Stages of Product Development?

• A. Stage 1 - Customer Needs; Stage 2 - Screening; Stage 3 - Design; Stage 4 - Time-to-market; Stage 5 - Testing
• B. Stage 1 - Design; Stage 2 - Customer Needs; Stage 3 - Screening; Stage 4 - Time-to-market; Stage 5 - Testing
• C. Stage 1 - Customer Needs; Stage 2 - Design; Stage 3 - Screening; Stage 4 - Testing; Stage 5 - Time-to-market
• D. Stage 1 - Customer Needs; Stage 2 - Time-to-market; Stage 3 - Design; Stage 4 - Screening; Stage 5 - Testing

Answer: (A)

Starting with customer needs grounds the whole development effort in what customers actually want and will value. After capturing those needs, screening helps filter out concepts that aren’t feasible or worthwhile, keeping effort focused on the best options. Then design translates the chosen concept into a concrete product plan and specifications. Planning the time-to-market comes next to align the development work with market opportunities, competitive timing, and resource constraints, ensuring the product can reach customers in the right window. Finally, testing verifies that the product meets performance, quality, and reliability requirements before it goes to market, reducing the risk of failures after launch. If you swap these steps around—design or screening before fully understanding needs, or testing before finalizing launch timing—the process can waste resources or expose the project to avoidable risks.