Failed products
At the outset it will be fair enough to state that not all projects result in successful product launches. Having said that, developing new products is something a company should continuously strive for. Each failed product minimizes the time lost in the next project and so on. This is part of the learning curve that every company and every product manager has to go through. The idea is to take the lessons learnt from past projects and apply them at the launch of new ones. Here is a simple table to fill while drawing the product requirements document.
| Feature | Value |
| Similar Product | |
| Hardware issues | |
| Design issues | |
| Software issues | |
| (and so on...) |
This might appear to be a negative approach to start a project but more often than not it will prove to be a case of saving development time.
In some cases, the product is not a failure by itself but it could be a case where the customer interest dwindled or changed. In these cases, it will be a matter of realigning the old product to the new requirement. It helps if the same development team can be carried over to the new project as well. Irrespective, it is imperative that the product's steering committee documents all the relevant information gathered. A failed product's documentation is as important as a new product specification.
In this case, while the original product itself can be removed from the product portfolio, the documentation can be retained.
