Sneak Peek
Self Paced 20-hour course to help you develop products
This course sharpens your awareness of tasks and processes involved in developing any type of products. Products can be either goods or services. Developing any type of product always begins with a concept which may come from an individual person or a group. There are always choices to be made in developing the concept, and those choices can either make it a better product that is easier to sell, or a more problematic product that is harder to sell.
This course teaches you how to make better decisions about product development, and helps you to avoid overlooking aspects of product development that might make or break the success of that product.
THE CONTENTS OF THE COURSE - How to work through this course
LESSON 1 NATURE AND SCOPE OF PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
What type of product is it?
Who is your customer?
The development process
Research and development
Product planning
Prototypes and testing
Pre-production phase
Commercial release
Product lifecycle
Lesson 1 additional reading
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 2 VIABILITY ASSESSMENT
Product concept analysis
Supply and demand
Product validation
Competitor analysis
Product differentiation
Lesson 2 additional reading
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 3 DEFINING THE PRODUCT AND THE PRODUCTION PROCESS
Generating ideas
Brainstorming
Product planning
Production and plant equipment
Sourcing raw materials and components
Staffing requirements
Getting others involved in product planning
Product planning for lone wolves
Product roadmap
Outsourcing
Lesson 3 additional reading
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 4 PRODUCT LEARNABILITY
Learnability factors
Important considerations
Learnability for the right audience
Children and learnability
Evaluating learnability
Testing learnability
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 5 COSTING
Cost of development
Cost of packaging design
Cost of certifications
Cost of manufacture
Marketing costs
Product delivery
Product pricing
Pricing strategies
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 6 PRESENTATION AND PACKAGING
Packaging design
Packaging supply
Lesson 6 additional reading
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 7 TESTING THE PRODUCT
Useability
Reliability
Process of testing
Rapid prototyping
Ongoing market research
Lesson 7 additional reading
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 8 PRODUCT LIFECYCLE
Development and introduction
Growth phase
Maturity phase
Decline phase
Rebirth
Review what you have been learning
LESSON 9 FUTURE PLANNING AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Success metrics
Product evolution
Predictive product development
Considerations on product marketing
Online marketing
Social media
Search engine optimisation
Direct marketing via email
Advantages and disadvantages of being first to market
Protecting your product
Lesson 9 additional reading
Review what you have been learning
Final assessment
Why do Businesses Fail?
One reason can be that the goods or services offered, have not been developed properly.
A well developed product can sell itself; or at least is far more likely to succeed. Product development is not manufacturing or marketing. It is more about choosing what a products (goods or services) you will offer, then changing aspects of what they are and how they are presented, in order to make them serve their purpose better, be more attractive to buy, and be more satisfying to the customer.
There are many different tried and proven techniques that can be harnessed for product development. There are many aspects of product development that can be overlooked. This course helps you to avoid overlooking what is important, and have the tools to do what is most important to succeed when developing products.