What you should know before jumping into development of your first IoT product
For the last couple of years, the term “IoT” became a buzz-word, everybody talking about the potential of the IoT field, tons of new-backed startup-leaders making their best to build something great and the coolest thing is that a lot of them make really good (and sometimes crazy good) staff.
Working with products in the IoT area makes us understand that the development of IoT products is slightly different from other tech products. So, if you are the one who wants to join the IoT madness and you have a pretty good idea of the IoT product then you definitely must be aware of the 4 main differences that shape the development in the IoT field.
1. It will take you more time to get the right team.
Building your IoT project you must be ready to cover the issues about software and hardware development at the same time. That’s why you should understand that your team must consist of the experts in different areas because it’s almost impossible for one person to cover all the issues that might appear during the development phase. And first of all, this issue applies to the product manager and the project manager positions in your team – while in all other fields these two positions can be presented by one person, in IoT product development the more people with different expertise will be engaged into product development – the higher the chances that you will finish with quality result.
2. Don’t waste your time developing hardware on the MVP stage.
One of the biggest mistakes that a lot of entrepreneurs make when starting their product in IoT – is to jump right for the start into developing your own hardware. Thus, it looks more solid when you show potential investors a ready-to-use solution as an MVP, it’s better to use as much hardware “from the shelf” as you can. Especially when you enter the market for the first time, or when you build something new that doesn’t exist yet – try to cooperate with hardware companies and use their solution on this stage. It will save you a lot of money and make the MVP building quicker. And in our reality where time is money, this is the main resource you have to pay attention to and try to minimize it leak.
3. Take a strategic look at your product.
Dreaming big is one of the greatest pieces of advice in building IoT products. When starting working on your product try to see the picture of the product development from different angles and perspectives. What features/additional technologies you want to add to it in the next 1-5 years? What segments of the market you will want to cover in the future? How will you change the audience of your users in the next decade? These issues are crucially important also because of the tight combination between soft- and hardware parts of the product in the IoT field. And as soon you will be able to map all the stages of the future product enhancement – the fewer problems you will have in the future with product redesign and redevelopment.
4. Pay close attention to the trends.
Today IoT is more than just a smart house. The well-known automotive companies such as Tesla are also the example of the IoT solution. So, going out the “box-thinking” and applying the philosophy of the IoT in any kind of human life can bring you many more chances to gain the market, than just creating one more app for the smart home system. Be creative and follow the trends in all tech fields to gain the ones that can make a great boost to your idea and your future product.
We hope that these 4 simple pieces of advice will help you in starting your great product. It’s never too late to start something that inspires you, and HumanIT is always here for you to help you with your first steps in product development.
Thank you for your time!
HumanIT team
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