Or Famous Blogs

What Are Stages Of Concept Development?

Published Wed Feb 23

Concept development is the stage of product development that comes after the idea generation and before turning into a blueprint. It is also referred to as product development. It encompasses the designing of the idea with the analysis of alternatives. With the objective of the analysis, concept development helps companies to deliver a concept that meets the needs of both customers and the company. The development process of the concept is initiated by keeping in mind the needs of customers as well as the objectives of the product.

The stages of concept development may vary depending on the product itself and the company. There are many steps in concept development that may be excluded or included depending on the outcomes and the needs of the company.

Here are the six main stages of concept development:

1. Identifying customer needs – In the first stage of concept development, the focus is on the identification of customer needs. A detailed description is chalked out about the idea, how it gives benefit to the customer, what is the advantage of the idea for the customer, and does it fulfill the requirement of needs. The list of hurdles encountered primarily by the company is also prepared in this stage.
2. Understand your customer – When customer needs are listed down, then the next stage in concept development is to understand the customer. It is crucial to keep in mind the profile of the customer during the entire phase of concept development. A potential buyer has a great influence on product development. It could have happened that we need to amend things in the product with respect to the buyer. Another important thing is to consider different types of your target audience if your product is targeting more than one category of customers. A product should be made in such a way that it will cater to all the different customers’ profiles. If this is not possible, then a product should be made in a way that it can customize accordingly.
3. Establishing the value proposition – One of the most essential elements in concept development is creating a value proposition. It explains how the product gives benefit to the customer and addresses their needs. There are different tools available that tell you about the value proposition, hurdles faced by the customers, and planning for the product development. The focus in this stage is how the product offering advantages can be converted into benefits so that customers value it.
4. Concept Development Planning – The next stage is the planning for the concept development. The product development team will list down the schedule. This stage includes the development schedule, planning of resources and budgets, agreements and developing different strategies.
5. Competitors analysis – This stage is to understand the competitors, what the industry is doing and your competitive product. Sometimes, your product may be first of its own kind and there is no competition, but usually competition is there. It is important to understand your competitive product in order to get what is lacking in their product, and the unmet needs it is not fulfilling. It is important to analyze those unmet needs and develop your concept accordingly to address those requirements and needs.
6. Prototype creation – The last stage in concept development is the creation of a prototype. The prototype will refine and validate the functionality of your design, so that your concept releases the right product. Through prototyping, you can check how your experimental model matches with the users’ needs and wants by getting their feedback.

What Is The Importance Of Concept?

Companies develop concepts to walk with the strong competition in the market. In developing the concept, companies have a new product to rely on for their existence when competition is too high. For lasting success and existence, innovation is necessary. No matter how your present product is successful in the market, every product has a stage of decline. Therefore, it is important to have a new product in the line. Moreover, companies need to fulfill the ever changing needs of the customers. So, it is important to have a concept for a new product that matches the taste and needs that customer changes timely.

What Is The Purpose Of Concept Development?

The purpose of concept development are as follows:

• Provide new value to customers
• Improved Society
• Continued existence

Provide new value to customers – The first purpose of any concept development is to provide new values to your customer. Otherwise, the customer will not spend their money on any new product. The customer will flock for the products that give them an overwhelming value proposition.

Improved Society – Today’s customers are more inclined to the betterment of society. A new product with sustainable benefits for society attracts more customers. Such sustainable products will offer new values to society and generate value for the companies.

Continued Existence – Companies who want to survive need to grow and improve. Having new ideas and concepts and developing them into products or services is essential to go from survival to thriving.

Return to Main Blog Page >