How to Take a Product from Idea to Reality: An Introduction

I’m Tired of Searching

Although I’ve worked in Product for years, I have yet to come across a resource that concisely explains how to launch a product in words that make sense to me.

I’ve read the books. Done the courses. Watched the YouTube videos. Read the same high-ranked (but not super helpful) Google articles dozens of times.

One of the main things missing from these resources is real life examples. I’ve seen courses define terms like ‘market research,’ but then skim over what ‘market research’ looks like in practice.

So through a series of articles, I will be explaining every step in the product launch process by taking you through real world examples.

Choose Your Adventure

There are many steps you might take to bring your product into existence. The challenging, fun, and sometimes frustrating part of Product as a discipline is discerning which steps are useful to your specific circumstance.

For example, you may not need to do ‘competitive research’ if you are working on an internal product with no equivalents. You may not need user stories for a very simple product. Sure these steps could still be helpful, but are they the most valuable use of your time? Sometimes, no.

My job here is to outline all of the steps you may potentially take to launch your product.

Your job is to decide which steps are necessary and helpful for your specific circumstance.

It may sound daunting, but I am convinced it gets easier to discern what is needed and what is superfluous with practice.

Being Comfortable with Uncertainty

When we think of ‘steps’ we think of a linear list. “Finish this step first, then move onto the next…”

Launching a product does not work like that.

Multiple steps may be happening at once. You may throw out certain steps. Add in new ones. Change up the order. It’s really up to your discernment what is going to be most effective.

In my opinion, the intellectual challenge of deciding ‘What is needed here?’ is where the satisfaction, fun, and even joy come from when working as a product manager.

So I encourage you to be open to making mistakes, changing direction, and releasing perfectionism as you hone your product skills. It makes it a bit more likely that joy will spark.

How to take a product from idea to reality

Here is the outline for the articles I will write. Each phase will have its own article (which I will link here). I’m both excited and daunted by the amount of topics I want to write about. One step at a time.

If one phase or topic particularly interests you, send me an email telling me what specifically you want to know and I’ll consider incorporating it in.

Developing Your Big Idea

  • Hypothesis
  • Market Research
  • Competitor Research
  • Problem Statement
  • Product Vision / Solution / Updated Hypothesis

Sharpening Your Vision

  • Define Success
  • Metrics
  • User Personas
  • Customer Journey
  • User Stories

Bringing Your Vision Down To Earth

  • Requirements
  • Tasks
  • Prioritization
  • Roadmap

Pinning Down a Timeline

  • Launch Plan
  • Design, Engineering, QA Plan
  • Marketing Plan
  • Customer Support Plan
  • Metrics Tracking Plan
  • Presentation

Implementation & Launch

  • Agile vs Waterfall
  • Documentation
  • Specs / Wireframes / Designs
  • Engineering
  • QA
  • Launch (in tandem with marketing)

Making Your Product Better

  • User Research
  • Tracking Metrics
  • User Support