Product development

Product development is the process of strategizing, brainstorming, planning, building, and releasing a product to market and then measuring its success. It encompasses taking a product idea from concept to delivery and beyond — so you can grow your business and make customers happy.

Whether you are delivering a brand new offering or enhancing an existing product, the product development cycle begins long before anything gets built. Traditionally, product development was equated with the build phase of the product lifecycle.

For teams following strict waterfall processes, requirements were defined upfront and implemented in sequential phases. Most product teams now embrace a more iterative approach based on agile methodologies. Customer feedback is incorporated early and often, work is released incrementally, and change is expected and welcome. Methodologies aside, product development today is about much more than "how" a product is built. It is the "why," "what," and "when" — involving cross-functional work from product management and engineering all the way to product marketing. Your goal is to work together to build, launch, and refine a product that customers love.

Product development process
Product managers guide the success of the product. You set product strategy, build the roadmap, and define product features. And you sit at the center of the cross-functional product team — folks across the organization who contribute to planning, building, and delivering the product. This typically means representatives from product, engineering, innovation, product marketing, and operations.

Every organization defines its product development team differently depending on the product, customers, and industry. The product team is often made up of people actively involved in one or more stages of product development. They also collaborate with people from other teams who participate in the product's success as well — think customer success, sales, finance, and legal. Everyone in a product-led organization plays an important role in understanding customers and delivering a Complete Product Experience (CPE).