| Course | MKT-3350 New Product Development and Marketing |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 4 |
| Paper type | Module 4 project part 3: the product development process |
| Length | About 458 words, 4 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Thomas Edison State University |
| Program | B.S.B.A. in Marketing |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MKT 3350 Module 4
From Concept to Countertop: Protocol, Prototypes and a Four-Week Home Test
Student Name
B.S.B.A. in Marketing, Thomas Edison State University
MKT-3350: New Product Development and Marketing
Mentor Name
Month Day, Year
From Concept to Countertop: Protocol, Prototypes and a Four-Week Home Test
The Product Protocol
The textbook describes the product protocol as an agreement among marketing, engineering and other functions on what the product must do and for whom, written as benefits and requirements rather than as a design (Crawford & Di Benedetto, 2021).
Writing requirements as benefits keeps engineers free to find the best design while ensuring the product does what customers need.
| Protocol element | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Target user | Apartment dwellers composting or wishing to compost |
| Primary benefits | No odor, no fruit flies, scraps reduced to a small dry volume |
| Capacity | Scraps from a household of two to four for three to four days |
| Size | Fits under standard kitchen cabinets; footprint no larger than a bread maker |
| Noise | Quiet enough to run overnight near a bedroom |
| Price | $129 at retail, allowing a 45 percent retailer margin |
| Regulatory | Electrical safety certification required for retail sale |
Organizing Development
Shore Home Goods has no in-house electrical engineers, so it contracted an engineering firm in New Jersey to design the drying and grinding system, while its own designers handled the housing and user experience. A cross-functional team of the product manager, a designer, a sourcing manager, the outside engineers and a customer service representative met weekly. Ulrich and Eppinger (2016) emphasize that integrating marketing, design and manufacturing early reduces costly changes later.
Prototypes
The team built two prototype rounds. The first, a working rig without the final housing, proved that the system could reduce a day's scraps by about 80 percent in volume overnight. The second, in the final housing, was used for home testing.
In-Home Use Test
Thirty prototype units were placed in apartments in Jersey City, Hoboken and New Brunswick for four weeks. Users kept a short diary and answered surveys at the end of weeks one and four. The results were strong on the primary benefits: 27 of 30 reported no odor and none reported fruit flies. But 11 users said the grinding cycle was too loud to run overnight, violating the protocol's noise requirement. The engineers added insulation and changed the cycle to grind in short bursts, and a follow-up test with ten units found the noise acceptable.
Ready for Launch?
Cooper (1990) describes a gate before launch at which the project must show that the product meets its requirements and that the business case holds. The dehydrator now meets its protocol, and its estimated cost allows the planned retail price and margin. Electrical safety certification is under way.
Conclusion
A protocol written as benefits, a cross-functional team, two prototype rounds and a four-week home test took the dehydrator from concept to a product ready for launch, and the test caught a noise problem that would have hurt reviews.
References
Cooper, R. G. (1990). Stage-gate systems: A new tool for managing new products. Business Horizons, 33(3), 44-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/0007-6813(90)90040-I
Crawford, C. M., & Di Benedetto, C. A. (2021). New products management (12th ed.). McGraw Hill.
Ulrich, K. T., & Eppinger, S. D. (2016). Product design and development (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
What the MKT 3350 Module 4 instructions ask for
Part 3 of the project covers the product development process. Expect to write a product protocol, describe how development is organized and how the product is designed and prototyped, and plan or report testing in real use. Write the protocol as benefits and requirements, not as a design. If you cannot build a prototype, describe how you would develop and test one and what you would measure. Explain how testing results would change the design before launch. Name who will develop the product and how decisions will be coordinated across functions. Describe the test in enough detail that a reader could repeat it.
How the MKT 3350 Module 4 example is put together
The paper opens with a product protocol in a table, written as benefits and requirements. A section explains how development is organized with a cross-functional team and an outside partner, supported by research on integrated development. A prototype section describes two rounds. An in-home use test section reports results, including a failure and its fix. A section checks readiness for launch against a stage-gate, and the conclusion summarizes the path from concept to product. The protocol table states requirements the test then checks, so the reader can see that the product was judged against its own promises. The test's failure and fix are reported plainly, which is the evidence that development worked as intended. A readiness check against the launch gate closes the part.
MKT 3350 Module 4 rubric: what earns full marks
Mentors grade this project part on a clear protocol, a realistic development plan, meaningful testing and clear writing. Protocols written as benefits rather than features show understanding of the textbook's approach. Testing that reports problems as well as successes demonstrates the purpose of use testing. Linking development to a launch gate shows awareness of the full process, and the cross-functional organization reflects research on how development works best. Mentors also value attention to regulatory and cost requirements, since a product that cannot be certified or sold at its target price is not ready for launch. A protocol table the test can be checked against, plus correct references, rounds out the grade. Testing that checks every protocol requirement shows rigor.
MKT 3350 Module 4 help from the desk
Students lose points by writing protocols that specify designs instead of benefits, by skipping testing or by reporting only positive results. Others ignore regulatory requirements. State what the product must do for the user. Explain who will develop it and how. Test in real conditions and report what went wrong. Name any certifications the product needs before sale. Plan a second test if the first one finds a problem, so you can show the fix worked. Change the protocol only when testing shows a requirement was mistaken. A free first sample on your own MKT-3350 project part 3 is available on request.
Write yours, or have the desk draft it
This paper is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Thomas Edison State University document. Read it for the moves, then write your own to the instructions in your classroom. If you want one built to your exact prompt and rubric, the first custom sample is free and arrives in 24 to 48 hours.
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MKT 3350 Module 4 questions, answered
Where can I find a free MKT 3350 Module 4 sample paper?
A countertop dehydrator's protocol, two prototype rounds and a four-week home test with a noise fix make up Part 3 above.
What is a product protocol?
An agreement among functions on what a product must do and for whom, written as benefits and requirements.
Why use cross-functional teams in development?
Integrating marketing, design and manufacturing early reduces costly changes later.
What is an in-home use test?
A test in which customers use a prototype in real conditions and report on its performance.
Why test before tooling?
Problems found after tooling are far more expensive to fix than those found in prototype testing.