In the first stage of the product development process, we start by identifying true customer needs. These needs can range from minor inconveniences to major pain points for many customers. To understand the scope of the need, gathering metrics, market research and competitor business analysis data are crucial for honing your market strategy and informing your value proposition. To ensure that solutions are optimized for your business goals and target market, we are careful to ask important questions.
This research will greatly influence both your marketing strategy and overall product development strategy, and identify existing products that will be competition, helping you find your niche with a successful product, and excel in commercialization.
For the next stage, it’s time to think both broadly and creatively … letting ideas fly in Brainstorming and Ideation. In this phase, we begin by bringing the development team together for the purpose of divergent thinking and idea generation. Slingshot’s diverse team of engineers, designers, scientists, and strategists work closely with the client’s development team to review market research, identify product success criteria, talk to the right people, and understand who the stakeholders are and what can and can’t change within the company. Success criteria can include factors like relevancy to your target market, manufacturing cost, speed to market, and more. These initial preparations ensure meaningful discussions and ideas are generated. By the day’s end, a typical brainstorming session will have produced perhaps a dozen interesting ideas for further exploration.
“I have to say that I’m impressed…[Slingshot] reviewed all the background information efficiently, zero’d in all the relevant research, created a great research summary, and drafted a correlation protocol that was exactly what we needed.”
“Slingshot has shown me just how much complexity is involved in taking a new paper product from the laboratory to pilot production. I’m incredibly impressed with the Science & Technology team – they really know how to plan and execute a manufacturing trial.”
“It was a pleasure working with your team and I’ll look forward to working with all of you in the future!"
