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.
I would say each stages are very important cos it’s all process to growth, businesses always start from little and small scale,though it’s very important to make use all stages wisely especially the sales,a business sales is zero
Every State is important in a product’s life cycle however the introduction stage is crucial. This is when a product is launched into the market, and its success during this phase can significantly impact its future to pivot or redesign to meet the latest customers’ needs. Proper planning, marketing strategies, and customer feedback during the introduction stage can set the foundation for the product’s success throughout its life cycle.
For example, during introducing a new smartphone, the company focuses on creating awareness, building distribution channels, and generating initial sales. This stage’s success can determine the product’s long-term viability in the market. Customer feedback and market response during this phase can influence future product development and marketing strategies.
As much as all the stages of the PLC is important I think the Maturity stage is the most important this is because it has gone through the growth stage which encompass entering the market and feedbacks have been gotten already. This will help in the maturity stage to see how to re align the product better and also avoid it reaching the decline stage.
For example ; An e-learning platform starts with taking care of just the result management process at the maturity stage it’s obvious customers want to be able to do more than just result management hence the company add products like attendance tracking ,school fee payments tracking and the like ,this will help to push back the product to the growth stage
Every State is important in the PLC. However, i can say the Development stage is the most important
The PLC stage that most significant for me is the Maturity stage. At the stage you can glean alot from the experiences gathered from the Development, Introduction and Growth stage to 1. Better the product and thus elongate the life cycle of the product, ensuring it stays at the maturity stage for more time and 2. From the prior stages you can get into more information to move on to another venture if the product has come to it end. An example of a product that has come to maturity stage is Coca-Cola brand but due to good strategy and proper product management it is having a very lengthy maturity stage.
Every stage is important in the product life cycle as these stages define every moment and achievement obtained by the business or project. As such, product managers should ensure definite success is achieved at every stage. Considering WhatsApp and Telegram, for example, Telegram has interesting features however, user engagement is low compared to WhatsApp causing some users to find it difficult to navigate the user interface of Telegram. Over time, the Telegram team, supposedly the product manager, has probably been receiving feedback from users and the interface has been improving. From my perspective, WhatsApp is also doing the same. However, if Telegram (product management team) can align with the marketing team strategically and push out its features to encourage users, this product, which is at its growth stage, will not decline with time as it may not survive the maturity stage.
All stages are crucial in the production of a new product but without which none can stand on their own cause their relevance intertwine each other but that which holds more power is the decline stages because this shows your marketing strategy and business decisions this could be seen in the case of CDs which other apps have taken over just like that of iTunes and Spotify where the music can be heard in one place rather than different CDs collections
To me, the most important stage of Product life cycle is the development stage. Reason being that once the question of “what need(s) and value does the product intend to meet?” is missed, then the product dies naturally at the introduction stage.
Example of such product can be seen in the soft drink industry like Tandi gorana soft drink that faded out at the introduction stage in the 90s.
Therefore, a product manager, in conjunction with all concerned teams, must ensure all necessary questions are answered before going into developing a product.
All stages are important, but i think the introduction stage greatly determines how well or long the other stages will be. If a product is introduced without proper market research or other things taken into consideration, the growth and maturity stage will be short-lived.
I want to believe that all stages are essential, however the development stage seem to be the determining factor to whether a product is suitable for lunching in the introduction stage and the rest, I have ventured in businesses without having proper details and insight, unfortunately it didn’t make it to the maturity stage, without the 5 stages being tested and given off as a generally accepted theory it is notable to take all stages as important as the other.