The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

6.4. Fuzzy Front End for Incremental Products

New product ideas for incremental products are usually determined from the overall strategic planning process or as part of an idea suggestion program. Once identified, they go through Stage 1 (see Figure 6.2)—which is a "gentle" screen that evaluates the strategic fit, market attractiveness, technical feasibility and the identification of any killer variables. The gatekeepers are often not senior management, but technical and marketing people. Resources, people, and monies are assigned to the project to perform both an initial market and technical assessment. The purpose of this stage is to determine if the idea still looks feasible to pass through Gate 2—which is a more rigorous screen. If the project passes through Gate 2, a detailed business case is developed, which includes market definition and segmentation, product positioning, a product win statement, product specifications, market entry strategy, technology and operational strategy, and a financial analysis. In-depth market investigations are done in this stage to understand both segmentation and customer needs. Competitive assessments, along with intellectual property evaluations, which determine both freedom to operate and ability to gain a competitive advantage, are also analyzed. The developed business case is men evaluated in Gate 3, typically by a senior management team, and allowed to continue into product development if the project, relative to other projects, is expected ...