers, and elaborate on the ways to satisfy their needs with the new product. The learning of the users’ finance-related behavior also adds much to the idea validation, and finally, we define the functions and interface of the future product.

Step 2: Design

In most cases, we choose between the mobile and web versions of the fintech solution. However, it doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to discuss at this phase! On the contrary, the design is always a part of the visual brand representation, and speaking about the fintech products, it should comply with certain rules. That’s why we work hard to check all the regtech requirements for your product’s easy launching further on. The testing on models, wireframes, and prototypes allows getting the feel of the product’s user-friendliness way before the actual development.

Step 3: System requirements

As fintech apps usually have a complex infrastructure, the functional requirements serve as the point of departure for the product’s behavior description. In fact, there are several immediate system operations under each user’s pressing a button, and that’s our architects who develop the specifications like the productivity of the system and ts quality, portability, and efficiency.

Step 4: External integration

From time to time, the variety of product functions calls us for the obligatory external integration of features as not all of them can be developed directly by the fintechs. One of such vivid examples is the digital bank which can comprise up to 30 different services, and there’s plenty of extra integrations to be done to turn it into a full-fledged entity. And despite the solid expertise in fintech and our readiness to provide the best innovative decisions, we always recommend our clients not to overload their product with a wide range of perks. Think twice whether your customers need it and only then implement!

Step 5: The very development

As a rule, we rely on the 2 different approaches in product development:?Waterfall and Agile . The former is the linear, sequential model that permits adding the specific features to your service/product within the long-term perspective but doesn’t suit well for the startups because of the constant changes of requirements in the industry. The latter is exactly used for young projects depending on the frequent development and testing integrations. No matter what plan you may need, our execution job is subdivided into sprints, so you’ll be aware of what’s going on right after each of them.

Step 6: Friends & family testing

When the digital solution is almost ready for a launch, you can ask your close ones or your investors to give it a try. Having access to the app’s services, they can express the first impressions on the product and advise on its possible amelioration until it’s in the hands of true users.

Step 7: Public release

That’s a threshold for the developer’s team as the real customers begin spending real money on its services. At this stage, we thoroughly keep our eyes pilled for the slightest customers’ reactions as our task is to gain vital feedback to grow further.

Step 8: Development continuation

After the former analysis, the development team and the product managers gather together to decide on further app updates. The roadmap is always in front of us, and we’re inclined at adjusting the product to both financial market rules and users’ expectations. Another brainstorming comes here into action!

Step 9: Technical maintenance

This final stage is your inner comfort and peace! Though all work is seemingly done, we’re going on with our clients’ post-launch assistance. As the regulators often can’t wait for some changes from you, we’re here to cover all your concerns and troubleshoot the new possible hazards. Besides, a small team continues to work on your project surveillance and technical support. Sounds magnificent, right?

How Will Product Development Benefit from Business Analysis?

Now when you’ve got a clear picture of the product development process, you should easier disclose the advantageous points the business analysis entails for it, aren’t you? All right, we’ll give you a hint, or, to be exact, 5 of them:

1. Clarity of technical documentation.?Thanks to the BA, you spend some time agreeing on the business needs and goals but only on the initial stage. And then you’ll get back a hundredfold as such time investment from the start makes the technical requirements more transparent and, consequently, the development goes in the right direction.
2. Time economy.?It logically comes from the previous benefit as the less confusing the project requirements are, the less time will be spent on the extra changes by the development team. That’s especially matters in fintech where the relevance, speed, and technological support ‘under the hood’ can turn your product into a sensation.
3. Costs reduction.?In case the project is executed smoothly and consistently, more money is left for the other expenses, such as marketing promotion or technical support. Besides,?the prognosis of further sales volume and expected profits ?are also part of this.
4. Effective communication. Though it’s always hard to bridge the gap between the client, product owner, project manager, and the team of developers and testers, it still can be handled, and the BA works this common ground for all the parties involved. It helps them remain on the same page despite possible disagreements.
5. Better customer service.?If your project accounts for the needs of your TA and the process of development is set up, then you’ll most likely end up with a high-quality product that will raise customer’s interest and devotion to your brand. Isn’t that what you’re aspiring to?

Where Is a Common Ground Between Business Analysis and Business Analytics?

Well, there’s more on the surface than you can probably assume. Both?business analysis?and?business analytics?focus on market research and corresponding business problem-solving and improvement. However, the principal difference between the two is the angle of viewing the product and helping it to evolve. Specifically,?business analysis ?is about the functions and the process: all activities are realized under the business requirements and the definite tech stack to sustain the product’s life cycle movement. In contrast,?business analytics ?relates more to data and reporting. We can improve the product’s performance via the information leverages — accessing the strict metrics, spotting some trends, and determining the growth opportunities. And what unites these two worlds is Business Analyst.

In brief, a?Business Analyst? is a mediator between the product development staff and the clients throughout the whole product life cycle. As its role differs from one organization to another, here, in Dashdevs, we see him as the person responsible for comprehending the needs of both parties, clarifying and coordinating their requirements, defining the current and future business processes, working on specifications, and ensuring the best possible NPD path. Altogether, we do share the belief that?the portrait of the Business Analyst moves closer to STEM skills ?set that includes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. That explains why the need for the traditional BA dropped by a quarter in 2021 and continues to go down, especially in the UK.

So, business analysis is the tool used by the development team and the other NPD-related members to identify the product’s marketing potential, estimate its profitability, diminish costs, and create a sight for customers’ sore eyes, while business analytics is used for the performance evaluation of all common efforts and their further correction. And Business Analyst is a сonductor keeping an eye on the effective interaction between the development and business sides and leading them to the desired result of collaboration.

Any Business Analysis to Be Done for You?

Are you convinced now that any project can’t get by without the preliminary business analysis? That’s true if you’re thinking about your NPD in the long term perspective and anticipating a decent revenue comeback after its public release. Are you dreaming about coming with an actual fintech solution for the market and keeping stable and profitable further on? Contact Dashdevs and will make the high-level BA for you to be on the top of the digital banking world!