170 Reading: Generating and Screening Ideas
Introduction
The first phase of the new product development process is creating a viable product concept that can move through the development phase. This phase includes the following:
- Stage 1: Generating New Product Ideas
- Stage 2: Screening Product Ideas
- Stage 3: Concept Development and Testing
This early phase of the process differs from later phases in several ways. First, it requires immense creativity. Each of the later phases focuses on screening out ideas, but this is a generative stage whose goal is the production of new ideas. Second, the early phase of the process is difficult to plan and manage. On what day will the innovative product idea emerge? That can’t be planned or scheduled.
The Fuzzy Front End
Researcher Peter Koen refers to this first phase as the Fuzzy Front End (FFE) of the product development process. In his work, he has identified a number of characteristics that differentiate the FFE from later phases of product development. These are shown in the table below.
Difference Between the Fuzzy Front End and the New-Product Development Process[1]
| Fuzzy Front End (FFE) | New-Product Development (NPD) | |
|---|---|---|
| Nature of Work | Experimental, often chaotic. “Eureka” moments. | Can schedule work—but not invention. Disciplined and goal-oriented with a project plan. |
| Commercialization Date | Unpredictable or uncertain. | High degree of certainty. |
| Funding | Variable—in the beginning phases many projects may be “bootlegged,” while others will need funding to proceed. | Budgeted. |
| Revenue Expectations | Often uncertain, with a great deal of speculation. | Predictable, with increasing certainty, analysis, and documentation as the product release date gets closer. |
| Activity | Individuals and team conducting research to minimize risk and optimize potential. | Multifunction product and/or process development team. |
| Measures of Progress | Strengthened concepts. | Milestone achievement. |
As the product concept moves through the stages of the product development process, everything will become more refined and more certain. The timeline, the budget, and the performance expectations will all become more concrete, but in the early phase, it is important to allow for the ambiguity that supports creativity.
Creating Successful Product Concepts
How can businesses influence the success of the new business idea? Koen suggests a number of factors that play a role: the corporation’s organizational capabilities, customer and competitor influences, the outside world’s influences, and the depth and strength of enabling sciences and technology.[2]
Organizational Capabilities
You may have noticed that some companies are able to launch one dominant product after another. Other companies struggle to create any products that compete well or have one amazing product and then disappear. Companies develop processes to manage new products, hire leaders to manage new-product development