The one page NPD plan

I discussed some tips in the previous post to help you in the development of your New Product Development plans for the coming financial year.

I thought it might also be a good idea to give you a practical way of refining and summarising the output for your NPD planning, brainstorming and research activities.

It comes in the form of a single-page document. A one-page document (be it a business plan, proposal, marketing strategy or other important business communication) works incredibly well for our increasingly time-poor business community.

It’s important to note that a one-page plan does not necessarily require less work – it is typically quite the opposite. Preparing a plan that captures all the critical information that your management and stakeholders can approve can take many hours, and will require substantial background work and research before you can even put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard for that matter).

Your NPD plan must be aligned with your overall business plan and related financial and marketing plans. These information sources will give you ideas about what capital investment the business can allocate to NPD activities, as well as broader growth, expansion and strategic goals that may act as catalysts for NPD research, concept development, prototyping and evaluation activities.

Your one-page business plan might have the following sub-headings and content:

• Company goals

List the top 3 company goals for the next financial year, as they relate to potential new product development activity

• NPD plans

List 3-5 specific NPD projects that the company need to invest in to deliver to the above goals. Quantify these in terms of customer / economic / environmental importance and risk

• Budgets and Timing

Provide a summary of estimated costs, milestones and development timelines for each of the projects. It’s important that you include budgets for outsourced activities such as consumer research, branding, industrial & graphic design, engineering, prototyping, tooling & production. Be as realistic as you can, and if need be, consult with professional practitioners to assist in the development of these estimates. You may need to prepare some general design briefs in order to do so (get help on this here).

• Current issues and considerations

Your company’s decision makers will treat this document as a proposal as much as it is a plan… So you need to be upfront with any issues, concerns, problems or requirements which may affect any of your NPD projects. Transparency is crucial, such are the risks with product development – so the more your team can understand all of the issues surrounding your NPD objectives, the more they can contribute solutions to help you reduce the risks. Don’t do this work alone if you don’t have to.

Another point… Sell your plan a little… Put a little sizzle with the sausage… This may be your last chance to get these projects funded, so make sure you are crystal clear about how these projects will benefit your company and exploit opportunities you or other team members have identified

• Next actions

Clearly describe what has to happen next, and by whom. You may need to submit this plan for formal review – or perhaps you need to simply discuss it over lunch with your manager or CEO… Whatever you think needs to happen next, write it here.

Your one-page NPD plan will take some effort, and concise writing… But the result can be a powerful and highly practical reference document for the coming financial year.

Concise, one-page documents save your audience time, force you to use simple, direct and jargon-free language and ultimately help your audience make prompt, informed decisions. You don’t need to write a 50-page tome in order to articulate your NPD goals and plans… it is far more impressive and respectful to your audience’s time and needs to keep these plans short, punchy and to-the-point.

Don’t worry – if any of your NPD projects are approved, that’s when you can dive into the minutiae and prepare more detailed design, technical, requirements and functional specifications.

If you have any questions, or would like some assistance developing your one-page NPD plan, please contact me directly, or leave a comment below.