![\"CAD](\"https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/CAD-2D-Drafting-Product-Development-Guide-min.jpg\")
<\/figure> The ideation stage is the initial stage of our product development\nguide. It lays a strong and stable foundation for the rest of the product\ndevelopment process. Making critical errors in this phase may result in needing\nto make significant changes during the later stages. <\/p>
Ideation begins with defining the idea of the final project and\nprepares the industrial design company for the product design process. <\/p>
1. Project Briefing<\/strong><\/p> The first thing that is needed to design and develop a product is understanding the problem and the client\u2019s vision. The industrial design company<\/a> will conduct a face-to-face or virtual meeting with you in which they will discuss your ideas and expectations.<\/p> During this stage, clear communication is paramount. You\nneed to clearly articulate to the industrial design company what you envision your\nfinal product to be. Some questions that you may want to answer during this\nstage are:<\/p> Share as many details as possible. It will enable your designer to more accurately translate your vision into a completed final product. It may also be useful if you shared with them some rough sketches of your product. <\/p> 2. Market Research and Analysis<\/strong><\/p> Before proceeding with the product concept design, the\nindustrial design company will investigate factors that may affect product\ndesign specifications. <\/p> First of all, it\u2019s important to understand your future\ncustomers. The design team will do that by developing several customer persona\nprofiles. <\/p> Saying that your product aims to help college students or\nstay-at-home moms isn\u2019t enough to develop a quality product. Customer or buyer personas\nare fictional depictions of your ideal customers. They are detailed and\nspecific and aim to pinpoint the exact pain points of your future buyers. <\/p> This will enable the industrial design company to focus on\naspects like the color of the product or its shape. These may not be something that\nyou have thought of, but they can leave a different psychological effect on\nyour potential customers. <\/p> The color<\/a> of your future product may determine the success of its sales. Each color represents and elicits a different emotion. <\/p> For instance, blue represents trust and loyalty while green\nsymbolizes health and harmony. So, if your product is a vacuum cleaner, blue\nmay help you sell it by communicating to buyers that it\u2019s trustworthy and\ndependable. Meanwhile, choosing green may communicate that this vacuum cleaner\nis helping establish a green and eco-friendly household. Both will target\ndifferent kinds of buyers and choosing a conflicting color can convey a\ncompletely different message. <\/p> Similarly, shape<\/a> has a psychological effect on consumers too. Men will favor angular designs while women will prefer curved forms. So, you may want to have your product look a certain way so that you can better address the preferences of your future buyers. <\/p> There are only some of the factors that your industrial design\ncompany will take into consideration. It will also assess your competition and\ndetermine how your product can stand out. The rest will depend on each\nindividual product. <\/p> The design phase is the next one in our product development\nguide. It takes the idea from simple sketches to a fully developed virtual\nmodel of the final product. <\/p> This phase will determine what the finished product look and\nfeel like to future buyers, how they will be able to interact with the product,\nand how it will psychologically affect them. <\/p> 3. Product Concept Design<\/strong><\/p> Product concept design<\/a> is the stage when you will see your product idea starting to come to life. It can determine the outcome of the final product as a flawed concept design can result in a defected product design<\/a> ultimately failing the entire project. <\/p> With the research data in mind, designers will start making conceptual designs of the product and make sketches of them. These won\u2019t be pencil sketches that were done years ago but rather digital technical sketches. Think professional 2D CAD drafting services<\/a>.<\/p> The designer team will brainstorm ideas and develop concept\ndesigns that will aim to meet your requirement and make the product attractive\nto future customers at the same time. <\/p> As a result, they will present you with a series of\nprovisional product designs. Then, you\u2019ll be able to choose the direction of\nthe project and determine which of the designs will become your final product,\nas well as request any changes or modifications. <\/p> 4. Product Design Visualization <\/strong><\/p> Once you\u2019re happy with the initial 2D CAD drafts of your\nproduct, the industrial design team will import these sketches into another\nprogram that is meant for 3D designs and proceed by making realistic 3D models of\nyour product. <\/p> 3D modeling design<\/a> will enable you to see what your product will look like in real life as opposed to a 2D image. You will also be able to rotate the image and view your product from all angles. This will enable you to make any changes to it before the prototype is even created, saving you a great number of resources. It will also serve as a guideline in prototype creation for the design team. <\/p> Another benefit of three-dimensional depictions of your future product is the ability to use them in promotional materials. By using 3D rendering services<\/a>, you can also acquire highly realistic graphic depictions of your product in a real-life setting. Designers will add texture and lighting to your product making it look hyper-realistic. <\/p> You can then display them on your website, brochures, and\nother marketing materials, or in presentations for your investors. This way,\nyou\u2019ll be able to kick-start your pre-marketing campaign and start creating\nbuzz around your product long before its production has begun. <\/p> Some companies use this stage to test the potential market\ndemand for their product. They present their customers with 3D images of their\nproducts and allow them to choose the designs that they most like. This can help\nthem determine what models or variations of the product will or won\u2019t sell and\nonly offer the products that will certainly bring sales. <\/p> 5. Packaging Design<\/strong><\/p> An often overlooked aspect of the product development process, packaging design<\/a> is an integral part of the product design process. You may view it simply as a means of enclosing your product to protect it from any outside elements and present it intact to the buyer.<\/p> In actuality, is the last aspect of your marketing campaign that can determine whether the buyer makes a purchase or chooses a competitor\u2019s product instead. Successful packaging design most definitely has the potential to influence the level of trust your potential customers have for your brand as well as your sales<\/a>. MRI scans show<\/a> that attractive packaging creates more activity in the brain and affects emotions. <\/p> Case and point, product packaging matters and you should not\nignore this piece of product development advice. <\/p> There are certain aspects that buyers are looking for<\/a> even though they may not be consciously aware of it. Your product packaging needs to clearly identify your company as well as the product and state the most relevant details about it. If your product isn\u2019t original and will need to face competition upon launch, unique packaging design can help it stand out and get noticed. <\/p> In addition to that, an increasing number of people are\nbecoming more concerned about the environment. Therefore, packaging form\nsustainable, eco-friendly material can also boost your sales. <\/p> Luckily, product packaging design is another detail that\nyour industrial design company can take care of. <\/p> The engineering phase is when the industrial design company\nstarts working on the functionality of the product. By the end of it, they have\na fully functioning prototype. <\/p> The engineering stage usually is the most optimal time to reach out to investors. This is because you no longer work with an intangible idea. You not only have realistic designs of your future product, but you have a prototype that investors can try and experience. <\/p> 6. Product Design Specification (PDS)<\/strong><\/p> A Product Design Specification or PDS is a statement that\noutlines facts about the product, how a design is made, and how it meets the\nrequirements of the client. It aims to focus not on the outcome, but rather on\nrealistic constraints that may affect the final product. These will regard its\nperformance, cost, environment, materials, patents, ergonomics, aesthetics, as\nwell as market and company constraints. <\/p> The content of the PDS will depend on the specific nature of your particular product. However, a few questions that it may aim to answer are:<\/p> These are factors that you may not necessarily think of.\nYet, it\u2019s the industrial design company\u2019s job to ensure that they are taken\ninto consideration.<\/p> 7. Prototype Development<\/strong><\/p> You have seen your product in sketches, 3D models, and 3D\nrendering images. It may seem that it\u2019s been enough for you to finally move on\nto the manufacturing stage. Nonetheless, you may need to prove that your idea\nworks and the theoretical designs will be able to produce a working product. <\/p> This is especially true for novel product ideas that aren\u2019t\nyet available on the market. Or, you may need a stronger presentation to secure\nfunding from potential investors or to impress your future buyers. <\/p> Regardless of your specific situation, prototype design services<\/a> can bring value and credibility to your product. Therefore, it\u2019s not a good idea to skip it and move straight to the production stage even if it may seem like you would save time and resources by doing so. <\/p> There are different kinds of prototypes<\/a> that you may need to develop. The nature of your product and its intended use will determine which ones will be the most suitable for you:<\/p> A visual prototype serves as a demonstration of the aesthetics\nof the product. You will be able to get the feel of the shape and size of the\nfinal product and present it to investors and future customers. Thus, the\ndesign team will be able to identify and make any changes to the aesthetics of\nthe product early on.<\/p> However, a visual prototype will not demonstrate the functionality of the product and usually won\u2019t have any working parts. <\/p> This is, generally, the easiest and fastest kind of prototype. The industrial design company will not utilize materials that would be used when manufacturing the product. Instead, it will likely use much cheaper materials that would yield a similar general feel of the final product. <\/p> Materials may simply be left raw. However, they likely will\nbe painted to mimic the aesthetics of the finished product. <\/p> A proof-of-concept prototype will focus on presenting and\ntesting the functionality of the finished product. Thus, it will contain\nworking parts as opposed to the visual prototype. <\/p> However, it may not include all the working parts, but\nsimply focus on testing whether the general idea or a specific aspect of the product\nworks. The design team will be able to identify any problems and make\nadjustments necessary to ensure full functionality of the final product.<\/p> This prototype will also not necessarily look exactly like the final product. Or, it may lack design details. The industrial design company will assemble this kind of prototype from existing and much cheaper materials that will not be used to produce the final product. <\/p> Imagine that your project is a car, a house, or something\nelse that is considerable in size. Creating a life-size prototype may be\nproblematic, impractical, or even a complete waste of resources. A\nsmaller-sized representation of it can prove to be a lot more effective.<\/p> This kind of prototype can be extremely useful in\npresentations when 3D visuals of your product may not be enough to convey your\nidea. <\/p> The design company will produce a scale model from similar\nmaterials that it would use for a visual prototype. Depending on the type of\nthe product, it is likely also lack full functionality.<\/p> A functional prototype will focus on both its design and\nfunctionality. It\u2019s the most complete out of all kinds of prototypes and will\nlook and feel exactly like or very similar to the final product. Thus, it will\nserve as the closest thing to it. <\/p> A functional prototype will also include all the bespoke parts. However, where possible, it will consist of cheaper alternatives. It is important in the design process because it allows you to identify any issues with both the final design and its functionality. <\/p> In addition to the above, you\u2019ll be able to more accurately estimate the costs needed for the manufacturing of the product, and, if necessary, adjust its price accordingly. <\/p> It is common for industrial design companies to create several prototypes or a series of them, especially if there are mistakes that need to be addressed.<\/p> The final phase of our product development guide aims to put everything together and prepare it for the product launch. It involves extensive product testing as well as ensuring that the product can be sustainably and continuously produced. <\/p> 8. Product Testing<\/strong><\/p> Once you have a fully functioning prototype, the industrial\ndesign company will first manufacture and release a limited number of units of\nthe final product for testing purposes. <\/p> There may still be flaws in the design, some functionality\nerrors, or software bugs that may have gone unnoticed when developing and\ntesting the prototype. This will also be your first experience working with the\nmanufacturer who will produce and assemble your product. So, there may be\nissues in, for instance, fitting the different parts of your product together.\nIn addition to that, the product will also be produced using the actual\nmaterials which may affect its appearance or functionality.<\/p> All of these are absolutely normal and necessary to fully\noptimize the product for its launch. Doing this now will ensure that there is\nless possibility for any issues to occur later. So, you have a much lower\nchance of being faced with the need to rush improvements or recall the product\nwhen it\u2019s already on the market.<\/p> Depending on your product and its nature, the industrial design\ncompany will determine the most suitable custom testing plan for it. It may\nconduct functionality tests, drop tests, temperature tests, cosmetic tests, functionality\nand durability tests, UX tests, as well as invite real users to try your\nproduct.<\/p> Sometimes, products require simple tweaks. For instance, if the glue that the manufacturing company uses degenerates quickly, it will be necessary to swap it for higher quality glue. <\/p> Nevertheless, if any significant changes need to be made,\nthe team will work on an improved version of the product design and release\nanother prototype that it will test again. <\/p> Once your product successfully passes all the tests, it\u2019s\nready for its official launch and mass production. <\/p> However, if you work with a reputable and experienced\nindustrial design company, most of the critical errors and design flaws will\nhave been flagged and corrected before you even get to this stage. This is why\nit is crucial for you to carefully choose the company that is going to develop\nyour idea.<\/p> In some specific areas, such as medicine, sports, and\nsimilar, the industrial design company will need to conduct specific tests that\nwill ensure that your product complies with the norms of the industry. <\/p> These tests may include reliability, durability, climate\ntesting, electro-static discharge (ESD), electromagnetic compatibility (EMC),\nand more. <\/p> Your company will have determined which ones you need if you\nneed any at all while putting together the PDS. <\/p> 9. Product Manufacture and Kitting<\/strong><\/p> Once the product has officially passed all tests, it\u2019s ready\nto be manufactured and prepared for shipping. During this stage, you will not\nonly need to manufacture the product itself, but also its accessories, such as\ncables and chargers, the packaging, as well as instruction manuals and other\nnecessary documentation. Therefore, one of my final product development tips is\nto factor that into your expenses beforehand. <\/p> When working with manufacturing companies, larger batches usually\nsignify cheaper production costs while smaller ones result in more expenses.\nThus, more sales equate to lower overall production costs. <\/p> 10. Product Launch<\/strong><\/p> Once your product has been developed, manufactured, and\nprepared for shipping, you can fully delve into your marketing efforts in order\nto secure more sales for your product. <\/p> Once your product is out on the market, it\u2019s important to\nkeep listening to and collecting customer feedback as well as monitoring your\ncompetition. While there may be nothing wrong with your product, there will\nalways be something that you may be able to improve over time in order to best\nmeet your customers\u2019 needs and beat your competition. <\/p> If this product development guide has inspired you to act upon your product idea, Cad Crowd<\/a> can help. We have a vast database of experienced professionals in a variety of fields who can make any of your product dreams a reality. Check out how it works<\/a> or request a quote<\/a> if you are ready to get started. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Having a product idea is one thing. Having a completed product that sells is another. Developing a product that customers love will determine whether your company can successfully satisfy its clients or not. That, in turn, will ultimately determine whether your business succeeds. And let\u2019s face it, entrepreneurs and businesses rarely have unlimited funds to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35,"featured_media":12934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[462,224,136],"class_list":["post-12923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-product-design","tag-guide","tag-industrial-design-firm","tag-product-design-and-development"],"aioseo_notices":[],"spectra_custom_meta":{"_edit_lock":["1594133432:12"],"classic-editor-remember":["block-editor"],"_edit_last":["12"],"ampforwp_custom_content_editor":[""],"ampforwp_custom_content_editor_checkbox":[null],"ampforwp-amp-on-off":["default"],"_thumbnail_id":["12934"],"_aioseop_keywords":["Industrial Design Company"],"_aioseop_description":["Understanding how an industrial design company develops your idea can show you what\u2019s going on behind the scenes. Learn how with our product development guide."],"_aioseop_title":["Product Development Guide: How an Industrial Design Company Develops Your Idea"],"cc_activity_id":["46303"],"_uag_css_file_name":["uag-css-12923.css"],"_uag_page_assets":["a:9:{s:3:\"css\";s:0:\"\";s:2:\"js\";s:0:\"\";s:18:\"current_block_list\";a:4:{i:0;s:14:\"core\/paragraph\";i:1;s:12:\"core\/heading\";i:2;s:10:\"core\/image\";i:3;s:9:\"core\/list\";}s:8:\"uag_flag\";b:0;s:11:\"uag_version\";s:10:\"1779100683\";s:6:\"gfonts\";a:0:{}s:10:\"gfonts_url\";s:0:\"\";s:12:\"gfonts_files\";a:0:{}s:14:\"uag_faq_layout\";b:0;}"]},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min.jpg",789,200,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min-300x76.jpg",300,76,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min-768x195.jpg",640,163,true],"large":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min.jpg",640,162,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min.jpg",789,200,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min.jpg",789,200,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min-379x196.jpg",379,196,true],"sticky-post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min.jpg",789,200,false],"archive-post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min-180x180.jpg",180,180,true],"yarpp-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Product-Development-Guide-Industrial-Design-Company-min.jpg",120,30,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Karina Norton","author_link":"https:\/\/www.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/author\/karina\/"},"uagb_comment_info":1,"uagb_excerpt":"Having a product idea is one thing. Having a completed product that sells is another. Developing a product that customers love will determine whether your company can successfully satisfy its clients or not. That, in turn, will ultimately determine whether your business succeeds. And let\u2019s face it, entrepreneurs and businesses rarely have unlimited funds to…","aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tDesign<\/h2>
![\"3D](\"https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/3D-Rendering-Product-Development-Guide-min.jpg\")
<\/figure> ![\"Packaging](\"https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Packaging-Design-Product-Development-Guide-min-1.jpg\")
<\/figure> Engineering <\/h2>
![\"Engineering](\"https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Engineering-Product-Development-Guide-min.jpg\")
<\/figure> ![\"Prototype](\"https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Prototype-Product-Development-Guide-min.jpg\")
<\/figure> Validation\nand Launch<\/h2>
![\"Manufacturing](\"https:\/\/cdn.cadcrowd.com\/blog\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Manufacturing-Product-Development-Guide-min.jpg\")
<\/figure>