NPI: Planning In The Innovation Funnel | Sockets and Lightbulbs

At the beginning of the innovation funnel, concept development is the most creative and exciting stage of new product development.  As discussed in one of my early blog posts, it is critical to have an understanding of what the product will be before rushing off and trying to build it.  But what do you do once you have a concept for your product?  The next stage is the first step in bringing your ideas to market: design and planning.

If you have been following this blog for a while, you know I am enthusiastic about Agile project management techniques.  It may seem that a defined design and planning stage at the beginning of a project is anti-Agile.  It isn’t.  If you use Scrum or any other Agile technique, you know how important it is to have a prioritized Product Backlog.  This is the stage in which that happens.

Why is planning in the innovation funnel so important?  It is in this stage that you:

If you do not take the time to do these things early in the project, you will constantly be playing catch-up with your Backlog prioritization and Release Planning, rather than just adapting to normal changes that happen in development.  It will also be very difficult to keep the team aligned with the vision and the product’s definition of done if you are only able to plan ahead a sprint or two.  Starting full development without completing this stage is a recipe for unnecessary stress and failure.

To make the most out of the design and planning stage, you need to have the following:

How do you start a new product development or an innovation project?  What planning do you do before starting full development?  I would love to read your experiences or questions in the comments.