Derby Chang responed to my delineation of the *ist D timeline with a
wonderful summary:
I'm in medical device product development. Consumer gear has different
constraints, but I'll bet the frustrations are the same.
* Marketing changes their product requirements every 3-2 months
* Upper management moves the company in different strategic directions
once a year
* Regulatory hurdles get tighter each year. Europe and China are
currently putting in ROHS and WEEE requirements for recyclable and waste
material
* Software bugs are found requiring big iterations through marketing,
design and testing again
* Hardware bugs are found requiring big iterations through marketing,
design, refabrication, and testing again
* Engineers put off finishing their required documentation until right
at the end
* Suppliers fail to meet delivery schedules
* Finance puts on the brakes because the product doesn't meet the
initial cost of goods estimate
* Service guys get upset because they have been left out of the loop and
haven't been trained and there is no service strategy before product
release.
I love it, and wouldn't want to be in any other job.
For over 3 decades, I was a technology consultant. I find Derby's
description dead-on. It fits most product development in most industries.
(If the product is a financial instrument, there are additional
ramifications to make up for the lack of supplier-related problems, etc.)
About the only thing he left out is sales having informed the market of an
apparently totally different product while all this was going on and having
to deal with this while trying to introduce what was actually created.
I have learned that:
In the garment industry - go for the first cut (each ensuing production run
will use cheaper and quicker methods and materials)
In mechanical products - try for the third iteration (if the comany is still
in business, they'll have worked out the tiniest of details that get in the
way of using the product as intended)
In electronics - try for the second iteration (this is where the corrections
are implemented and before the enhancements can screw it up further)
In software - try for the third release (it may actually do what you were
sold - this is typical for MS)
Any wonder I waited to get an *ist D that was about a year into production?
Larry in Dallas
