The complete process of bringing a new product or service to market, from initial concept and design through testing, manufacturing, and launch.
The term gained prominence during the post-WWII consumer boom, combining 'product' from Latin 'productus' (brought forth) with 'development' from French 'développer' (to unwrap). It became formalized as a business discipline in the 1960s as companies recognized the need for systematic innovation processes.
Product development has been revolutionized by the 'fail fast' philosophy, where companies now celebrate intelligent failures as learning opportunities. What's remarkable is how the timeline has compressed—what once took years now happens in months through rapid prototyping and agile methodologies, fundamentally changing how we think about innovation cycles.
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