Alan Cohen - Prototype to Product

by Alan Cohen

Copyright 2015 Alan Cohen. All rights reserved.

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978-1-449-36229-4

[LSI]

Product development is the magic that turns circuitry, software, and materials into a product. The word magichere is not used by accident; for most folks who design and develop technology as a hobby or even professionally, creating new products is unknown territoryor magicas far as they are concerned.

This books goal is to help the reader to gain a better understanding of the stuff that happens along the way when great ideasmetamorphose into great productsin particular, intelligent products with embedded electronics and softwareand to supply strategies and tactics to make that stuff go more smoothly.

Creating an intelligent product is complex. Its much more than developing some circuits and software, plopping em into a case, and hanging out a for sale sign. Numerous activities must be performed to turn components and cool prototypes into a desirable, usable, reliable, manufacturable, and salable product.

In part because of the complexity, new product development is a risky undertaking. According to Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen, 95% of new products fail. A number of factors play into this high rate, but Ive experienced firsthand that many or most new product failures stem from failures in the product development process.

For example, notoriously, most product development efforts end up being late and over budgetoften by substantial amounts of 25% or more. Even a 100% overrun is not unusual. Sometimes overruns are caused by simply not estimating effort correctly. They often also come from surprise re-development efforts, which become necessary because product needs were not well known early in development. In my experience, these overruns and surprise re-development efforts often stem from flaws in the productization process, not from the fundamental technology involved.