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Product Success Starts With Product Requirements
By Matthew Yubas

     You have a great idea and now you want to turn your creativity into a real product. The first development step is to translate the idea into guidelines that a designer and manufacturer can follow to produce your product. To explain your idea, you need to write what are commonly called "Product Requirements."

     Product Requirements are a detailed description of how your product should look, feel, and function. Product Requirements along with drawings and diagrams provide clarity, and increase your chances that a designer and manufacturer will create the product as you intended, rather than trying to read your mind. Product Requirements are simple to write with your wordprocessor, and can be as little as one or two pages that include:

• Features
• Functions
• Appearance
• Performance levels
• Quality standards

Sources of requirements come from:

• Customer problems, needs, and wants (research and tailor your product to what customers will buy)
• Customer price sensitivity (determine pricing early to guide the materials, quality, and cost of product parts)
• Competitive advantages (determine what features and functions will overcome the competition)
• User scenarios (observe how people setup, assemble, and use a product)
• Innovation (use your imagination to create product features that generate excitement)

Create Product Requirements using the following steps:

1. List each of the customer's problems, needs, and wants.
2. For each problem, need, and want, make a list of features and functions that provide solutions.
3. Modify and enhance features and functions based on your pricing, quality, style, and competition.
4. Prioritize the list based on saleable features and functions customers are willing to buy.
5. Write the list of features and functions into the language of a Product Requirements document such as "The product will have four wheels; each three inches in diameter." or "The product must operate in an environment with temperatures ranging from 32 to 125 degrees F."
6. Select the highest priority requirements that can be produced quickly and within budget.
7. Include drawings and pictures for clarification.

     Product Requirements must be clear and straightforward. Use bulleted or numbered lists and group similar items. For example, requirements might include:

• Product dimensions must be 3" long, 1" wide, and ½" thick.
• The outer casing must be made of a clear plastic.
• There will be four pushbutton switches located on the base and labeled: Off, High, Medium, and Low.
• The product must not crack or break apart when dropped onto a concrete floor from a height of three feet.
• The unit must pass UL certification.

Conclusion

     Whether at the prototype stage or getting ready for production, Product Requirements are needed to describe how your product will function, how it will look and feel, and how it will operate. Designers and manufacturers need requirements so that they can accurately make the product you have in mind. Creating requirements will save time in the long run and improve quality and market appeal.

About the Author

     Matthew Yubas is a Certified Professional Marketing Consultant for the Small Business Development and International Trade Center. He has developed products for 20 years as an engineer, product manager, and independent consultant for startups, small business, and Fortune 500 companies. He has launched new products such as software applications, wireless devices, and websites. In addition, he has helped clients in a diverse number of industries that include photography equipment, auto accessories, soy candles, children's clothing, sporting goods, digital art, and home décor. He has earned a B.S. in Engineering and an M.B.A. in Management.