STAGE, PHASE, AND GATE METHODOLOGY

Time-to-Profit's methodology divides the phase and gate life cycle into four stages:

• INCUBATION STAGE
  • Idea Capture
  • Idea Incubation
  • Product Conceptualization
  • Preliminary Investigation
  • Detailed Investigation
  • Preliminary Development

At the moment a new product idea crystallizes in the mind of an individual or team, a process must be in place for recording the dimensions of the idea and preserving that information in a form that is accessible to others. Among the information to be captured are descriptions of the following:

• the customer environment in which the new idea will be useful,
• the value the new product will deliver to the customer,
• product features and functions,
• technologies that will be used in the product,
• similarities with existing products, and
• differences from existing products.

During the incubation stage, all of the phases are intended to nurture the fledgling new product idea until it has gained sufficient strength to compete with other product ideas in the arena of competitive product elaboration. Participation of each of the Ten-P Paradigm™ sources of value are elective (E), mandatory (M), or prohibited (P) in each of the phases.

• ELABORATION STAGE
  • Alpha Product Development
  • Alpha Production
  • Testing & Validation
  • Test Marketing

When a development project enters the elaboration stage, expenses go up. The most critical of the uncertainties should have been dealt with during the incubation phase but many serious uncertainties remain. Each phase in this stage is designed to reduce those uncertainties and move the new product closer to its first exposure to customers.

Participation of each of the Ten-P Paradigm™ sources of value are elective (E), mandatory (M), or prohibited (P) in each of the phases.

• ADAPTATION STAGE
  • Design Modification
  • Beta Product Development
  • Production
  • Testing & Validation
  • Marketing

Having created a new product, the drive to profitability can begin in earnest. There are three ways to leverage a new product to earn increased revenue:

1. Enhance the product to make it more attractive to the target market and win a greater share of that market,
2. Modify the product to appeal to a different, but related market, and
3. Modify the product to appeal to an entirely different market that has similar requirements.

Adaptation can be an iterative stage, repeated for as many market segments as the product can be adapted to profitably.  Participation of each of the Ten-P Paradigm™ sources of value are elective (E), mandatory (M), or prohibited (P) in each of the phases.

• CONTENTION STAGE
  • Delivery & Support
  • Product Discontinuation
  • Project Closeout

Products are profitable because they contend successfully for the limited money that customers can spend. In the marketplace, every other product is a competitor. Wet sponges compete with Pitney-Bowes postage meters. Having the best product at the lowest price just doesn’t cut it for very long. If a company is slow to deliver, provides ineffective customer support, or otherwise abuses its customers, the customers will take their business elsewhere. Companies that believe their product will win customers on its own merits and without continuous service to customers are vulnerable.

Participation of each of the Ten-P Paradigm™ sources of value are elective (E), mandatory (M), or prohibited (P) in each of the phases.