Abstract: This paper argues that a product development exercise
involves in addition to the conventional stages, several decisions
regarding other aspects. These aspects should be addressed
simultaneously in order to develop a product that responds to the
customer needs and that helps realize objectives of the stakeholders
in terms of profitability, market share and the like. We present a
framework that encompasses these different development
dimensions. The framework shows that a product development
methodology such as the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is the
basic tool which allows definition of the target specifications of a
new product. Creativity is the first dimension that enables the
development exercise to live and end successfully. A number of
group processes need to be followed by the development team in
order to ensure enough creativity and innovation. Secondly,
packaging is considered to be an important extension of the product.
Branding strategies, quality and standardization requirements,
identification technologies, design technologies, production
technologies and costing and pricing are also integral parts to the
development exercise. These dimensions constitute the proposed
framework. The paper also presents a mathematical model used to
calculate the design targets based on the target costing principle. The
framework is used to study a case of a new product development in
the telecommunications services sector.