Linda Nhu Laursen, Mário Barros, Christina Nielsen, Caroline Nøkleby, Katrine Nielsen

No Product Lifetime!

Introduction

No product lifetime!. Unlock insights into new product failures. Learn why 40% of products never achieve lifetime success, analyzing mistakes from Danish design companies to prevent future costly errors.

Abstract

Approximately 40% of new product introduction fail when entering the market. Thus valuable resources are spent producing products that never achieve a product lifetime with any users. Companies tend to remove products from their portfolio because of poor sales figures or because they are no longer representing the company’s strategies, but they do so without reflecting on why these exact products failed. This tendency might lead to products repeating the same mistakes that are destined to fail. The purpose of this paper is to investigate failed products from small Danish design companies in order to learn from these mistakes and prevent them from happening again. Factors leading to product failure have been studied by analyzing 35 specific products from two small Danish design companies. By examining the companies’ own reasons for discontinuing these products, the study identifies key contributing factors, including portfolio management, product insecurities, and reliance on existing product success.

Review

The title, "No Product Lifetime!", immediately signals a direct and impactful investigation into a critical business challenge. This paper tackles the alarmingly high rate of new product failures, stating that approximately 40% of new introductions do not achieve a sustainable presence in the market. The abstract astutely identifies a significant gap in current corporate practice: the tendency to discontinue products due to poor sales or strategic misalignment without adequately reflecting on the root causes of their failure. This lack of introspection, as highlighted by the authors, risks perpetuating the same costly mistakes. The stated purpose—to learn from these failures in small Danish design companies—is highly relevant and promises valuable insights for both academia and industry. Methodologically, the study proposes to analyze 35 specific failed products from two small Danish design companies, a focused approach that could yield rich, context-specific data. By examining the companies' own rationales for discontinuing these products, the research aims to uncover authentic internal perspectives on failure. The abstract presents key contributing factors identified, including issues related to portfolio management, 'product insecurities,' and an over-reliance on the success of existing products. These findings point towards a blend of strategic, psychological, and operational challenges that are likely to resonate with companies grappling with product development and innovation. Overall, this paper appears poised to make a practical and timely contribution by converting past failures into actionable learning opportunities. The identified factors offer a concrete framework for design companies, particularly smaller ones, to critically assess their product development processes and portfolio strategies before and during product launch. While the specific context of small Danish design companies might limit direct generalizability, the underlying themes of poor portfolio strategy, internal doubt, and misplaced reliance on past success are likely universal. Future research could build upon these findings by exploring the precise mechanisms through which these factors contribute to failure and by investigating their manifestation in larger organizations or different industry sectors.

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