A road map for product development

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(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Dear FSB: I have trouble finding my starting point for product development. Every now and then I might discover something that has to be developed, manufactured or drawn, but I'm not quite sure where to start. Do you have any suggestions or a format/model for developing new products?

- James in Tustin, Calif.

Dear James: The customer or end-user is usually a good place to start.

As professor John Castle, lecturer in entrepreneurship at the Michael G. Foster School of Business at the University of Washington, says, "The starting point for product development is an understanding of what it is the customer wants developed. Talk to the people who need a solution to a specific problem. If you're a good listener, they will tell you what you ought to do."

Other experts believe the process is more scientific. "It starts with an idea, but you have to work from a disciplined product-development model," says Jeffrey S. Davis, chairman and founder of Mage, a Needham, Mass., firm that provides personal business advice to entrepreneurs.

There are many product development models; Karl Ulrich, co-author of Product Design and Development (published by McGraw Hill) and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, recommends this 5-step process:

(1) Articulate your business goals.
(2) Understand customer needs.
(3) Generate alternative concepts.
(4) Select one or more concepts.
(5) Refine and test the design.

"For most product categories, early prototypes and frequent benchmarking against competitive products is essential," says Ulrich, whose website for his book is also a useful resource: ulrich-eppinger.net.