The Smart Risk-Playbook Newsletter
Helping business leaders prevent product risks |
|
|
|
In many product businesses, product development is still treated as an overhead rather than a strategic investment. That mindset often hides some of the biggest risks a business faces. Inefficiencies, slow learning, delayed decisions, and wasted effort all increase the likelihood of missed deadlines, cost overruns, and products that struggle in the market.
In the last newsletter, we looked at understanding and meeting regulatory requirements. Product standards are often either mandated by particular regulations or serve as a key way for you to demonstrate compliance.
Standards can be grouped by function in relation to safety. The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) for example classifies safety-related standards into three categories: The product verification plan is a roadmap for testing and validating a product’s performance throughout the development phase. It outlines how your business will demonstrate that your product meets its targets and is safe, durable, and fit for purpose.
Many organisations are already measuring their operational carbon emissions. But for product-based businesses, these emissions often represent only a small portion, sometimes less than 10% (McKinsey & Company, 2024), of the total footprint when the full product lifecycle is considered.
In our last newsletter, we began exploring Sustainable Product Design and introduced the idea that unsustainability usually occurs when we:
When people talk about sustainable product design, they are usually referring to environmental sustainability, rather than economic, or social sustainability. More specifically, the sustainability of the ecosystems that products interact with and depend on for their creation. This includes aspects such as the depletion of natural resources, pollution, climate change and the long-term health of air, water, soil, and biodiversity.
The Product Design Brief (or Product Scope), is a critical document for reducing product risks during the product development phase. This document accompanies the concept throughout development and is referenced and updated as the project progresses. Each business typically develops its own template for this document, containing targets and outcomes relevant to their specific products.
After ensuring a product is safe, durable, and manufacturable, there’s another critical risk to manage: how well the product actually works for the people using it. Poor user-centric design might not cause harm, but it can lead to:
Even the smartest product ideas fall flat if they can’t be built efficiently. Yet, it happens all too often, even in experienced teams. Teams get deep into development only to discover that their design isn’t practical to produce, or needs major changes to suit real-world constraints. The result? Delays, redesign loops, and frustration for everyone involved.
In the last newsletter we looked at reducing injury risk through thoughtful safety mechanism design. In addition to fail-safe principles (newsletter #4) and good safety mechanism design (newsletter #5), there are other smart design choices that can reduce the chances of common failures. To finish off this series on how good design plays a critical role in reducing product risks, here are four common failures that often lead to injury and how you can reduce those risks:
|
Categories
All
Bringing a product to market, whether it’s a new launch or an established line, comes with challenges at every stage. I’ve seen firsthand how unexpected risks can derail even the most innovative businesses.
My goal with this newsletter is to help you anticipate these risks, make informed decisions, and strengthen your business’s resilience. Each issue, you’ll gain practical insights such as: By understanding what’s happening behind the scenes, you’ll be equipped to ask the right questions, challenge assumptions, and create a business that runs smoothly, without unexpected setbacks slowing you down. |
RSS Feed
