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.
For me, it’s the Growth stage, because at this stage the product like we said has found its place in the market i.e it has not taken shape, the product is now well positioned for more profits.
“It has now”
As it is a cycle, it is difficult to actually get just one important cause, as every part is important to fulfilling the end goal. Introduction is arguably the most crucial because it determines whether the product is solving the right problem for the right audience because it has to do with planning and validation. This stage is important because if this stage is skipped, you might build a beautiful, well-engineered product that no one wants as well as wasting time of yourself and stakeholders.
The most important stage of a product life cycle is the growth stage, not as if other stages are irrelevant, but each stage is crucial and unique. At the development stage, the product has not been launched into the market but strategies are built on how to penetrate the market, many products die before even entering the market. On the other hand, introduction stage the product is launch and awareness are created are purchase starts. But in the growth stage where sales increase, profit increase based on the quality or the name. And it’s at this stage that it will be determined whether the product can succeed in the long term and generate substantial profit. And at this stage the brand needs to work tirelessly to stay relevant in the market. For example, peak milk from when it was launched untill now has stayed relevant in the market amidst the competition. Up until now peak has remained in it’s growth stayed and the brand works tirelessly to make them stay relevant. Here you build customer loyalty.
I think the most important stage in the product life cycle has to be the development stage. I will use building a house as an analogy. I think the foundation has to be well-developed to hold the structure in position. The development stage is where you consider consumers and their interests and you cannot get it wrong.
I personally think that the development stage is very important, as it involves primarily creating a solution that must address what the the users/costumers need is.
I believe the development stage is key as it determines what product is being developed and why it is developed. If no proper market research is done or the idea/reason of building is not to solve a real problem or offer needed value then the product is already set-up for failure
In my opinion, all stages are important and have an impact on the product. The introduction stage plays a key role because the way you present the product to the market will determine its outcome. Even a bad product with a good introduction could be successful.
I agree with Peter Scheinsohn. The most important to me, is the introduction. The introduction of the product gives the first impression about it. A product can be good, it may be able to solve a lot of problems but if it is not properly introduced, it may not even be seen at all. Moreso, the introduction is the first step in relating the product with the public, a failure in this first step may cause a failure in every other step.
In my own view development stage is the most important, this is a stage before a product is been taking out to marketplace, you need to check and recheck the product value and compare with the competitive product before launching so that there error will serve as your own strengths.
I find Ibukun and Chibuzo’s points about the Development stage compelling and agree with their reasoning that this stage sets the foundation for everything else.
Molly makes an interesting case for the Decline stage being most important, particularly in the tech industry where staying relevant is crucial. The examples of Facebook and Instagram adapting to competition from Snapchat and TikTok highlight how companies must innovate to avoid decline.
Peter’s argument for the Introduction stage is also valid – even well-developed products can fail if not properly introduced to their target market.
Christina’s perspective that all stages are interconnected in the cycle is perhaps the most holistic view. Each stage does require specific skills and attention from product managers to navigate successfully.
While I maintain that Development is most critical, the discussion highlights that different industries and contexts might place greater emphasis on particular stages, and a successful product requires excellence across the entire lifecycle.