What do you think is the most important stage in a product’s life cycle?
The product life cycle (2021)
Now that you have covered the basics of the product life cycle, complete the following exercise.
Instructions: Determining the most important stage in the cycle
- Reflect on what you think is the most important stage in this cycle.
- Write your answer in the discussion below, and explain why you think your chosen PLC stage is the most important.
- Try to find a real-world example that you can use in answering this. It might be an example from your professional experience or one you’ve found elsewhere.
- Reflect on at least one of comments from random learners below. Do you agree with their response? How do their experiences differ from yours?
Molly Campbell
What comes to mind as the most important stage for me is the decline stage. With the ever changing tech landscape, I feel that apps/websites etc have such a difficult task of staying relevant. Social media apps are what I thought of in this situation. Apps/sites such as Facebook or Instagram are now competing with SnapChat and TikTok, so both have updated their functions to include more video and filters, etc to be relevant in that market. They are trying extremely hard to prevent their decline and become obsolete. I do agree with others that development is very important as well, and the example I gave may have to go back to the development stage in a sense to redesign and update things to meet consumer demands.
Christina Bek Larsen
As it is a cycle, I find it very difficult to point to one stage as the most important one. One stage doesn’t exist without the previous one, I suppose. I think each stage requires something specific from the PM. With competition and evolving needs in mind, I am thinking about the growth stage as being a tricky stage. To keep relevant and ensure your rpoduct is growing seems like a challenge.
Ibukun Oni
I think the “Development stage” is the most important phase because if the right product is not developed to meet the needs of customers, then efforts during the other stages become futile.
I recall developing a digital product, the first assignment of the project team was to ensure that the product met the needs of our customers.
Chibuzo Anazodo
I think the Development stage is the most important because that is where you figure out what fits your consumers needs as well as trends in your industry to adapt or avoid to build a product that will thrive through all stages and still remain relevant after Maturity.
Peter Scheinsohn
I would say introduction, is most important step in the product life cycle. Even, if product was properly developed, but not good enough introduced and advertised or not clear enough introduced for which group it is, it will significantly influence its further growth. However, i also agree that proper development stage and growth stage are also very important, but good start (“introduction”) is vital in my humble opinion.
To me, the most important stage of the Product Life Cycle is the Development stage. It is at this stage that you perfect your design and ensure that it meets the customer demand and satisfaction.
I think the development stage should be an ongoing stage so that corrections and adjustments can be made to the product as it moves along in the product life cycle. I guess this is the reason why newer models of products are released after some time in the market to cater to new demands that might have been discovered during the launch and the release of the earlier model.
I believe the most important stage in the product life cycle is the development stage. Creating the right product that meets customer needs is crucial for success. Without a solid foundation, efforts in other stages may not yield the desired results. For example, in my experience, focusing on developing a digital product that aligned with customer needs ensured that our marketing, growth, and efforts to prevent decline were built on a strong base.
I think the most important stage in a product life cycle is the ” development stage” reasons be that, the development stage is the background study of the product you want to introduce or launch, it is a stage of exploring, making research and getting vital information if it would satisfy customers needs. So if a product manager can successfully figure out all this in the development stage, every other stages will follow and most importantly…will determine if there would be growth or not.
Note: When there’s no proper exploration made on the product in the development stage, the growth of the product is likely to be at stake leading to the decline stage.
Every stage of a product cycle is as important as the other but to my best knowledge I think the development stage is a crucial stage in the sense that the performance or value at launch stage depends on the how much problems or needs of the consumer, the product is able to solve . For a product to do well in a competitive market, The development stage must answer a lot of consumers questions .
To me every stage is important. Each stage has it own functions and a product manager will need this stage for effective product.
I think the most important stage for a product life cycle is the maturity stage: This is the most important one to extend from a financial point of view because this is the period when the product is at its most profitable stage.
Every stage is important in a product life cycle. But I think the Introduction stage is. Reason been it sets the foundation for a product success.Determining the most important stage in the product life cycle depends on various factors, including the product, market dynamics, and business objectives. However, the introduction stage is often considered critical because it sets the foundation for the product’s success.
During the introduction stage, companies establish brand awareness, introduce the product to the market, and capture early consumers. Effective strategies at this stage can pave the way for growth and maturity phases. Additionally, Creativity and Uniqueness during the introduction stage can create a competitive advantage and position the product for long-term success.
As much as I agree that all stages of a product life cycle are important, I think serious attention should be given to the growth stage because as a product is developed and introduced by a company, another is building something similar. If a product’s growth and relevance are not given serious attention, consumers or customers will easily divert to another similar product which gives more satisfaction than the previous. An example is the Blackberry phone. It came with a personalized subscription which allows users not to chat with other Android phones but fellow Blackberry. Various technology companies developed phones that do what Blackberry does and many more without being selfish. Blackberry has now gone into extinction.
In my Opinion the best stage is Development, because you start your project accordingly to the customer’s needs that’s why development is best way and stage to use.
As for me, the introduction stage is the most important stage in PLC. A well successful introduction of a product will determine the acceptance of the product. If the product introduction
Is bad the thriveness of the product will be short live
I agreed with peter Scheinsohn on his position below
I would say introduction, is most important step in the product life cycle. Even, if product was properly developed, but not good enough introduced and advertised or not clear enough introduced for which group it is, it will significantly influence its further growth.