A Better Way for Small Companies to Develop Products

Finish Line PDSProduct Development Services

The Product Development Process

Steve Owens 30+ Years of product development experience 25+ Patents 4 Technology start-ups Founder of Finish Line PDS

Finish Line PDS Develops technology products for small companies and start-ups Lower Development Cost / Faster Time to Market / Higher ROI Since 2002 More than 1,000 Projects More than 200 Customers Mechanical / Electrical / Firmware / Software

This Presentation Brought to You By:

Product: What the customer buys

Development: Growing the product vision

Process: A step-by-step series of activities that have a defined method

The goal of product development is to generate a positive return on investment.

Product Development Process

Fired for being “Incompetent” Deep thinker Obsessive compulsive disorder Not a technologist, but process

oriented Largely an incrementalist Only the best

What Makes a Good Product Developer?

Steve Jobs

Product Development Myths

Product development is all about technology

I just need a prototype

Everyone will steal my idea

My uncle is an engineer, he can design the product at night

I will outsource my product development to the lowest bidder

I will get funding from venture capitalists, angels, kickstarter etc.

Everyone will buy my product

First to market wins

Truths About Product Development

You must have a realistic schedule

You must have a realistic budget

No one will steal your idea

99% of all engineers are not trained in product

development

Amateurs will cost you a lot of money and time

Most ideas/companies are not fundable

Finding out if someone will buy your product costs

money

Best to market wins

Product Development is Difficult

Source: “New Product Development: Process Benchmarks & Performance Metrics” – Scott J. Edgett Ph.D. – 2011

Top Performers Bottom Performers0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70 62

45

% of Projects with + ROI

“If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got”

Anonymous

If you’re unhappy with your Product Development, change it.

Change = a different way, a different Process

A Proven, yet adaptable methodology – from concept through production

The Finish Line PDS Process

23

4

Requirements Document

Conceptual Design

Detailed Design

Design Verification Testing

1

5 Pilot Production

Requirements

Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?

That depends a great deal on where you want to get to

I don’t much care where…

Then it doesn’t matter which way you go

So long as I get SOMEWHERE

Oh, you’re sure to do that, if you only walk long enough.

If You Don’t Know Where You’re Going…

A Requirements Document Defines Where You are Going

A Requirements Document is Essential

It defines the goal

It provides a vision for the product

It quantifies that vision

It helps to provide clarity of the vision

It forces an understood vision

Types of Requirements Documents

Marketing Requirements Document

Product Requirements Document

Requirements Analysis (Now called Customer Validation)

Technical Requirements Document

Some Things Defined in a Requirements Document

Development budget

Unit manufacturing cost

Compliance: FCC, UL, CE, Standards,

etc.

Functional

Environmental

Design verification testing

Anything that, if not met, means you

will not have a positive return on

investment

Tips for Generating a Requirements Document

Define a budget for the requirements

Set a date that it will be completed

Force everyone to contribute

Use a template

Use a checklist

Formal sign-off:

Engineering / Marketing / Production /

Operations

Controlled document

Decide to Kill / Pivot / Continue

Conceptual Design

What is Conceptual Design?

Conceptual Design is the Process of determining the design concept that satisfies the

requirements best.

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”

William Shakespeare

Why is Conceptual Design Important?

Best to Market Wins…Not First to Market

Ever hear of MPMan?

How about Diamond Rio?

HanGo?

iAudio?

Archos?

Maybe you have heard of the iPod?

Procedure for Conceptual Design

Sort requirements into “defining” and “un-

defining”

Weigh the defining requirements

Develop multiple concepts

Rank concepts against requirements

Highest number wins

What does a Conceptual Design look like?

Requirements Weight Concept # 1 Concept # 2 Concept # 3 Concept # 4Req #1 100 100 100 80 100Req #2 100 60 70 50 40Req #3 75 20 30 35 100Req #4 60 70 60 100 90Req #5 40 100 100 80 60Req #6 20 70 70 70 100Req #7 20 50 75 60 80

TOTAL 28,100 29,750 27,425 32,900

Detail Design

Detail Design Tips

Find reference designs/designers

License other peoples’ technology

Take technology projects off-line

Make a drawing tree

Have design reviews – lots of them

Drawing Tree

Design Verification Testing

Must prove that design meets each

requirement

Proof by testing or analysis; test is better

There are methods for reliability testing –

Life Span & Mean Time Between Failures

Not all compliance testing labs are equal

Never use same engineers for design and

testing

Pilot Production

Start at detail design

Pick a contract manufacturer and make

a long-term relationship

Pick a quality plan

Keep engineers involved

Pay attention to red flags

Root cause & corrective action

Summary

Ideas are worthless without execution

Best to market wins; first to market means

nothing

You get what you pay for

You will fail if you don’t follow a process

It will take a lot longer than you think

It will cost a lot more than you think

Focus on long-term relationships

• Top 10 Reasons Why Product Development

Projects Fail

• Invention Versus Engineering

• Keys to Successful Product Development

• What Every Contract Manufacturer Should

Know About Product Development

• Why Product Development is Different in a

Lean Start-up

Our White Papers

http://www.finishlinepds.com/documents.php

Thank you!