Insights

Top 10 Challenges in Digital Product Engineering: Conquering Complexity and Embracing Innovation

UST Product Engineering Team

The increasing application of digital transformation technology and the need for continuous innovation and iteration is driving the growth of the global product engineering services market. One study states that the digital product engineering services market will reach $1610.6 billion by 2031. This growth is further driven by continuous technological advancements, the emergence of IoT technologies, and the surging demand for accelerating Time to Market.

What is digital product engineering?

Digital product engineering involves designing, developing, and maintaining digital products like mobile and other apps, software, and websites. It demands various skills like understanding the latest trends and technologies, technical know-how, problem-solving abilities, and engineering capabilities. However, it also faces several challenges that can make it hard to deliver high-quality products in a timely and cost-effectively.

Here are the top ten challenges facing digital product engineering:

1. Complexity: Digital products involve multiple layers of technology and integration with other systems. This can be complex, making identifying and fixing problems challenging and increasing the risk of errors and security vulnerabilities.

2. Constant change: The field of digital product engineering is constantly evolving, with new technologies and best practices always emerging. Keeping up with these changes can be challenging and staying ahead of the curve can be difficult.

3. Limited resources: Digital product engineering projects often have tight budgets and limited resources, making it challenging to deliver high-quality products. There may need more time or money to thoroughly test and debug a product, leading to problems that are only discovered after the product has been released.

4. Communication barriers: Digital product engineering teams often include people with a wide range of skills and expertise, and effective communication is essential to ensure everyone is on the same page. However, communication can be challenging when team members are in different parts of the world or when there are language barriers.

5. User experience: Users expect digital products to be easy to use and intuitive, and it can take time to strike the right balance between simplicity and functionality. User experience can lead to low adoption rates and negative reviews.

6. Security: Digital products are vulnerable to hacking, data breaches, and malware. Ensuring the security of a product is a constant challenge, as new threats are constantly emerging.

7. Integration with other systems: Digital products often must integrate with other systems, such as databases and APIs. This can be challenging, as different systems may use various technologies and standards.

8. Lack of standardization: There are many different platforms, languages, and tools used in digital product engineering, and often no one-size-fits-all solution. Choosing the right tools and technologies for a project can make it easier.

9. Testing and debugging: A significant challenge is ensuring a reliable and bug-free digital product. Testing and debugging can be time-consuming and costly, and it can be challenging to identify and fix all problems before a product is released.

10. Scalability: Digital products often need to handle many users and a high traffic volume. Ensuring a scalable product can be challenging, as it may need to be redesigned or re-architected as it grows.

How to overcome challenges of digital product engineering

The challenges can feel overwhelming, and you may feel that disruption is happening faster than you can handle. The question is, is your organization structured to address it effectively? Starting with the most significant issues facing your operations is the right step forward. What do you want to improve? Production flexibility? Energy usage? Throughput? Digital adoption? Answers to these questions will help you navigate the digital transformation landscape successfully.

The process starts with identifying gaps in product engineering processes, reducing complexity and cost, monetizing digital transformations, and continuously improving product design.

• A clear roadmap
  One of the major pathways to overcoming these challenges is the need for a clear roadmap for digital transformation. With a well-defined and comprehensive business plan, it will be easier to identify potential areas of improvement and prioritize the changes. The right strategy would ensure that your efforts align with the company's business strategy and objectives.
  
  There may be resistance from employees or stakeholders to change, which can further complicate the process, which needs to be considered during the planning. Involving them at the onset of the process will ensure that they are willing to make changes as necessary to achieve the desired outcomes. The plan should be flexible so that you can continuously assess and adjust the plan. Establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) is also essential to measure the success of the digital transformation.
• Agility and automation
  Implementing agile development methodologies and automating processes to reduce complexity and cost in product engineering is essential. This can be achieved through DevOps and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) practices. It is also helpful to leverage cloud-based technologies and adopt a microservices architecture to improve scalability and flexibility.
• Identifying the right audience
  Identifying and targeting specific market segments or customer groups most likely to benefit from the changes to monetize digital transformations is essential. Additionally, it may be helpful to develop new revenue streams or business models that can be leveraged to generate additional revenue.
• Invest in R&D
  Finally, to continuously improve product design, it is important to invest in research and development and gather customer feedback regularly. This can be achieved through user testing and surveys and implementing a customer feedback loop.
• Identifying gaps
  In terms of identifying gaps in product engineering processes, it would be beneficial to conduct a process mapping exercise or a gap analysis to understand the current state of the product engineering process. This can be done by analyzing the workflows, communication channels, and decision-making processes that are currently in place. Once the current state is understood, it will be easier to identify areas where improvements can be made.
• Set the team up for success
  To further reduce complexity and cost in product engineering, it would be important to establish clear roles and responsibilities for team members and implement standard operating procedures (SOPs) for everyday tasks. Additionally, investing in training and development programs for team members may be beneficial to ensure they have the skills and knowledge necessary to implement the digital transformation plan effectively.
• Invest in market research
  In terms of monetizing digital transformations, conducting market research and identifying potential revenue streams that align with the company's strengths and capabilities are crucial. Establishing partnerships and collaborations with other companies and organizations are essential to help generate new revenue streams.
• Set up a solid feedback channel
  Finally, to continuously improve product design, it is vital to establish a process for gathering and analyzing customer feedback. This can be done by creating a customer feedback loop that allows customers to provide product feedback and suggest improvements.

Gain a competitive advantage with end-to-end digital engineering

As we can see, the above digital product engineering challenges can make delivering high-quality products promptly and cost-effectively difficult. But the latest technologies, best practices, and help from the right technology partner can help you overcome these challenges.

UST's end-to-end digital engineering offerings address enterprise-grade, next-gen engineering challenges and help and deliver products that meet the needs of their users. We provide faster development cycles and go-to-market strategies with fewer touchpoints. Best practices allow us to impact P&L and create differentiation among peers positively.

Learn more about UST's unique approach to digital engineering.