The development process

Market research

The original concept is the basic idea for something. Indesigning products and services, market research - finding out what people want - is of course very important. This may involve questionnaires or surveys, with questions aoubt what people buy and why, perhaps with interviews in the street or by telephone.

There my be consumer panels and focus groups, where ordinary people meet to discuss product ideas informally. Perhaps the researchs will make sales forecasts, estimates of how many products will be sold.

Words

BrE consumer panel ArE focus group

a group of people organized by a company or an organization doing market research to give their opinions about products

Using the findings of consumer panels across the country, we redesigned over 1, 000 existing products.

forecast /ˈfɔːkɑːst $ ˈfɔːrkæst/ ★★☆ n.

[countable] a description of what is likely to happen in the future, based on the information that you have now

The weather forecast is good for tomorrow

Development and launch

In software, developers often produce a final test version, the beta version, where users are asked to point out bugs(problems) before the software is finalized.

Car designer use CADCAM(computer-assisted design/computer-assisted menufacturing) to help develop and make products and test different prototypes.

Researchers in laboratories may take years to develop new drugs, testing or trialing them in trials to show not only they are effective, but aslo they are safe. Drugs need to be made on an industrial scale before they can be sold.

Rollout is the process of making a product available, perhaps in particular places, to test reaction.

Product launch is the moment when the product is officially made available for sale. This is the ‘big moment’.

If a design defect or design fault is found in a product after it has been launched, the company may have to recall it, asking those who have bought it to return it, perhaps so that the defect can be corrected.

Words

beta version n.

[countable] software that is being tested by people who will use it, to see if it works properly

As it’s a beta version, it’s tricky to give ClarisWorks a star rating.

CADCAM

computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacturing

trial /ˈtraɪəl/ ★★★ S3 W2 n.

[countable, uncountable] a process of testing to find out whether something works

a new drug that is undergoing clinical trials.

[countable, uncountable] a legalprocess in which a judge and often a jury in a court of law examine information to decide whether someone is guilty of a crime

The trial is due to start next week.

rollout /ˈrəʊlaʊtˈroʊl-/ n.

[countable, uncountable] when a new product or service is made available in a region or country after it has been successfully tested and marketed locally

It has been testing the service for rollout sometime this summer.

design defect/design fault

a fault or a lack of something in design

Due to design defect, all products have sold were recalled yesterday.

recall /rɪˈkɔːl $ ˈriːkɒːl/ ★★☆ v.

[transitive] if a company recalls one of its products, it asks people who have bought it to return it because there may be something wrong with it

The cars had to be recalled due to an engine fault.

[intransitive, transitive not in progressive] to remember a particular fact, event, or situation from the past.

You don’t happen to recall his name, do you?

Additional words

eliminate /ɪˈlɪməneɪt/ ★★☆ vt.

to completely get rid of something that is unnecessery or unwanted

The credit card eliminates the need for cash or cheques.

by the time

right before a moment

elk /elk/ n.

[countable] a very large brown North American, European, and Asian animal with wide flat horns

reindeer /ˈreɪndɪə $ -dɪr/ n.

[countable] a large deer with long wide antlers(=horns), that lives in cold northern areas

It is the end of this time. : )