Product development cycle – basic assumptions and objectives

There are typically four stages of product development. The above term refers to the length of time a product is marketed to consumers until it is removed from the shelves. The product development cycle is broken down into stages: introduction, testing, deployment, and scaling. These steps are developed according to the lean startup methodology. The ideas used in the lean startup methodology are contrary to the standards long used in the traditional startup approach. Entrepreneurs who use the methodology during the product development cycle usually start by looking for a suitable business model and eventually testing the idea they have.The feedback you get from customers is then used to iterate the product and improve it.

Prototype and MVP

The cycle begins by creating a minimum viable product, which refers to a service or product that has enough features to satisfy customers. Prototypes and MVPs allow you to test the theory that your product can succeed in the marketplace. Remember that an MVP should not be delivered to all your customers. Instead, you should select a small subset of customers from different demographics who can benefit from your product. A prototype, on the other hand, allows you to verify the basic premise of your product with minimal cost and effort. The minimum viable product (MVP) will be the first version of your product, presented early to customers to help you test the product with real users and get valuable feedback for further improvements or returns. The MVP will also help you decide what to test and how to validate your business idea. Once you have created your MVP, the next step in the process is to make it available to a small group of your target audience. If these people don’t like the product you release, it will be very difficult for you to gain a lasting customer base. By testing, you can save a lot of capital, which later is better spent on scaling rather than getting rid of unnecessary bugs in the app.

Product market fit

This is the stage where you test, analyze and iterate the product in cycles to get a perfect market fit. When a product is successfully launched in the market, the demand increases and thus the popularity of the product increases. It’s not enough to measure the effects of the product you receive and get feedback from your first customers. If you want to eventually create a product or service that is ready for market, it is important to learn from the data and feedback you receive. Sometimes the various pieces of feedback you receive may not lead to a successful product. This means that you need to make the best use of this feedback to determine which aspects of your product don’t work and which may need to be refined. If you can effectively learn from product test results, you should be able to develop a product that meets the needs of your dream customer. Markets and trends change, which means your product will need to adapt accordingly to stay in a high market position. What’s more, you may be expanding your application or opening up to new clinicians, and that also means working to align your product with the market.

What is the importance of scaling an application during the product development cycle?

Scalability is another way of checking how an application copes with the growing number of users. A scalable application is one that works well when it has a few or thousands of users at low or high traffic. Once you have verified your product hypothesis and found product-market fit, it is time to scale up and build a product that can grow with your users. Who takes care of this stage? This is where the development team comes into play to develop a refactoring plan and build a scalable and secure system. They will also help you configure your company’s processes that will allow your company and product to be sustainable in the future. Being successful in the mobile app industry is not easy. It all requires a lot of work before and after the product launch. Scaling your product to market is one of the many tools that will give you a chance to be a huge success. Remember that experimentation is always preferred in this approach rather than sticking to a strict plan, which as you have already managed to notice is a relic.