When one has a "great" product idea two of the first questions that inevitably come to mind are:

"I have a great product idea… now… what do I do?"

And…

If I spend a lot of effort to develop my product how can I make sure it will be successful?

The answer to the first question is easier to comprehend because there are many people and services available that are able to take a concept into production, even though it is no 'piece-of-cake' to do so; we'll discuss such a process in this article. The second question, though, is much more difficult to answer. However, a quick and simple reply is: you really can't know ahead of time if the product will be successful, since the Market is the ultimate arbiter of a product's success… as the following chart indicates.

Major Gauges of Product Success: Usefulness and benefit to Users. Conformance to users' needs and expectations through product performance and features. Conformance to market and industry requirements. Acceptable product quality, reliability and support. Acceptable price vs. profit within a planned time frame. Product uniqueness, ease of use and desirability. Timeliness to market and acceptable availability.