Tuesday, September 27, 2016 | 2:00pm-3:30pm | Room 337, HSBC Business School Building

Abstract

Conventional wisdom suggests that a well-planned and organized launch can improve the probability of success of new product development. The initial stages of a new product development project are known as the "Fuzzy Front End" (FFE), as they are the messy "getting started" period of the project. It is in the front end where the organization formulates a concept of the product to be developed and decides whether or not to invest resources in the further development of an idea. The FFE begins with the initial search for new opportunities, through the formation of a germ of an idea to the development of a precise concept. The Fuzzy Front End ends when the organization approves and begins formal development of the product.
 
The Fuzzy Front End presents many challenges. Stakeholders' requirements need to be understood and formulated. In large products, it may often be impractical to model entire products due to uncertainty, sheer size and complexity. The process of creating alternatives to the project approach is often manual, resulting in missed alternatives that may have been better choices. Our challenge for the FFE is to improve the way alternatives are discussed and selected, taking into account uncertainty and complexity.
 
In this seminar we present our experience using a methodology and tools developed for the early stages of a new product development project. The methodology and tools help key stakeholders work out the details of the alternative project scenarios, based on various ways of arranging the project elements and architecture, including scope, team roles and dependencies. The result is a master plan that incorporates program schedule, risks and opportunity identification and mitigation, critical actions, and clarified key assumptions.