There’s been a lot of speculation in the press about what went wrong with Amazon’s Fire Phone. We are often taken aback when one the world’s most successful companies unsuccessfully brings a new product to market. But it reminds us how incredibly difficult it can be to get every aspect right when it comes to product delivery.
It’s no secret that failure rates are high -- in the neighborhood of 80% -- especially for complex technology products. So, what can engineers do to get their products right and minimize the potential for failure?
Some in the industry believe Amazon’s problem with the Fire Phone stems from its initial design. Rather than building a product that addressed customer’s needs, the phone may have been designed for only one person, Amazon’s CEO Jeff Bezos.
Before development starts, engineers need to ensure their initial requirements are solid and then remain true to that vision as development teams navigate the journey from concept to launch. It sounds simple, but defining business and product requirements is the more challenging aspect of development. In the Amazon scenario it was the CEO, but in every situation, multiple stakeholders have a voice in product delivery, and they each bring different perspectives about which elements are most important.
Source:
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1325564
