Introduction

The ability to develop a product from scratch is the cornerstone of any digital agency that’s worth its salt.

Nonetheless, the fast-paced environment of the digital market makes it almost impossible for CEOs to be able to determine what are the next big trends in product development and how their businesses need to learn from them to adapt to the future, learn new tricks, and continue generating revenue.

Wondering about what are the 5 product development trends that will allow companies to be ready to steer the next 5 years?

Then it’s time to read this article and learn about new product development ideas!

What is Product Development?

Before getting to know which are the next big product development trends, it’s important to take a step back and analyze what product development is all about.

Product development is the creation or the improvement of products with different characteristics that offer added value to the end users.

Product development might involve the modification of one or several products or the creation of a wholly new product that can satisfy the demand of the target audience.

This process includes an array of different steps, including design, development, conceptualization, and the competent marketing of services.

The aim of product development is straightforward: to increase the market share of a specific business by satisfying the demand of consumers all over the world.

Product development requires a systematic approach to guide the different processes that developers must go through in order to make sure a new or improved product enters the market.

Now that you know what product development is all about, it’s time to get to know what are the 5 product development trends to master in order to get ready for the near future!

5 Product Development Trends

1. Distributed Teams

It seems obvious that teams are changing.

Whereas in the past a team stayed in the same building, working together, establishing a connection and forming a bond, nowadays the paradigm has shifted.

In fact, there are new product development models coming about every single day, and the main trend seems to be to follow the talent.

It’s becoming increasingly more common to see one company create a hardware team in one specific location and a software team in another completely different one.

Across so many different locations - and even time zones - the processes of product development will become ever more trying for CTOs and technical teams.

This means the trend of distributed teams will have to be accompanied by highly-advanced collaboration tools that can bring teams and data closer together.

2. Data

Data Science and Big Data have become part of the product developer’s lexicon.

Data is everywhere and everything, since any company that wants to be successful in the next 5 years will need the right data gathering strategy.

Indeed, today’s connected products are filled with GPS location, microphones, sensors, different cameras, etc.

Both the data gathered from these sensors and the software that is needed to actually analyze the data are going to be key ingredients to develop products which perceive customer experience as a top priority.

Moreover, the wealth of data now available will also impact product development software in a different way: the data can help product developers learn more about product usage, which will help developers correct minor issues and design better products.

Even though data will play an important role in the future of product development, a new product will have to be created to store the huge amount of data that will supercharge the investments of the future.

3. Outsourcing

For some, outsourcing product development services will always have a bad reputation.

However, it seems to be one of the most important trends in product development.

The negative ideas of poor functionality and failed deadlines are long gone since companies now know full well that - in order to stay competitive - they need to outsource.

The benefits of outsourcing product development are clear, which means corporations are now ready to embrace a once-maligned business practice.

Indeed, a lot of companies are now outsourcing product design and outsourcing application development so as to help speed up the evolution of their products.

Businesses are now fully aware that they don’t have the resources needed to take care of all the different aspects of product development, which includes design analysis, product design, prototyping, documentation, and manufacturing.

Companies which fail to explore software product development outsourcing will lag behind, something which can have a seriously negative impact as the market becomes ever more competitive and globalized. 

4. Product Evolution

Some years ago, all that mattered was to develop the perfect product.

Teams would spend months developing, working hard to craft a solution so perfect it could be used by several generations.

Those days are over.

Now, companies must be ready to adapt every single day, understand the predictive evolution of products, and create products that bear both their current and future functionalities in mind.

It’s not enough to come up with a product that does only one thing: it’s crucial to take product evolution into account, creating a product that can evolve and be used by an increasingly challenging number of demanding customers who want products to be able to change and adapt in time.

The failure to adapt is the bane of any business.

The failure to create a product that takes product evolution into account is a huge mistake that must be avoided.

That’s why product evolution and the ability to predict what users will need from a specific product is vital in a modern product development process.

In fact, a thorough understanding of the product evolution process is essential in order for corporations to keep the product fresh, dynamic, and widely used in the future.

5. Predictive Product Development

Predictive Product Development seems to be the most crucial trend around and it promises to sweep the world.

It will bring about a logical extension that will deliver actionable digital transformation for all product teams.

Predictive Product Development is basically the idea of changing the DNA of product development.

In fact, instead of being the reactive and prescriptive discipline we have come to know, Predictive Product Development will allow the game to change.

It will become totally predictive by taking full advantage of connected products, redefining innovation processes, and helping teams build smarter solutions.

This means the cycle of transformation will be finally complete by allowing teams to be able to know the potential risks of specific solutions.

What should business leaders do to make sure their team reaches the realm of Predictive Product Development? First and foremost, they need to craft a broad perception of the life cycle of product development.

This means they must make sure their view of product development takes both the digital transformation and process coverage into consideration.

Then, they must be able to use analytical data to change the behavior of individual team members, making sure they galvanize the fundamental impetus of strategic definition and confident action.

They should also deliver a file of best practices to their team, ensuring that both methods and tools are completely aligned, therefore increasing success rates.

Last but not least, they have to provide benchmarks so as to create a systematic approach to improvement and be able to drive growth.

It is about time for organizations to be straightforward with their teams and raise the stakes to fully realize Predictive Product Development, supercharging overall revenues by taking full advantage of the wealth of data they have at their disposal, therefore gaining a new edge and a real competitive advantage.

Conclusion

From outsourcing to Predictive Product Development, the importance of analyzing concrete data and the profitable ideal of distributed teams, the future looks promising for innovative ideas that can improve the roles and tasks of product developers all over the world.

Now, the moment for forward-thinking leaders is at hand.

In this watershed, there will be those who lag behind, failing to adapt to new ideas and tools.

Nonetheless, those who are able to effectively put new trends into practice in their business will ultimately reap the rewards and become the product development tycoons of the future.