Presenting a brief explanation of the evolution of product development to the Electrical Engineering students at Boise State University

2.  Tom Jensen:
 Heads the Embedded Systems team at SGW Designworks
 Ryan Gray:
 Co-founder, Managing Partner at SGW Designworks
 We are going to talk about Product Development.Why?
 Because it is Awesome and Exciting
 Matters to mature businesses – and startups

3.  Product Development focuses on creating feature sets in
products, with the intent of releasing to the marketplace. Market
considerations are a main driver.
 Contrast that with Basic Research or Applied Research, in which
discovery targets are very broad. Market considerations are of
little influence.
 ECE Grads may find work in either area – both are valuable.
 SGW Designworks focuses on Product Development

5.  Utilizes beneficial technologies in unique new ways
 Exists to help other companies develop new products
 The SGW team provides:
 World class development capabilities - Engineers and
Designers
 Reduction of development risk and development waste for
client companies (more in later slides)

6. 1. When an actual market need or problem is identified, and the business feels they are in a
position to market a solution
2. When a core technology comes out of R&D that the business feels well-positioned to
market
3. When a business feels pressure from competitive offerings or market disruption
4. When competition drives price (and margin) low enough that a lower-cost product must
be brought to market (CAUTION!!! Price War! Race to the Bottom!!)
What is in common with all of the above?The word “Market”. New Product
Development is where Marketing and Engineering converge.

7. Source: Geoffrey Moore

8. 1. No market research on the product or the market research
has been done.
2. Most of budget used to create the product; little left for
launching, marketing, selling.
3. The product is interesting but lacks a precise market. (A
Solution looking for a Problem)

9.  “IfWe Build It,TheyWill Come”
 Not validating that user is willing to pay for the feature set
 Feature set is based entirely on internal assumptions of value (Myopia)
 “Where is your lens?” (Empathy = customer’s viewpoint)
 Result:Wasted Effort,Wasted $
 Examples

10.  Stage Gate – How itWorks
 Serial Development
 Big, ambitions milestones (expensive)
 Well defined sets of tasks / inputs
 RIGID adherence to process
 Mindset that mischaracterizes failure
 Outcomes
 Teams penalized for killing or pivoting projects
 Huge investments in failed products
 Frequent failure to launch: corporate profit thresholds
 Cultural / organizational repercussions: risk aversion
 WASTE

11.  Apply Lean Principles to Development
 Lean (from Lean Manufacturing) focuses on the systematic identification and elimination of
waste in a process
 What is consideredWaste in Lean Development: Commercial failure, or failure to launch.
 All value has been added = costly (elaborate)
 Apply “User Lens” Early and Often in Development
 Be able to answer: “Why would anybody think about buying this product?”
 Ensure that users are willing to pay for the product (feature set) being developed
 “Are the dogs eating the dogfood?”
 Rapid Cycles of Learning
 Use agile teams and new tech to quickly Build / Test / Learn

12.  Three Rapid Cycles of Learning for
Validation of:
 Use Model: Does the conceptual feature
set address the user need?
 Function: Does the product deliver the
feature functions intended?
 Manufacturability: Is the design
compatible with manufacturing
processes in the target volumes?
 Cycle may repeat within each category
 Development steps and outputs for
this cycle vary between categories
Build
Test
Learn Idea
ProtoTest

13. Build: “MVP”,
incorporating full
or partial feature
set
Test: Review by
actual users
Learn: From user
response, what
features should be
changed?
Build: Develop
Virtual or Physical
prototypes for
functional testing
Test:Actual
functionality vs
intended
Learn:Testing
results as input to
design iteration
Build: Develop
optimized
manufacturing
package for
functionally
validated design
Test: Engage
manufacturing
resources for final
design input
Learn: Apply design
changes based on
manufacturer
feedback
Lean Startup Development Focuses on Validation of:
Concept
MVPFeedback
Designs
PrototypeTests
Optimized
Designs
MFG
Package
Feedback
Use Model Function Manufacture-ability

14.  Lean principles applied to development result in:
 Rapid Cycles of Learning = Lots of Prototypes!
 Rapid Cycles of Learning = Lots ofTesting!
 Rapid Cycles of Learning = Fail Fast / Fail Cheap / Fail Often!
 Minimized Development Waste

15.  Better and cheaper additive manufacturing to drive even faster cycles of
learning – faster user feedback!
 Increasing acceptance of funding / pre-sales tools like Kickstarter allows
for low risk market test (faster cycles)
 Decreasing barriers to innovation in small companies and startups:
development in environments free from corporate constraints
 Global collaboration on design and development is increasingly efficient

16.  High impact members of development teams have the
following characteristics:
 Talented and Self Driven individuals
 Learners – Risk takers (calculated risk – as opposed to irresponsible)
 Team collaborators
 Empathetic to users
 Versatility – ability to learn disparate subject matter
 Experimental, willing to try, fail, re-try

17.  Lean applies not only to MFG, but to Development
 Minimize DevelopmentWaste with Rapid Cycles of Learning
 FindWays to Speed Up Cycles of Learning even more!
 Questions?