The hardest part of conceptualising a new product is not having an initial idea for a product. People have ideas all the time.
The hardest part of conceptualising a new product is not extending the initial idea with a collection of even more great ideas that work together and make it truly exciting and compelling. People have great ideas that complement other great ideas all the time.
The hardest part of conceptualising a new product is deciding what amazing, useful, and compelling ideas the product will not include. And committing to that decision.
Deciding not to include an idea in a product can seem like an admission ofdefeat.An understanding that what you’re going to make is not going to be as complete as it could possibly be. An admission that some people won’t like it as much or find it as useful as they could. Of course we all need to feel proud of the things we bring into the world, so this kind of admission can hurt to make.
But when you understand that every single thing that you could add to the product has a cost that can be expressed in some combination of development cost, time to market, BOM cost, energy requirements of the product, and even product reliability you come to the realisation that the entire feasibility of the product hinges on it not doing as much as it theoretically could.
You sacrifice perfection for something that is possible.
The trick is to understand the true core requirements of your product by understanding the true reason it exists and the needs it fills. Anything that doesn’t support that probably isn’t necessary. And if it’s not necessary, then are you risking the quality and value of the product for the approval of somebody who isn’t even the target market of the thing you’re trying to build?
So have those ideas. Build them up, combine them, extend them, push them to their limits, and the push them some more. Then experiment with them. Develop what can be easily developed, and see what you see. Talk to people about what your new product will do for them, and learn what excites them.
But then understand that later you need to come back with wisdom and with real understanding, and intentionally cut some of those amazing ideas down, so the rest can have a chance to be the best they can be.