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, I will say that the most important stage of the product life cycle is the “Maturity Stage” because this is a useful stage where the product manager can extract the data and learn from the mistakes.
For example, when you notice that, the product sales are beginning to slow down, what you are to do as a product manager is to strategize and bring in innovation, then redesign the product to serve the needs of your audience better.
Take, for instance, the company that produces carpets, when they noticed that the product demands were low and it was becoming outdated, what they did was to strategize and redesign to sand and wooden tiles to serve their customers better.
Finally, I also agree with the development stage which is the starting point because that’s where all the work and collective efforts focus.
Unfortunately, I believe that no matter what, there should be new ideas after the product has been outdated and that’s where the innovation and redesign come into play.
I would say ‘Development stage’. Creating a product without doing a proper survey would lead to a wasteful effort. There are a lot of ‘Ifs’ to consider before development takes place.
I believe every phase is important but I strongly think the Development stage is considered the most crucial phase in any project, as it serves as the foundation for success. If a product fails to meet the customers’ requirements during this stage, subsequent efforts become futile. Hence, it is essential to ensure that the product developed during this phase aligns with the customers’ needs.
I can recall an instance where I thought of setting up a laundry service sometime last year, I prioritized the alignment of the product & service with my customer’s needs to avoid discrepancies in the later stages, and by doing so, a robust service was created that was satisfactory to our customers’ demands.
Every product goes through a cycle from conception to decline. The cycle is known as the product life cycle. It refers to the period a product takes from conception to decline. Two stages are very critical. The first is the research and developmental stage. This is where the thinking, design and holistic conception of the product to be market-fit takes place. If the thinking is not good, the product is not good. It is dead on arrival. The second most critical stage is the maturity phase. This is important from a financial point of view because it is the most profitable stage, the stage when the costs of producing and marketing decline. At this time, the market is saturated with the product, competition is now higher than at other stages, and margins start to shrink. It is the stage at which sales volume is “passed with flying colours” and product Managers will at this stage go back to the drawing board to think of a succession product.
I’m so sure that Maturity phase is the important of product life cylce. 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. This is the time product has reached it’s saturation in the market place where pricing becomes a problem.
For example, social sites with apps like Truth Social are now competing with with Twitter in order to drive competitive marketing environment.
At the stage, a product manager should become adept at his job implementing his skills to create features in their product with minimal spending and pricing to it’s target audience which are the customer.
From what I’ve seen, the introduction stage of a product is the most important part of its life cycle. It’s like making a first impression. It sets the tone for everything else. If you nail the start, with good sales and happy customers, you’re on a solid path. Every stage of a product cycle is as important as the other. Growing your product, maintaining its popularity, and even gracefully winding it down all need smart moves to keep things going smoothly.
Personally, I think that the introduction stage is the most crucial or important because it sets the tone for the product’s future success. During this stage, companies establish brand awareness, build market demand, and lay the foundation for long-term profitability. In other words, the success and failure of a product is dependant on the introduction stage, how well you handle the introduction stage determines how well the product will perform in the long run. Making a strong impression at the introduction stage can significantly impact the product’s trajectory throughout its life cycle.
All the stages of a product life cycle are important and focused on by a product manager. But the stage that need more attention is the maturity stage because at this stage the product is saturated, competition is increasing, customers demand is decreasing as a result of substitute in the market. The need to rebrand, repackage,and adding some features to the product to make it new to customer is important so the product will not get to the decline stage and finally be sweep out of market. An example is our mobile phone. Additional features are added to our old traditional phone to make it an Android, iphone,etc which make them unique and long lasting in the market.
From my experience I believe all stages in the product life cycle is very important, they all co-exist. The product manager has to focus on each of the stages according to how delicate it will be. But to select the which needs more focus will be the development and introduction stage which needs to be carefully planned and overlooked by the product manager and other tech mates.
From my experience I feel all stages in the product life cycle is very important, they all co-exist. The product manager has to focus on each of the stages according to how delicate it will be.