Product analysis is the process of evaluating a product for the purpose of product development, review, or purchasing. This evaluation can be conducted by the producer, the customer, or a third party, such as a product review blog. During product analysis, the product may be tested and information gathered from various sources, including customers and industry analysts. The analysis may also involve comparing the product to competing products on the market. When a customer performs the evaluation, the product may be assessed based on a set of requirements or customer needs. Overall, product analysis helps to identify strengths and weaknesses of a product and inform decision-making about its development, marketing, and sale. The following are illustrative examples of product analysis.
Cost
Evaluation of cost such as a product development team that calculates how much a proposed design will cost to produce at scale.
Functions
Functions are what a product does. For example, a customer may evaluate the functionality of an industrial robot against a set of requirements.
Features
Features are how functions are implemented. For example, two air purifiers that perform similar functions in removing fine particles from air that have different user interfaces. Features are often evaluated in terms of usability.
Performance
The performance of a product such as the responsiveness of a snowboard.
Figure of Merit
A measurable element of product performance such as a CPU benchmark for a computing device.
Ingredients & Materials
The quality of a product’s ingredients or materials such as a food product with natural organic ingredients as compared to a product with chemical additives.
Sensory Analysis
Sensory analysis is the evaluation of products using human senses such as taste, smell, touch, sight, sound and sensation.
Look & Feel
The overall visual appeal of the product.
Customer Experience
The end-to-end customer experience including the services that may be offered with the product. For example, considering the level of customer support offered by a bank as part of the analysis of a financial product.
Packaging
The experience of opening up the product and reusing packaging.
Productivity
How much you accomplish with the product in a unit of time. For example, a mobile phone that makes it easy to quickly enter text.
Efficiency
The resource consumption of the product such as the power used by a refrigerator.
Durability
The ability of the product to retain value over time and when subjected to stresses. For example, a leather couch that still looks new after 5 years as opposed to one that looks worn in 6 months. This may be evaluated with accelerated life testing or with information from existing customers of the product.
Reliability
Consistent performance over time. For example, a printer that maintains high uptime across all customers versus a printer that has a reputation for downtime and being difficult to maintain.
Customization
The ability to configure the product to your preferences or requirements.
Compatibility
How well the product integrates with other things such as a mobile phone that effortlessly integrates with data backup tools and hardware offered by many manufacturers.
Standards
Compliance with standards such as a pillow that is independently certified to have low emissions of VOCs.
Sustainability
The impact of the product on the environment and communities.
Safety
Evaluating product safety such as an organization that performs crash tests on vehicles.
Risk
The risk associated with a product such as the risk of vendor lock-in associated with a software product.
Security & Privacy
Evaluations of the security and privacy of a product. For example, considering the value of an household appliance that connects to the internet versus the security implications of this connectivity.
Terms & Conditions
The legal agreements that come with a product. For example, the software license agreements that apply to a mobile phone.
Conformance Quality
A product with adequate quality control such that every product is the same as opposed to the customer facing a risk of obtaining a defective product. Customers may evaluate this by looking for customer reviews that report a defect product or by seeking data from consumer protection agencies and organizations.
Reputation
A summary of the producer’s reputation including your experiences with its products.
Value
Comparing the ratio of quality to price. In this context, quality is evaluated in terms of the product’s fitness for purpose.
