Now, one can argue the ordering of the parts of the product plan illustrated above, but the main point of the diagram is to provide a 'testing' viewpoint of the product plan. As you can see, most of the major business components has some, or a lot of, relevance to the definition and validation of the product.

From the Product Plan one develops the various specifications as discussed below. These may be separate documents or combined, but EVERY one must be considered in detail and explicitly defined. This is where the product is technically defined - the detail lives in these specifications, which will be the gauges by which testing is able to validate the product.

It goes without saying that the plans and specifications are 'living documents' and that modifications and change in direction will very likely occur during the development process. 'Creativity and 'quick-response' are implicitly not prohibited by the plan. In fact, the plans and specifications allow such unanticipated changes to be considered in detail before they are actually made in order to see what effect they might have on the overall product business strategy and the resulting product itself.

The Devil is the Details

Following are the major product specifications, gleaned from the diagram above that capture the product definition at various business levels:

PRODUCT PLAN

This plan includes everything that needs to be known about the product and its business aspects; of course there are a lot of placeholders in this plan at the beginning of a project. But, these placeholders provoke thought and discussion, which greatly enhance the planning and budgeting of the development project. The business-sighted people put this plan together with much help from the technical, marketing and manufacturing groups. The Product Plan is subsequently used to manage the entire life cycle of the product. The plan includes, but is not limited to:

• BUSINESS STRATEGY: e.g. business costs analysis, vision for the product, business risks, value to the user and market…
• MARKETING PLAN: e.g. pricing, market segment and position, user analysis, competition analysis, sales channels and strategy, strengths & weaknesses of the product, opportunities…
• RESOURCE PLAN: e.g. people, facilities, organizational structure, necessary training, equipment, supplies…
• FINANCIAL PLAN: e.g. ROI, cost controls, long term vs. short-term costs, roll-up of all development, marketing and production costs, Intellectual Property costs…
• DEVELOPMENT PLAN: e.g. skills & technology, controls & audit trails, development schedules and estimated costs, selected technologies, product verification & validation tests…
• MANUFACTURING PLAN: CM selection, QA/QC requirements, production verification tests, supply chain management, shipping, configuration and document control…
• QUALITY & RELIABILITY PLAN: e.g. product validation tests, QC controls, QA philosophy & methodology…
• SERVICE/MAINTENANCE PLAN: e.g. on-site or factory repair, levels of diagnostics needed…