Common reasons why smart connected products fail—and how to avoid them

6 minute read
September 05, 2024

With 45% of CEOs worldwide saying that their companies won’t remain viable in the next decade if they continue their current trajectory, many are turning to IoT-enabled devices to help drive business agility and growth. From devices that can enhance workplace safety to the potential of wearables and virtual reality (VR), there are abundant possibilities to leverage connected physical products (CPPs).

However, despite the creativity behind these innovations, many of them may never reach consumers. To help your CPP launch — and thrive — you should understand the common challenges to avoid. From navigating complex regulatory landscapes to enabling seamless user adoption, understanding these obstacles is important to helping your CPP not only reach the market but also resonate with consumers. Careful planning and foresight can be your best allies in turning potential roadblocks into stepping stones for success.

In this article, we’ll explore the common mistakes that can hinder your launch and discuss actionable strategies to help you bring innovative products to market successfully.

Common mistakes to launching successful electronic consumer products

IoT-enabled products have three main components — physical (parts), smart (sensors, microprocessors, software, operating systems) and connectivity (ports, antennas, cloud, applications). In many cases, the primary reason for product development challenges is the failure to execute effectively. This can manifest in various ways such as missing milestones, exceeding budget and rushing deadlines, which can all lead to poorly designed products and failed expectations. Here are some reasons why these breakdowns may happen.

Thorough market research allows you to gain valuable insights into customer preferences, needs and market trends. Market testing can help identify potential flaws or areas for improvement before a product reaches the consumer. Neglecting these steps can often result in failure to meet customer expectations and missed opportunities.

In today’s competitive market, it’s essential to offer unique and compelling advantages that can set your product apart from the competition. Customers are more likely to choose products that can provide innovative features, solve their problems or offer a distinct value proposition.

By identifying and understanding risks and challenges early on, you can develop strategies to help address them effectively. Mismanaging these risks can lead to unexpected problems and setbacks, such as product recalls or negative customer experiences. A proactive approach to risk management can give you the time you need to implement measures to decrease the likelihood — and impact — of issues.

Many customers are drawn to products that they perceive as well-designed. If a product fails to meet quality standards set by the customer, it will likely struggle to gain traction in the market. Before building your product, you should know the expectations of your users and what materials can help meet them.

Even the most talented teams are susceptible to groupthink, which can significantly impact decision-making processes. Interestingly, the more cohesive and collaborative a team is, the greater the likelihood groupthink could lead to ineffective decisions. To counteract this, it’s essential to involve external resources at critical points in the process. By constantly challenging decision-making through the inclusion of outsiders who can bring fresh perspectives, you can enhance the quality of decision-making processes.

How a design and engineering services firm can help

With the right strategies and solutions — and team — you can significantly increase your chances of attaining goals. If you decide to solicit external perspective for product design and development, you should look for experience in mechanical engineering and product development processes. Ideally, this third party should know how to:

An effective advisor can help you map out clear objectives to provide direction and purpose to your vision, allowing you to attain more tangible results. This roadmap can anticipate future challenges, mitigate risks and help you stay ahead of the competition.

For IoT products, you should determine the technology you’ll use for connectivity. A design and engineering advisor can help you decide on the method of data transfer to cloud and how immediate the data transmission should be. They can also help you find the resources to develop and support the software, data management and analytics needed by your business and customers.

The ideal advisor should be capable of quick prototyping and creating a minimum viable product (MVP), with a strong understanding of engineering, materials, manufacturing processes and scalability. They should focus on improving customer experiences and helping your company stay flexible in response to market and technology changes, all while staying true to your core vision.

Launching a product is only the beginning. You should know what to do during the post-launch phase, making sure that your product meets the expectations of your customers and stakeholders. A guiding hand can provide you with ongoing support who can help you navigate regulatory requirements, tax risks and sales strategies to take advantage of opportunities and reach revenue goals.

Making it to market with Surfaceink

Surfaceink, part of PwC’s network, specializes in handling complex projects and can help deliver innovative and elegant products from concept to production. Surfaceink can help organizations navigate the intricacies of technology, materials and the unique elements that help companies stay at the forefront of innovation and readily bring their visions to life.

When one client company came up with an idea for a new connected product, wireless earbuds using Bluetooth, it called on Surfaceink to help develop proof-of-concept. Our mechanical engineering team helped design and build a patentable, over-the-body wave technology to maintain signal around the human body to enable untethered earbuds. Surfaceink guided the client through functioning prototypes, electrical engineering, hardware development and system design. And with a clear roadmap, the client confidentially took the product to market.

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Russell Rasmus

Lead - Product Development, Manufacturing and Connected Products & Solutions Advisory, PwC US

Eric Bauswell

Principal, PwC US

Ben Cooper

Director, Operations Consulting, Product Development and Manufacturing, PwC US

Tiago Leal