What Are the 7 Phases of Product Growth?

The seven levels of product growth are:

Requirement gathering and evaluation
Prioritization and roadmap
Design and prototyping
Growth
Testing
MVP launch
Upkeep and iteration

1. Requirement Gathering and Evaluation

Within the first stage of the product growth cycle, the necessities are reviewed and analyzed to find out product imaginative and prescient, outline product targets and establish the features and options that the product should present.

2. Prioritization and Roadmap

As soon as we perceive the product purpose and imaginative and prescient and checklist all of the options, the subsequent step is to prioritize the options into must-have, should-have and nice-to-have classes and create a product backlog. Primarily based on these priorities, outline your minimal viable product (MVP) and construct a product roadmap with timelines and milestones.

3. Design and Prototyping

The purpose at this stage is to get a transparent understanding of how the product goes to look and performance. Making a prototype with the identical feel and appear will help stakeholders higher envision the ultimate product.

4. Growth

That is the section the place the product is definitely created and dropped at life. It includes constructing and testing the product to make sure it meets high quality requirements. To remain on high of product efficiency, hold constructing and releasing small, iterative updates to the product over time.

5. Testing

On this stage of the product growth cycle, the product is finish to finish examined to make sure that it meets the necessities and features accurately. This contains testing for features, usability, and safety.

6.  MVP Launch

Your MVP is one thing between a prototype and a completed product, which lets you ship one thing of worth to your clients. It’s a model of your product that means that you can collect suggestions and proceed tweaking.

7. Upkeep and Iteration

On this final stage, the purpose is to keep up and enhance product efficiency by figuring out and resolving defects — and, in parallel, begin planning for extra options and functionalities that weren’t included within the MVP.

Product Growth Lifecycle Milestones

Milestones are much like product growth lifecycle levels, however they particularly signify achievements reached in your journey in direction of constructing a profitable product. This can be a easy however efficient method to consider your product growth cycle milestones:

Concept era
Idea design
Implementation
Product launch
Product progress
1. Concept Technology

The primary milestone in product growth is figuring out a necessity and developing with an thought to satisfy that want. One of the simplest ways to do that is to grasp your potential clients’ ache factors and unmet wants.

An instance of a product constructed out of want is Uber. There have been very particular wants that weren’t being met by conventional taxis or automobile companies, and it prompted a variety of issues for individuals who relied on these types of transportation. Uber disrupted these industries and met these wants with an on-demand ride-hailing app.

2. Idea Design

You attain the subsequent milestone if you refine your thought into a transparent and concise product idea. This course of can contain creating an in depth product specification and figuring out potential dangers, prices and advantages. To design your idea, comply with these steps:

Create an issue assertion
Outline high-level acceptance standards
Decide if it’s a brand new product, new function or enchancment in present performance
Create a product roadmap

3. Implementation

The subsequent milestone within the product growth lifecycle comes when the product is definitely developed and dropped at life. After the important thing questions are answered and design prototyping is completed, it’s time to begin implementing the designs, structure and construction that you just outlined as your acceptance standards. It is usually essential to proceed testing the construct to make sure the product meets high quality requirements.

4. Product Launch

To completely carry your thought to life, launch it to market by implementing the go-to-market (GTM) methods you have got developed alongside the product.

5. Product Progress

As you acquire traction out there, you’ll proceed to refine and iterate in your product based mostly on buyer suggestions. Upon getting discovered product market match and established a repeatable GTM movement, think about increasing the product line or exploring new markets.

For an instance of an organization’s profitable actions within the product progress stage, take a look at Meta’s Instagram. Instagram initially discovered success as a platform for customers to share pictures and movies, then expanded to vertical movies known as Reels. Instagram modified its algorithm to floor extra Reels in customers’ feeds, and plenty of content material creators, influencers and types discovered that they earned extra views and better engagement charges by posting Reels. Because of this, Instagram additional grew its consumer base.

What Are the 4 Sorts of Product Growth?

The 4 varieties of product growth are:

New product growth
New function growth
Enhancement to current function
Rebranding

All of those varieties ought to roughly comply with the identical product growth lifecycle and have the identical milestones.

1. New Product Growth

New product growth includes making a product from scratch and bringing it to market. As mentioned above, Uber is an instance of a brand new product that was developed to unravel buyer issues with current options.

2. New Function Growth

New function growth is the addition of main new performance to an current product. You may’t simply construct your product after which be accomplished; it’s essential to plan for expanded performance so you possibly can keep on high of customers’ preferences. As talked about earlier, Instagram Reels is an ideal instance of this product growth kind.

3. Enhancement to Present Function

This includes improving current performance. These could occur behind the scenes, similar to with efficiency and safety upgrades, or they could be extra obvious to customers, like the choice to make your profile non-public on Fb.

4. Rebranding

Rebranding means a lot greater than only a new font or icon. It includes fully repurposing your product or function to focus on new markets or meet new buyer wants.

The Keys to a Profitable Product Growth Cycle

The inspiration of a profitable product is predicated upon a robust relationship between the enterprise and the product workforce. A deep understanding of buyer wants, a transparent worth proposition, high quality growth, efficient advertising, buyer help and steady enchancment should all be a part of your product growth lifecycle.

The journey from thought to product may be time-consuming and difficult, however with strategic planning, group, persistence, laborious work and a willingness to study and adapt, you possibly can flip your thought right into a profitable product.