Revenue Generation and Development Time
The final version of a product, when it requires very few updates and is already well-established, requires roughly the same number of development hours for both Agile and Waterfall approaches. However, the launch time for Agile is substantially shorter. What may take weeks or months in Agile, typically require years in Waterfall.
- Agile development leads to substantially quicker product launches and the beginning of revenue generation. Even in the early iterations, where the product is usable and might even be entirely free to use, it collects much customer feedback both during the beta period and after the product has been released. The product's utility grows exponentially, and the Agile method allows it to be responsive to any modifications in user behavior and preferences.
- The rigorous nature of Waterfall development leaves very little flexibility for gathering and incorporating feature-based feedback while a feature is still being developed. This means that the product does not generate revenue or expand its user base over time. Therefore, it may miss out on emerging trends and competitively introduced new features.
Role of User Surveys and Customer Feedback
Both Waterfall and Agile methodologies include feasibility studies that call for customer input. A development project can proceed only by passing customer feedback evaluations that ensure the intended product will have a particular level of adoption-based utility. Conjoint analysis is a vital component of both approaches used for market viability tests now.
- Agile approaches consider the limitations of feasibility surveys and research and put a lot of effort into gathering user test input before launch and consumer feedback after launch. It makes Agile product teams more responsive to shifting user preferences and helps them outperform established market competitors.
- Waterfall prioritizes user interface testing and product usage input before beginning development work. It does not carry out end-user research for each produced feature. For this reason, the final product may lack crucial functionality based on new user behaviors since development time is significantly longer for the Waterfall method.
Developmental Iterations and Stages
The stages of Waterfall still apply to each iteration of an Agile project, even if it is intended to work in multiple iterations. These include ideation, planning, development, testing, and release.
Agile iteration planning is much more feedback-centric, while in Waterfall, each iteration is contained by the set work-in-progress limits. The entire developmental deck is planned at once. Moreover, Waterfall user testing focuses mainly on UI/UX rather than feature utility.
Human Resource and Investment Requirements
Lead teams can use Agile methodologies to produce a product ready for launch, and they can dynamically scale based on requirements and successes with each iteration. Because of this, an Agile team can start small and expand as the product succeeds.
Waterfall demands a more significant initial capital outlay since it engages teams based on the overall strength required to produce the finished product at a time when ROI and revenue possibilities are simply projections.
Important Forms of Product Development Techniques
Managing the workflow can be tricky regardless of your business's size, goals, values, or market share. How can we deal with change, adjust, and take advantage of it? What happens when the workflow we believed we had under complete control changes unexpectedly? Here are the top 4 product development techniques to have you covered.
Lean Hypothesis
Lean Hypothesis divides the process into testable segments. It minimizes risk, speeds up development, and fosters product trust. It is a highly alluring and helpful product development technique. Lean hypothesis works best when you need to fix a problem that you found with a particular step in the process. It is also beneficial when you have a product idea and need to be concise and organized.
With this technique, you can individually intervene in each stage of the product's development as soon as a problem is found and rebalance it. As a result, you will have a smoother experience for the customer and flawless operation of the product.
The Full Marketing Funnel
Due to the complexity of the marketing process, it should be handled in segments, giving each stage the consideration and research it requires. Because of this, the Full Marketing Funnel technique is quite effective. It emphasizes conversion between stages rather than just the final conversion.
