The 7 stages of the product development lifecycle explained

Every great product starts as an idea. But turning that idea into something real is rarely a straight path. Along the way, teams face tough setbacks, shifting priorities, indifferent users, and more. Given that so many products flop, having a step-by-step process that limits guesswork and keeps everyone on track is development gold.

Enter the product development lifecycle. This is a 7-step path that offers a clear way to tackle these challenges, helping teams turn great ideas into products users love. Here’s what you need to know. 

What is the product development lifecycle?

The product development lifecycle (or PLDC for short) is the process of bringing a product from idea to market. It typically consists of 7 key stages (which we’ll break down later on): 

• Ideation
• Validation
• Prototyping
• Marketing
• Development
• Launch
• Improvement 

Knowing how to successfully navigate each step is a must for any business that wants to create hit products in a focused, consistent way. 

While it’s talked about in linear terms, the product development lifecycle is, as the name implies, cyclical in nature. This means that even after launch, it’s a good idea to improve the product over time — and why reinvent the wheel? Follow the same steps from 1-7, whether you’re making iterative improvements, giving your creation a complete overhaul, or adding a new feature. 

Product development lifecycle vs. product development strategy

A product development strategy is about how you plan and make choices throughout this process, like working out where your product fits in the market, what makes it unique, and how to use your resources. 

So, while the PDLC gives you a clear step-by-step path to follow, the strategy helps ensure the product meets wider business goals and fits what customers want.

Product development lifecycle vs. product lifecycle

Two completely different concepts that are easy to mix up because of the similar-sounding names!

The product development lifecycle refers to creating a new product, from start to finish. The product lifecycle measures how products change over time as they gain or lose sales volume and market share. 

Here are the typical product lifecycle stages:

1. Introduction

2. Growth

3. Maturity

4. Saturation

5. Decline

Typically, you’ll start focusing on product lifecycle management (PLM) after stage 7 (launch) of the product development lifecycle. 

The 7 stages of the product development lifecycle

Now we know what it is and isn’t, let’s take a look at those stages in a little more detail. 

Step 1: Ideation

Ideation (aka “coming up with ideas”) is where. During this stage, teams will brainstorm, explore customer needs, create user personas, and develop a business plan.

Like a tailor measuring someone for a suit, the more you learn about your users, the better your product will fit their needs. You’ll also have a clearer idea of what your product should do, which means you can find solutions faster. 

As part of this stage, you’ll also need to look at what your competitors are doing and figure out where you fit into the broader market via a competitive landscape analysis. What’s your USP? What are they doing that you can do better? What are they not doing? All important questions to ask! 

Quick tip: Don’t worry about what’s practical right now. Brainstorming is about being creative, so let your ideas run free. 

Step 2: Validation

At this point, you’ll want to check if your idea is feasible and if people truly want it. To do that, gather feedback through surveys and interviews, run some user tests, and dig into your website stats. Remember, critiques are just as useful as positive feedback. The goal here is to assess your audience’s appetite and avoid creating a flop. 

Quick tip: mix both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Together, they’ll give you a clearer picture of how your product might do. 

Step 3: Prototyping

Once you know your product has an eager audience, it’s time to make a prototype (or go back to stage 1 if not). This means creating a simple version for your team to test with real users.

If you’re building an app or website, this is when you’ll create wireframes. For a physical product, think of it as a basic model that gives users the gist. 

If you need to make changes, now’s the time. If users point out problems or suggest changes, go back to the previous stage and sort them out before proceeding.

Quick tip: Prototype in stages so you can get feedback on your primary interface and specific features instead of general feedback on the whole thing at the end. No one likes nasty surprises, especially stakeholders. 

Step 4: Marketing

Once you have a workable version of your product, it’s time to start thinking about spreading the word. Because no matter how good it is, if you don’t tell anyone, no-one will use it. 

Start with a marketing plan that outlines your sales and promotion strategies. You’ll want to include press releases, content marketing, social media campaigns, and so on. You’ll also want to define some KPIs, so you can measure your marketing efforts as time goes on.

Hopefully, you created user personas during the research stage. Dig these out and build your message around connecting with this person (or group of people) in a way that resonates. 

Step 5: Development

You’ve got your idea validated, a prototype ready, and a marketing plan in place. Now it’s time to actually build your product.

It’s important to stay flexible and make changes quickly. This means being open to feedback from users during testing and ensuring your design and engineering teams are in sync. One way to approach this is through an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).

An MVP is a bare bones version of your product that you release early. It helps you test and improve your offering as you gather feedback. This method is often better than trying to get everything perfect from the start. And unlike a prototype, it includes all your key features (although they work best together).

Quick tip: Use a diagramming tool for the development stage. With Cacoo, the whole team can create wireframes, leave comments, create user personas, and collaboratively brainstorm via online whiteboards, all from one place. 

Step 6: Launch

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the launch stage! All your hard work has paid off, but now is not the time to pop the champagne cork. You’ll want to plan your launch carefully, making sure everything is in place for a solid start. This includes setting up analytics tools, testing for bugs, updating documentation, etc.

Ideally, you’ll want to ensure a good amount of buzz for launch day. Think of this as being like the rocket fuel that carries you skyward. It could involve sending out press releases and free samples to get people talking, throwing a party, or giving discounts to those first intrepid users. 

You’ll also want to monitor your product closely. Read social media comments, observe users’ interactions with the product, and note any problems they report. Remember, all feedback is useful, even the bad stuff. 

Quick tip: remember to enjoy this stage and celebrate all your hard work! Product development is neither easy nor fast, so allow yourself to bask in the glory of a job well done. 

Step 7: Improvement

The launch stage marks the end of the product development cycle, but it’s certainly not the end of your work. You’ll want to keep track of user feedback and usage reports, as well as performance metrics like conversion rates and engagement levels. 

This will help you spot areas for improvement, allowing you to keep iterating and improving your product over time. A must if you want to stay relevant and ahead of the competition. 

You’ll also want to explore new features as possible ways to improve your product. This could involve redesigning elements of the UI/UX or introducing new tools into the platform. Ultimately, these changes should add value for your users.

Who is responsible for the product development lifecycle?

The short answer? Anyone who’s working on the product. Typically, you’ll include a project manager, designers, engineers, marketers, customer service teams, marketing and sales teams, and senior management.

When it comes to milestone meetings, you’ll probably just include a representative from each department. Smaller meetings between teams will typically involve all designers, all marketers (and so on), or a mixture, depending on the stage and goals. 

Use project management software for a smoother product lifecycle  

Some say the product lifecycle ends at launch. We prefer to think of it as an ongoing process that incorporates constant learning, testing, and iterating. As long as you keep your users in mind and make decisions based on their feedback, you’ll be able to move through the different stages and come out of each one with a solution that’s just right. 

Use product management software to stay on top of all your changes. With Backlog, you can create interactive Gantt charts and Kanban boards to stay on track, plus stay on top of project housekeeping thanks to version control and archiving features. Ready to take it for a spin?

This post was originally published on February 8, 2023, and updated most recently on April 3, 2025.