A Guide to the New Product Development Process
The path to market is littered with failed products. Studies show that between 30% and 50% of new products are discontinued after launch, with some estimates for consumer goods being even higher. The primary reason for this is not a lack of features or poor marketing, but a fundamental misunderstanding of the customer. Atthrv, we see this not as a risk but as an opportunity. A disciplinednew product development process, anchored in a deep, quantitative understanding of unmet customer needs, is the most reliable way to accelerate growth and create equity value.
This guide outlines our systematic approach toproduct innovation. We will explore the essential stages of our new product development process, showing how ourportfolio companies use our proprietary and patentedJobs to be Done (JTBD) method to move from insight to market impact with speed and precision. This is our blueprint for building products that customers will not only buy but also rely on.
Table of Contents
What is the New Product Development (NPD) Process?
Thenew product development (NPD) process is our structured framework that guides teams from an initial idea to the final launch of a new product or service. Its purpose is to impose discipline and predictability on the inherently chaotic act of creation.
Our structured process is not about stifling creativity; it is about channeling it effectively. For ourportfolio companies, our well-defined NPD process is critical for:
Reducing Risk: By validating ideas against real customer needs early and often, we help companies avoid investing significant resources in concepts destined to fail.
Optimizing Resources: Our clear roadmap allows for better allocation of capital, personnel, and time, ensuring efforts are focused on the highest-impact activities.
Accelerating Growth: Our repeatable process allows teams to consistently identify new market opportunities and bring valuable solutions to market faster than the competition, creating a durable competitive advantage.
Our Foundation: Uncovering Unmet Needs with Jobs to be Done
The most successful products are not born from brainstorming sessions; they are engineered to solve a specific customer problem. We use our proprietary and patentedJobs to be Done (JTBD) method as the foundation of our NPD process.
The core principle of ourJTBD method is simple: customers don't buy products, they "hire" them to get a "job" done. A job is not a task but rather the progress a person is trying to make in a given circumstance. By understanding the functional and emotional dimensions of this job, we can identify precisely where and why customers struggle.
Our process begins by mapping every step a customer takes to get their job done. We then measure the difficulty of completing each step usingCustomer Effort Scores (CES). A CES represents the percentage of customers who report difficulty with a given step. A high CES signals significant friction and a clear, unmet need.
These unmet needs are not abstract qualitative insights. They are specific, measurable customer requirements formatted as action-variable pairs, such as:
Determine required system resources
Calculate total project cost
Identify source of data error
This quantitative approach to identifying customer struggle is the starting point for all innovation within our portfolio companies. We replace guesswork with a data-driven map of market opportunities.
Our 7 Stages of the New Product Development Process
Our NPD process is a systematic, seven-stage loop that usesJTBD insights to guide every decision.
Stage 1: Idea Generation from Customer Struggle
Instead of generating a wide net of speculative ideas, we focus innovation on a narrow, validated target: the customer needs with the highestCustomer Effort Scores. OurAI-powered platform helps our teams analyze JTBD data to pinpoint the exact steps in the customer's job that cause the most difficulty. These high-effort areas are where new product concepts or feature improvements will have the greatest impact. This approach ensures that idea generation is directly tied to a customer'swillingness to pay for a better solution.
Stage 2: Idea Screening with Quantitative Data
We screen and prioritize ideas based on their potential to reduce customer effort. We evaluate concepts against a simple question: Which idea most effectively helps the customer get their job done faster and more accurately? By focusing on concepts that address needs with high CES, we ensure that development resources are allocated to opportunities with the highest probability of creating significant customer and company value.
Stage 3: Concept Development and Testing
We translate the highest-priority idea into a detailed product concept. This includes defining the core features, user experience, and value proposition. We then test the concept with target customers. We don't ask if they "like" the concept; we ask if it would help them execute a specific step in their job with less effort. This feedback is crucial for refining the solution before any significant development work begins.
Stage 4: Business and Marketing Strategy
With a validated concept, our teams develop a comprehensive business case and go-to-market plan.
Marketing Strategy: We build messaging around theJob to be Done. Instead of promoting features, our marketing communicates how the product helps customers overcome a specific struggle, making the value proposition clear and compelling. Instead of promoting features, our marketing communicates how the product helps customers overcome a specific struggle, making the value proposition clear and compelling.
Financial Analysis: We project market size, pricing models, and potential revenue based on the size of the customer segment struggling with the job and theirwillingness to payfor a better solution.for a better solution.
Stage 5: Product Development and Prototyping
This is where the concept becomes a tangible product. We use an agile development approach to build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that solves the core job with the highest CES. Our focus is on speed and delivering a functional solution that can be tested with real users as quickly as possible. OurJTBD platform helps product teams translate customer needs directly into engineering requirements, reducing ambiguity and accelerating the development cycle.
Stage 6: Market Testing
Once the MVP is ready, it enters our market testing phase.
Alpha Testing: We test the product internally by team members to identify major bugs and usability issues.
Beta Testing: We release the product to a select group of external customers who have the targetJob to be Done. We collect quantitative and qualitative feedback focused on how well the product reduces the effort required to get the job done.
Stage 7: Commercialization and Launch
With a market-tested product, our companies move to a full launch. All marketing, sales, and support teams are aligned around theJob to be Done. They understand who the customer is, what they are trying to achieve, and how the new product is the best solution for the job. After launch, we continuously monitor performance metrics and customer feedback to guide future iterations and improvements, restarting the cycle.
How We Accelerate Growth: A Portfolio Company Example
When we used ourJTBD method for one of ourportfolio companies in the B2B software space, growth had stalled. Their product was feature-rich but struggling to find new customers.
Using ourJTBD method, we identified that their customers—data analysts—were trying to get the job of "prepare dataset for regulatory reporting." Our analysis, powered byCustomer Effort Scores, revealed that one step was causing extreme difficulty: identify data inconsistencies across multiple sources. It was a manual, time-consuming process with a high risk of error.
Idea Generation: We identified the clear opportunity to build a feature that automated this specific step.
Screening & Concept: We prioritized the concept of an "automated data validation module" over all other feature requests because it addressed the point of greatest customer struggle.
Development & Launch: We worked with their team to develop an MVP in weeks, not months. We launched the new module with messaging focused entirely on solving this single, painful problem.
The result was immediate. The new offering not only drove upgrades from existing customers but also became the primary driver for new customer acquisition, opening up a new revenue stream and significantly increasing the company's valuation.
Common Challenges We Address in New Product Development
Product teams often face predictable hurdles. OurJTBD-driven process helps reduce these common risks:
Feature Creep: Without a clear focus, teams add features that complicate the product without adding value. OurJTBD method provides a fixed point of reference: if a feature doesn't help the customer get their job done better, it isn't built.
Lack of Market Understanding: Many products fail because they solve a problem nobody has. Our quantitative analysis of customer struggle ensures we are always building for a real, validated need.
Poor Timing or Misalignment: Our structured process with clear stages ensures that development, marketing, and sales are always working in concert, leading to a coordinated and impactful launch.
From Process to Value Creation
Our successful new product development process is more than a checklist; it is ourportfolio companies' engine for sustained growth. By grounding every stage in a quantitative understanding of the customer'sJob to be Done, we remove the guesswork and speculation that leads to failed products.
This disciplined, customer-centric approach allows our portfolio companies to build competitive advantages, create new revenue streams, and ultimately become more valuable.
Ready to build products that create durableequity value? Explore how ourJTBD platform and methodology help our portfolio companies accelerate growth throughproduct innovation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the difference between thrv's JTBD method and traditional market research?
Traditional market research often focuses on customer demographics and satisfaction with existing products. OurJTBD method focuses on the underlying process a customer is trying to execute, regardless of the products they currently use. This allows us to find innovation opportunities that competitors, focused on their own product category, completely miss.
How does the new product development process work for services, not just products?
Our process is identical. A service is also "hired" to help a customer get a job done. Whether you are building software or designing a wealth management service, our goal is to identify the steps where customers struggle and design a solution that helps them execute the job with less effort.
How long does the new product development process take?
The timeline varies depending on the complexity of the product and market. However, by using ourJTBD framework, our portfolio companies significantly accelerate the front end of the process—idea generation and validation. We can identify the right problem to solve in hours or days, rather than months, creating a massive speed advantage.
How does Customer Effort Score drive product development decisions?
Customer Effort Score identifies exactly where customers struggle most in their job-to-be-done. High CES scores indicate friction points that represent the highest-value opportunities for new product features. This quantitative approach ensures development resources focus on solving real customer problems rather than building features that don't create value.
What role does AI play in the new product development process?
OurAI-powered platform accelerates every stage of the NPD process. AI helps analyze customer feedback to identify struggle points, prioritize features based on effort scores, and translate customer needs into engineering requirements. This dramatically reduces the time from insight to market launch.
How does the JTBD approach prevent product failure?
By anchoring every development decision in quantified customer struggle, ourJTBD method ensures products solve real problems customers are willing to pay to have solved. This customer-centric validation at each stage dramatically reduces the risk of building products nobody wants.
Can this process work for both B2B and B2C products?
Yes, ourJTBD-based NPD process works for both B2B and B2C products. The underlying principle—customers hire products to get jobs done—applies regardless of the market. The key is understanding the specific job the customer is trying to accomplish and where they struggle in that process.
How do you measure success in the new product development process?
We measure success through multiple metrics: reducedCustomer Effort Scores for targetjob steps, increased customer acquisition and retention, revenue growth from new products, and ultimately,equity value creation for our portfolio companies. The most important metric is whether the new product meaningfully reduces customer effort in getting their job done.
Posted by thrv