Prototype to Product

Preface

Product development is the magic that turns circuitry, software, and materials into a product. The word magic here is not used by accident; for most folks who design and develop technology as a hobby or even professionally, creating new products is unknown territory—or magic—as far as they are concerned.

This book’s goal is to help the reader to gain a better understanding of the “stuff” that happens along the way when great ideas metamorphose into great products—in particular, intelligent products with embedded electronics and software—and to supply strategies and tactics to make that “stuff” go more smoothly.

Creating an intelligent product is complex. It’s much more than developing some circuits and software, plopping ’em into a case, and hanging out a “for sale” sign. Numerous activities must be performed to turn components and cool prototypes into a desirable, usable, reliable, manufacturable, and salable product.

In part because of the complexity, new product development is a risky undertaking. According to Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen, 95% of new products fail. A number of factors play into this high rate, but I’ve experienced firsthand that many or most new product failures stem from failures in the product development process.

For example, notoriously, most product development efforts end up being late and over budget—often by substantial amounts of 25% or more. Even a 100% overrun is not unusual. Sometimes overruns are caused by simply not ...