Every stage of developing, producing and marketing a product depends on solid research. It’s a misconception that product development is all about a lone genius in his or her workshop feverishly working alone on a completely unique vision. Solid research underpins any successful venture. Obviously the design of a product involves a lot of research, but it goes beyond the process of learning about the possible materials and systems involved in the potential product. It also includes less obvious issues such as web accessible intellectual property data and the potential target market for the product.
Here are some key areas of research that are central to the development of any successful new product.
- People buy things to solve problems, so the first question is what is the problem? Is this a widespread problem with a large potential market? How do the people facing this problem want to solve it? What types of solutions appeal most to this market? How do they feel about the problem?
- The next thing to research is what solutions already exist or are being developed. This is where web accessible intellectual property data comes in handy. First, it is essential to know if the solution being considered has been tried already. Perhaps it already exists or perhaps someone patented the idea but did not develop it because of a flaw with the proposed product design. But if the solution is going to be patented or otherwise protected, it is important to know how to do this.
- Once it has been established that the problem exists widely enough to have a viable market and the proposed product to solve it does not already exist and has not been tried and rejected, it’s time to get on to the art of product development, where the systems and materials being considered should be thoroughly researched.
- If the product can be produced at a reasonable cost relative to the price it might fetch, it is time to do more market research to determine the details of how the item should be presented. Everything matters, especially if the product will be competing with other possible solutions. Carefully consider the best colors and packaging to use based on the market research.
- Finally, it is important to research the best ways to reach the potential market. What social media sites do they use? Are there niche online forums dealing with this problem? Is the market geographically limited, and if so would local print media or radio be effective?
All of this research takes a lot of time to do correctly. If a product development team fails to do it right, it could lead to a range of different disasters. Lawsuits could be the result of a defective product or a failure to thoroughly check web accessible intellectual property data to make sure the product does not infringe on an existing registered patent. But if the effort is put into solid research, the end result can be a successful product.