产品s may fail for many reasons, but timing is undoubtedly a key element in success. 关于推出产品的合适时机，有两种流行的看法. LinkedIn的联合创始人里德·霍夫曼 有句名言: “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.“快速和肮脏是这里的策略. 相反，一些公司选择等到他们有一个完美的产品. 杰夫·贝佐斯 延迟 亚马逊Kindle的首次亮相推迟了几个月，以弥补这一问题, 附加功能, 以及更大目录的发展.

这两种策略都不对:在我的 产品管理 在我的职业生涯中，我看到这两种方法都非常有效. 有一次, fast and imperfect was the right call because the absence of the product on the market would have given the competition a chance to thrive. 出色的客户服务使我们能够处理系统中的多个错误, and an early launch produced a steady cash flow that enabled us to perfect the product. 在某些情况下，带一个 最小可行产品(MVP)) to market is better than burning through your financial resources in pursuit of perfection.

在某些场合, 然而, 持续的版本和新特性可能会让客户感到困惑, 大虫子会阻止它们回来. 推出不完美的产品也会吸引竞争对手, 谁会伺机推出更好的产品来抢走你的客户.

那么应该怎么做? 产品经理 know when to release a product quickly and imperfectly—and when to play the waiting game?

产品发布策略:关键问题

There are several key factors that should inform the timing of your new product launch. 当 规划策略，问自己以下问题.

你需要客户的反馈来完善你的产品吗?

顾客是企业的首席反馈官, 但是创建一个 有价值的初始产品 会有所不同. Shipping a half-baked product can be beneficial in enabling your team to collect critical user feedback as a starting point for improvements or 优先级. 这些产品通常使用“免费增值模式” 商业模式, and directed to early adopters who care more about innovation than perfection.

你的产品需要行为改变吗?

哈佛商学院教授 约翰T. 古尔维尔有句名言 如果一个新公司或新产品想要成功，它不仅要做得更好，而且 9次 优于竞争对手. 为什么? Old habits die hard, so new products must offer dramatic improvements to win customers. 产品 managers should pay attention to the behavioral change required by a new product; products that demand a high degree of change must dramatically improve the 用户体验. Look at existing products on the market: Have they formed habits in customers that will be hard to change?

你的业务有多成熟?

要小心:客户的不满可能会毁掉一笔生意. Startups can launch a low-quality product initially and 迭代 because they have less to lose, whereas an established company rolling out an imperfect product risks damaging its brand and losing a portion of its customer base. 如果你的企业处于成长期, 你的客户可能还没有那么忠诚, 所以一个不成熟的产品很容易被 竞争对手的产品. 新产品必须表现出色，脱颖而出.

你的产品是维生素还是止痛药?

在他的书中 上瘾:如何打造养成习惯的产品尼尔·埃亚尔(Nir Eyal)将产品等同于维生素或止痛药. 维生素, 他说, aren’t taken to solve a specific problem; rather, 它们迎合了消费者的情感需求. 服用维生素是一种需要长期养成的习惯. 然而，服用止痛药是为了缓解剧烈的疼痛. Answering the questions below will help you select the best launch strategy based on whether your product is a vitamin or a painkiller.

• 你的产品正在解决什么问题? Determine whether this is a problem that customers are willing to pay to solve straight away (painkiller), 或者你是否应该用免费产品(维生素)来吸引他们.

• Does the feature suite planned for the initial launch solve the problem (painkiller) or does it require a series of new features (vitamin)? 如果是后者，您需要确保您的初始产品仍然具有 长期吸引客户的必要价值.

• 用户如何形成使用你的产品的习惯? 找出让他们再次出现的诱因——如果这些诱因很强烈的话, 你可以把一种维生素变成止痛药.

你的产品会是第一吗?

成为第一有它的优势，但这不应该是主要目标. Customers are smart buyers—unless there is a high switching cost, they will always opt for better. 优步并不是市场上的第一家，但它提供了一种优越的服务 产品体验. Not being the first means you can benefit from an existing market that the first mover has already educated and nurtured, 你也可以从前辈的错误中学习.

使用 市场研究 你已经指挥了你的 产品开发过程 来影响你的发射时间. Answering these questions will help you understand if you need to release a mature product, 这可能是什么样子呢?

• 你的产品是同类产品中的第一款还是在后期才加入?
• 现在已经有多少竞争者了?
• 你最大的竞争对手是谁?
• 他们的产品彼此之间有什么不同?
• 你们的产品比他们的产品好在哪里?

评估你的团队和组织的准备情况

There are a number of other factors to consider when creating a launch plan that will help promote customer confidence in your new product and enable your product team to continue making improvements. 准备好考虑以下因素.

商业资源

新产品的成功发布需要资金和人力资源. 每次发射都需要资金, particularly if it comes with paid triggers to convert and maintain users; your organization will need financial resources to help the product team improve, 迭代, 主, 规模, 或重新定位. 你还需要让人们准备好与用户互动, 收集反馈, 建立融洽的关系, 满足他们的需求.

性能指标

有洞察力 产品性能 会帮助你确定需要改进的地方吗. 算出哪个 指标 will be important for your product and ensure you have a dashboard set up prior to rollout. I recommend looking at how users are interacting with or benefitting from your key features—they may not use the product in the way you predicted.

一个著名的例子是一个应用程序，它最初被命名为 Burbn. 它有很多功能, allowing users to check in at different locations and share photos of their daily lives. 用户发现它太复杂，忽略了应用程序的完整功能集, 主要是利用照片分享功能. 创始人关注用户的需求, 做了改进, 并将产品重新定位为Instagram. It could be helpful to rank features so you can see exactly where you should invest more effort and resources.

创新会计 is a relatively new concept that has been specifically developed for startups and new products. 如果这些指标在一家成熟的公司中使用，可能值得探索, 比如ROI, 收入, 市场份额, 不适用.

客户参考

Consumers deal with a high degree of digital fatigue—there are too many products out there offering incremental differentiation. 作为更广泛的营销策略的一部分, customer references can have a big impact in helping you stand out from the crowd on launch, 他们也会增加你的商业信誉. 硅谷产品主管 马蒂·凯根建议 that consumer-facing products have 10 to 15 customers already using the product prior to it going to market. 使用评论, 奖状, and even interviews with these customers to showcase the tested quality of the product and speed up adoption and sales.

没有放之四海而皆准的方法

在追求完美的过程中决定是快还是慢, 适用于你的产品的策略将取决于它的独特环境. 正如我所展示的，有许多方面需要考虑. 随着 产品经理, 你需要对用户有深刻的了解, 他们将如何与你的产品互动, 它为他们解决的问题. The maturity of your organization and its readiness are also crucial factors: You need to ensure there are resources in place to support your product beyond its initial rollout. 成功没有科学的公式, but by asking yourself these questions you can make an informed decision and ultimately launch your product in the right place at the right time.