The Emergence of Big Data in New Product Development
Big data seems to be on everyone’s mind nowadays. As a product person myself, I know that good product managers have always been data driven. However, what we witness today is an explosion of endless tools and methodologies that depending on how they are used can either make or break a future product. A growing number of product managers are struggling with this abundance of data that generates more “noise” rather than better clarifying analysis and decisions. It’s a known fact that 96% of all innovations fail to return their cost of capital (Deloitte). In this context, it is almost a no brainer that smart companies should change the way they are managing new product development. Several studies have demonstrated that those companies that manage to determine their customers’ needs and then innovate to meet them are much more profitable overall than companies who are not customer-centric.
