By Victor Elite Ogunbode
In today’s fast paced business environment and modern technologies, every product or software aimed at providing value for customers and becoming successful requires a structured approach. The concept of product and software development lifecycle has long been introduced and used from decades ago, most stakeholders involved in the creation of a software or product are familiar with the concept of product lifecycle however research has shown very few follow this concept or use it in a strategic way.
As a product (or software) manager, it is imperative to understand what stage of the product cycle your product is currently. This will guide you to create the right product vision and to implement the right strategies towards the success of your product. At the core of the development, each stages of the lifecycle is built on the user’s needs and requirements. Identifying each stage of your product lifecycle will also help you implement the right actionable steps for decision making at every stage.
We will explore the key stages of a product development lifecycle, your role as a product manager in each stage and strategies for managing each phase.
The Stages of a Product or Software Development Lifecycle
Ideation and Conceptualization
The first phase of every product or software development is discovery, it all begins with an idea- a solution to a problem that you have identified. As a PM, your role here is to mainly identify problems worth solving and gathering ideas through assessing market demands. Some of the common means you can gather ideas are talking to current, existing or potential customers, talking to teams who interface with customers such as marketing, customer service, sales and organising brainstorming sessions with the target market of your solution. You can also get insights from data and user research and by keeping up to date with trends in the technology space. Another way by which you can gather ideas is to look at competitors or look at similar products in completely different markets. The goal is to ensure that there is a real demand for the product before investing heavily in development.
Design and Prototyping:
The next phase of a product or software development lifecycle is the design phase, this is the first phase of bringing the project to life. It’s a visual approach towards translating and implementing the research and solutions into design concepts. As a PM, your role is to collaborate with the UI/UX designer to create mockups, wireframes and user interface designs while putting user experience at the core. You also conduct usability tests with different techniques and incorporate the feedbacks into the final product.
Development and Implementation:
This is the core stage of the product development lifecycle. It involves the actual implementation and construction of the product based on the design and PRD. While you are not involved in coding the product, your role as a product manage is to coordinate team efforts and implement cross-collaboration techniques to achieve your desired goals. You will work with both designers, engineers and quality assurance testers to make sure the product requirements are achieved. You are also required to manage timeline ensuring the engineers deliver within timeframes and accountability while managing expected risks and highlighting mitigation strategies. One of the most important skill you will use in this phase of development is COMMUNICATION, you are responsible for constantly communicating with all stakeholders including managers, users and cross-functional team members while documenting feedbacks for proper use.
Managing a product through its lifecycle is a dynamic and strategic process that requires foresight and adaptability. In my next article, we will explore the other stages of product development ranging from launching to post-launching activities.
Read Victor “Elite” Ogunbode’s profile here.
