Digital product development is the iterative process of creating and refining offerings with digital means from conception to deployment. It begins with identifying a market need or opportunity and involves a series of steps to bring the product to life.

Feedback by Isabelle Hochberger, Co-Founder at Dr. Q, after the training: „Before the training with Prof. Wurzer, we had a rough idea of the development and growth of digital patents. Although the enormous growth is a logical consequence of technical progress, we were not aware of the “explosion” in the number of patents to this extent. According to the information we took away from the information workshop, patenting the customer journey is very relevant in our case. You patent what is visible to the user or from the outside, not the code! That’s fascinating – and we didn’t expect something like that to be possible at all. Practical examples from the industry made the explanations clear and understandable.“

The process typically starts with thorough market research and analysis to understand user needs, preferences, and pain points. Based on this understanding, a concept or idea for the  product is formulated. This phase often involves brainstorming sessions, user interviews, and competitor analysis to ensure the proposed solution addresses a genuine market demand.

Once the concept is defined, the next step is to create a detailed product roadmap outlining the features, functionalities, and timeline for development. This roadmap serves as a guide for the digital development team and helps to keep the project on track.

Design plays a crucial role in digital product development, focusing on creating an intuitive and user-friendly interface. User experience (UX) and user interface (UI) designers work closely with developers to design wireframes, mockups, and prototypes that bring the product vision to life.

Development involves building the product according to the specifications outlined in the design and roadmap. Agile methodologies are often employed to facilitate rapid development cycles, allowing for frequent feedback and iteration.

Testing is an integral part of the development process, ensuring the product meets quality standards and performs as expected. This may involve functional testing, usability testing, performance testing, and security testing to identify and address any issues or bugs.

Once the product is developed and thoroughly tested, it is deployed to the market or released to users. However, the process doesn’t end there. Digital product development is an ongoing journey of iteration and improvement based on user feedback, market trends, and evolving technologies. Continuous updates and enhancements ensure the product remains relevant, competitive, and valuable to its users.

Saving time and money with digital product development

Digital product development offers significant advantages in terms of saving both time and money throughout the entire process.

Firstly, the iterative nature of digital product development allows for rapid prototyping and testing. By quickly creating and refining prototypes based on user feedback, teams can identify and address issues early in the development cycle, saving time and resources that would otherwise be spent on extensive rework later on.

Additionally, digital tools and technologies streamline various aspects of the development process, reducing manual effort and potential errors. Automated testing frameworks, for example, can quickly identify problems, enabling developers to address them promptly without extensive manual testing.

Furthermore, digital product development facilitates collaboration and communication among team members, regardless of their geographic location. Cloud-based project management platforms and communication tools enable real-time collaboration, eliminating the delays and inefficiencies associated with traditional communication methods.

Overall, by leveraging agile methodologies, digital tools, and effective communication strategies, digital product development can significantly accelerate time-to-market while minimizing costs, making it an attractive option for businesses looking to innovate efficiently and effectively.

Introducing Dr. Q

Technical calculations play a crucial role in the product development process. One form of these calculations are simulations using the finite element method (FEM). These make it possible to predict the behavior of components without having to produce physical prototypes.

Nevertheless, in industrial practice, companies repeatedly resort to estimates and empirical values ​​instead of relying on precise calculations: Available FEM software is complicated, expensive and time-consuming.

Dr. Q’s idea to support product developers is a new kind of FEM simulation software: Dr.Q is a virtual calculation engineer who, for the first time, combines text-processing artificial intelligence (AI) with modern FEM calculation algorithms. Dr.Q communicates with the users and guides them through the simulation in a structured manner. With Dr.Q, FEM simulations can become a natural part of the development process. How to protect such digital solutions with IP-design was also the topic of a training by Prof. Alexander Wurzer at Dr. Q on 16.01.2024.