One of the more difficult tasks for a company is launching new products. Quite often much emphasis is placed on designing and developing products, and the actual launch goes unplanned (or under-planned) until it’s too late.

What problems have you faced when trying to launch a new product? What effect did it have on the product launch? I recently learned about a new System Design program at Cornell University structured to help you master the skills to take your products to a successful launch. I’ve teamed up with Caridan Marketing on the following offer for Lead on Purpose readers:

Caridan Marketing Labs is an interactive and social media marketing firm based in New York City. As eCornell’s marketing agency, we partnered with them to launch a new Systems Design program. Their newest online certificate, A Systems Approach to Product and Service Design is authored by Professor Peter Jackson, Director of Systems Engineering at Cornell University. In six two-week courses, leaders will master a proven eight-step methodology and structured process that can be used to take an idea to the point where it can be handed off for completion.

In working and talking with driven leaders it has been shown that the projects that are most difficult to manage are usually related to new product and service launches.  Scope creep, unclear requirements, and inter/intra team miscommunication can become a recipe for disaster! What some leaders are missing is a proven methodology that will help them to understand how to design and develop products and services the right way from the beginning- and avoid common pitfalls in the process.

In this program, leaders will:

• Learn a structured methodology for designing products/services the right way
• Avoid the pitfalls that can lead to “designs gone wrong”
• Earn a certificate from Cornell University in under three months

We’d like to offer a contest to you, the readers, where you can post your biggest challenge you when launching a new product/service. We will give all entrants a $100 discount on the tuition for eCornell’s program. We will also select the best ‘story’ and provide that winner with a 10% discount on our program when they enroll. We will also share the winning story on our website at www.ecornell.com. The deadline for all entries is August 15^th, 2009.

You can find more information about our program at www.ecornell.com or please take a look at our recent press release eCornell Press Release.

Please share your story as a comment to this post by August 15, 2009 and you’re entered to win!