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.
Although all the life cycles fo hand in hand, I’d say that the growth stage is the most important, being that it is at the point that all hands would be on deck to ensure that the peoduct maintains its place in the open market. Take Coca-Cola for instance. They do not have a particular target population as thir audience. They have everybody in mind when it comes to consuming their beverage hence the need to introduce different flavour and level of sugar content as it pleases the final consimers. At this stage, a business venture will do all it takes to remain on the spotlight and that is where being innovative plays out.
In my own opinion “Development stage” is the crucial step in product life cycle because decisions to develop new products must come from understanding the consumers needs and the stage at which it will be useful to them.
Developing products that won’t be useful automatically the products will not reach the growth stage.
For me the development stage is the most important because that is where the key decision of the birth of the product is taken. And any mistake made in this stage will affect other stages, without this stage other stages won’t be in existence.
I think the most important stage is the Development stage. This seems like the foundation of whatever the product will accomplish in its lifetime, and if the foundation isn’t properly constructed, there’s the tendency the product fails at any of the other stages of the cycle. Developing also occurs to me as the hardest part of the cycle, due to potential biases and errors that can be introduced; moreover, figuring out what the customer wants is the big challenge which I believe if surmounted, other stages of the cycle would be a breeze. The example that comes to mind is Threads by Meta. The basis of development was unfounded and its popularity is almost nil currently. I absolutely agree with others’ opinions, every stage of the cycle is essential to the overall success of the product.
All the stages are vital to the product life cycle but in my own opinion, the Maturity Stage seems like the most important stage in the product life cycle. Being able to bring a product to the maturity stage and maintaining that position for a long period of time should be a big feat. The success of a product is the goal of a product manager, so having to reach that stage and demands keep increasing, generating sales increase year in year out without declining should be the utmost priority. An example that comes to mind is PEPSI and COCA-COLA. These two companies are controlling the drinks and beverages market rolling out variants of their products every other day. The Maturity Stage should be the most vital aspect of a product life cycle.
The introduction stage of a product’s life cycle is often considered crucial. It marks the product’s entry into the market, allowing for the creation of a competitive advantage and the establishment of brand recognition.
It offers an opportunity to educate consumers and gather feedback, which can lead to product refinement. A successful introduction stage sets the foundation for future growth and momentum. However, it’s important to note that all stages of the product life cycle contribute to its overall success.
All stages are Important from the Development to the Decline because they all holds value to the Consumers and each stage is a growth process
I believe that all the stages of the Product Life Cycle are equally important as none of them can be done without. However, if we should narrow it down to one, I’ll pick the introduction stage. This is because an organization can do all it can to develop the right product that will solve problems of its users, but if it isn’t properly introduced and marketed to the public, the well-developed product ends up not getting much publicity and traction, then what is the use if it won’t get to the end users? Development can still be ongoing as it is introduced, that’s why we have updates to softwares. This makes the introduction phase the most important part.
I think the “Development stage” is the most important phase because it requires developing the product, refining and preparing for launch. if the right product is not developed to meet the needs of customers, then efforts during the other stages become futile. It is the most important because that is where you figure out what fits your consumers needs. to build a product that will thrive through all stages and still remain relevant after maturity
To me. One of the most critical stages of product lifecycle is in its research and development stage. It is the stage where a company designs a particular product to meet specific demands of the market. Predicting the status of a product in the market and how its demand fluctuates over time is the only way that a company can stay successful.
Before the decline comes, a company should make key business decision and do something innovative to keep their business up on sales. If