How to be sneaky when planning your new product

You need to believe that what you're working on has value without the validation of external peers, reports Tech in Asia

There are two camps. Those that believe that you should share your project idea early on, collect feedback, and mold your idea as you go along. The second, and the one I subscribe to, is to build a project with minimal, but qualified feedback, and largely work in stealth mode till you’re ready to share it.
 

In order to work in stealth mode, you need to have a couple of things going for you:

Top secret tests for product value
 

First, you need to believe that what you’re working on has value without the validation of external peers. Draw upon your own experience, align with your partners or senior managers when you make that assessment, and stay firm.
 

 

Since external feedback will be minimal, you need to have a good system of testing whether an idea has value throughout the development process. If your project can be split into smaller modules, I would suggest testing out the modules independently, prove that these work with the target audience, and fix problem areas.
 

This can be quite intense as you try to progress, but pause to fix issues on the modules you’re testing. However, understanding points of failure early on can be extremely valuable.
 

Time to spy on your competitors
 

This time also gives you the opportunity to learn from similar projects around the world, learn from the mistakes of others, and adapt what works and what doesn’t. Use competitor products, contact their support team if you have issues, and read reviews.
 

It can be frustrating if someone rolls out an idea or feature before you, but learning from their mistakes can ensure you have a better product. Think of the MP3 players before the iPod. Better user experience always trumps novelty. 

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This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here