Why Many Product Design Companies Are Considering 3D Printing Technology

Do you know what 3D printing technology is? Let product design companies like Designstein Studios tell you more about it here.

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5 Topics to Discuss With an Industrial Design Company During Your Consultation

 

As a business owner, you may be interested in outsourcing your product development to an industrial design company. There are many benefits to contracting this work to a team of successful, knowledgeable, and highly qualified designers, like increased product profitability and improved customer reviews. However, you’ll quickly find that there is no scarcity of industrial designers on the market. Although it may be challenging to sort through your potential collaborators, it’s likely that you’re only interested in onboarding a reputable team that will work with you efficiently. To help with your search, we’ve curated a list of discussion topics to cover during your consultations with these companies to help you recognize when you’re speaking with distinguished and passionate industrial designers who are likely to match your needs versus a less credible company that may not be able to deliver effective results or maybe simply isn’t the correct fit for your vision and needs. 

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The design process 

If you’re overall still feeling a little hesitant about outsourcing your product development, then discussing the design process itself is definitely worthwhile. Not only will this conversation illuminate very crucial information specifying what you as a business owner should know about this process, but it may also reveal more insight into the company itself. A credible company will have an incredibly thorough process to ensure that they are positioning your product for a high chance of success and profitability by investigating market trends, testing new ideas, using cost-efficient yet high-quality materials, and so on. At Design Stein Studios, we do just that with our six-step development process including market research, ideation, 3D CAD modeling, prototyping, drafting production documents, and mass-producing the finished product. In short, we go through these steps with every project we are handed because we know the entire process is necessary to create products that sell. 

 

Company values  

Company values may seem like an unassuming point of discussion to cover with an industrial design team, but in reality, they can potentially signal your compatibility as collaborators. That’s to say, by asking designers what drives their process, you can learn the type of creative approach they like to employ with their designs and decide whether or not that would benefit your product. For example, our team at Design Stein Studios focuses on using our industrial design services to push boundaries. We like to use innovative thinking to rework what already exists and create products that are in a league of their own in terms of aesthetics and functionality, all while maintaining a budget and timeline. On the flip side, other industrial design teams may prioritize other factors, which may not bode well with you or your product if their values don’t align with your vision. It’s important to work alongside a company that shares your standards in order to work seamlessly as a team and develop products you’ll be pleased with. 

 

Intellectual property rights ownership 

Understandably, many business owners may feel a little uneasy about outsourcing because of intellectual property rights. However, your products and ideas are solely yours, and a reliable industrial design company will not only assure you that this is the case but also take all the necessary steps to ensure your IP rights are protected through patents and copyrights. During your consultation, asking about this topic is a great way to assess the level of security you can expect from your industrial designers and whether or not you can trust them to handle your property. 

 

Points of collaboration 

Even though outsourcing to a third-party firm essentially involves handing over a majority of the product development workload, a reliable and professional industrial design team will never commandeer the entire project. On the contrary, these types of companies value your opinion as the business owner and will frequently keep you updated throughout the process. This is to ensure that you are getting ample opportunity throughout development to make edits to the design and share new ideas. With companies like Design Stein Studios, our mission as industrial designers is to make your vision a reality, and you should never feel like your ideas are being compromised. Suffice to say, inquiring about the level of collaboration you can expect to experience can allow you to gauge the extent of the role you will play throughout the design process. 

 

Hire a reliable product design team 

Overall, if you’re looking to outsource your product development to an experienced team of industrial designers, a consultation is a prime opportunity to figure out which team would make a great fit for your business and whether or not their business practice and skills are up to par with your expectations. It may be intimidating sorting through all your potential options, but with plenty of skilled and innovative industrial design companies in California, like us here at Design Stein Studios, you are sure to eventually find the right product developers for you. 

5 Reasons Why Outsourcing Product Development to an Industrial Design Company is an Invaluable Investment

 

It can be challenging for a business owner to decide what investments to make in their company. After all, these investments are meant to help strengthen your team, increase your profit, and grow your business overall, but what exactly is the best route to take? From hiring more workers, taking extra business classes, and increasing advertisement, there’s no shortage when it comes to potential investment options. However, if your team is still creating products in-house, then outsourcing this work to an industrial design company is definitely a worthwhile consideration.

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In this blog, we’ll explore 5 ways contracting an industrial design company like Design Stein Studios can increase the profitability of your products, making this the perfect investment opportunity. 

 

Develop amazing design language

A compelling design language is crucial for attracting more customers to purchase your product. This concept involves using your brand’s identity and core values as inspiration to guide the designing of the visual components and functions of your product. In essence, good design language establishes brand consistency, heightens the customer experience, improves functionality, and improves brand recognition by stylistically separating your products from the competition. Undoubtedly, this aspect of product development can have a significant impact on your business’s success on the market, making this an invaluable area to put time and money into developing. Luckily, an industrial design team can help you do just that by using their experience and insider knowledge of the design world to form a design language that beautifully aligns with your business and draws in more customers. 

 

Cost-effective decision making 

In the product development process, the prototyping stage is the area in which product developers will test out the functionality of a product’s design. But more than that, this step is important because it is meant to reveal the most cost-effective method of mass-producing your product without sacrificing quality. Unfortunately, if you are still using an in-house team, they may be unable to achieve this guarantee while prototyping if they lack the proper resources. On the other hand, this is certainly not the case for industrial designers who have access to various design materials and production methods. For example, at Design Stein Studios, we dedicate ourselves to a thorough prototyping stage by testing your design using multiple materials and methods, including urethane casting, 3D printing, welding, CNCing, metal bending, sewing, painting, and much more. With our designers, we take pride in finding the most cost-effective manner to manufacture your products in order to increase their profitability. 

 

Collaborate with you consistently 

Industrial design companies understand that your product design belongs to you. That’s why when you outsource this work to a company like Design Stein Studios, we will continue to work with you throughout the entire process. Not only does this ensure that you are aware of the status of your design, but this also gives us the opportunity to collaborate and jointly create a product you are proud to put on the market. This increases profitability by combining your vision with our design skills to develop something that stays true to your original idea that’s also optimized specifically for the market to attract more sales. 

 

Output product quicker  

Small in-house product development teams are likely to experience roadblocks, whether they be creative, a lack of resources, or any other issue, which may lead to a slow turnaround time for your products to finally hit the market. Luckily, industrial design companies in California are well equipped to easily overcome these obstacles. From having a team with exceptional design skills that could only be cultivated through decades worth of experience, ideation based on creativity and innovation, all the latest design programs and upscale technology, and much more, industrial designers are suited to make a tangible and functioning product out of your idea at a timely pace so you can quickly begin selling. 

 

Overtake the competition 

Undoubtedly, your competitors are going to be one of the biggest obstacles standing between your business and making sales. It isn’t enough to just put out a working product if it’s functionally or aesthetically identical to other options available on the market. To have a fair opportunity to perform well against these rival companies, your product will need to stand out in some way in order to entice customers to make a purchase. Aided by a superb understanding of the relationship between market trends and design, industrial designers know how to do exactly this by conducting market research and allowing the results to influence the design. In the end, you should experience increased sales as your business is offering something that quite literally is not available elsewhere. 

 

Schedule your consultation today

As you can see, outsourcing product development to experienced designers is an incredibly lucrative investment for your business. If you’re interested in learning more about industrial design services, schedule a consultation with Design Stein Studios by calling (714) 823-9264 or emailing info@designsteinstudios.com

Five Reasons Why a Product is Likely to Succeed - Tips From an Industrial Design Company

 

Launching a new product can be tricky. After all, there is virtually no guarantee of the degree of success it will encounter. This can be further exacerbated if your business has little to no knowledge of product development. However, in our experience as an industrial design company, we have learned that there are several qualifications a product must meet in order to stand a chance of being well received on the market. Interested in learning more?

 

Here are five signs that can signal the potential profitability of a new product: 

 

1) Does your product fulfill its promises?

It’s no secret that customers are drawn to making purchases with promises. No matter what the claims may be in your own case, it’s integral that your product follows through, or else you risk disappointing the user. This is key to creating happy customers who would consider repurchasing from your business, as well as writing positive reviews and recommending the product to their friends, thus building up your momentum on the market. 

 

2) Did you conduct thorough market research? 

Market research is the first step in product development. This is where your business will need to complete an investigation on market trends, consumer habits, rival companies, materials, pricing, and more through surveys and data collections. Market research is imperative, as it reveals invaluable information about product design and what exactly it would take to develop a product that customers would be willing to purchase. In other words, it directly tells you how to sell in your given market, meaning this certainly is not an area you should neglect. 

 

3) Does your product solve a new problem? 

Most often, customers are influenced to make a purchase when they have a problem that needs to be solved. If you wish to outsell your competition, your business will need to find what problems exist within the market that your competitors simply aren’t addressing. In doing so, you can develop something that only your business can provide to its users, thus securing a dependable and loyal customer base. On the flip side, if your product isn’t much different from other similar options and brings nothing new or inventive to the market, there’s a good chance your business will be overlooked by customers. 

 

4) Is your product of high quality? 

It goes without saying that the quality of your product can certainly affect its reception on the market, but why is that? Customers are able to discern when a product is made of high quality versus low-quality materials. The concern here is that quality can convey certain messages about your business practices and ethos, whether they’re true or not. A product made of low-quality materials may imply that your business is only concerned about making a profit rather than satisfying the customer. On the flip side, high-quality products suggest that your business is truly passionate about its mission and improving the lives of its users. Of course, it’s quite easy to determine which of the two most customers will prefer to purchase from. 

 

5) Did you test different prototypes? 

Prototyping is crucial in product development. Here, you can learn what features and functions of the design are or are not working. The objective here is to uncover any issues with the product before drafting production documents and sending them to be mass-produced. Essentially, this is the test stage, so it’s best to take your time and test many different prototypes in order to find what works best for your vision. If not, you run the risk of releasing a subpar product on the market. 

 

Industrial design companies design with these questions in mind

There’s no doubt that building a successful product can prove challenging. Product development is a niche process that requires plenty of knowledge, creativity, innovation, and, above all, experience. The above tips may lead you in the right direction, but if you still feel unsure about your own or your in-house team’s ability to execute a functional and popular product, then it may be in your business’s best interest to outsource this work to one of the many reputable industrial design companies in California, like Design Stein Studios. Equipped with combined decades worth of design experience, we create products specifically with these 5 questions in mind on top of our insider perspective, knowledge, and honed skills. This is all to say, an industrial design company knows exactly what it takes to make a good product fit for the market and increase your business’s chance of reaching success. 

Understanding Market Research And How an Industrial Design Company Can Assist With The Process

 

When it comes to industrial design, every stage is integral for creating a successful product. However, many business owners are quick to undervalue the importance of market research. In these cases, some may opt to not conduct proper research. In actuality, this is a grave error as market research can quite literally determine the performance of the product’s final design. Is your team putting enough effort into this essential step? Here, we’ll discuss what market research entails, how exactly it can elevate your business to the next level, and why you should outsource to an industrial design company to take on this significant task. 

 

Defining market research

Market research is a vast stage in product development. Simply put, it’s the phase in which designers analyze every detail there is pertaining to market trends, pricing, potential competition, the target audience’s habits and needs, and much more. Here, you’ll need to investigate the whys, hows, what ifs, whens, and wheres through qualitative and quantitative methodologies. This includes focus groups, customer satisfaction studies, online surveys, customer reviews, and focus groups. The objective is to get as much information as possible because these details will then be used to guide the ideation, 3D CAD modeling, and prototyping processes. For example, market research helps to deduce what price the product should be sold at, what materials should be used, how the product should look visually, what features should be incorporated or omitted, how the product should be constructed, and much more. Overall, this step singularly paves the way for the rest of the product development process. 

 

How market research can elevate your products 

As previously stated, market research is essential because of the information it unveils and how it influences the final product design. However, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what market research can do for you. That’s to say, there are two major benefits that come with thorough research that can exceedingly improve your product and sales. First, this step reveals what exactly the market’s demands are. Undoubtedly, customers aren’t interested in purchasing a product they do not need or want. By carefully investigating the behavior of the market and the desires of the customers, designers are able to avoid this. Instead, you can manufacture a product that is most suitable to the needs of the market, leading to a greater chance of a successful business. Second, market research can boost your sales by enabling you to dominate a certain market segment. Specifically, research allows designers to uncover the gaps in the market. These gaps represent the unmet needs of the customers, meaning there is a niche in the market that your competitors simply aren’t fulfilling. This information can then be considered while designing to assemble a one-of-a-kind innovation, one that will capture the attention of customers with problems that only your product can resolve, thus giving your business control over that specific market segment. Ultimately, if you want a product that performs well on the market, then research should not be overlooked. 

 

How industrial design companies can help with market research

At this point, it’s no secret that good market research is involved and exhaustive. For this reason, it may be in your business’s best interest to skip handling this work in-house and instead outsource research to an industrial design company like Design Stein Studios. This way, your business will get qualified and credible designers who have years worth of experience in market research working on your project. Of course, this means that these designers have the correct knowledge to execute a successful research campaign, but what exactly does that translate to? 

 

Market research is a delicate process. Bias is prevalent, both in questions and data, which can truly distort your results and hinder your chances of developing a successful product. It takes a certain skill set to be able to know how to pose the right questions, choose the right methodology, interpret the information, and determine what is and is not helpful. Luckily, industrial design companies in California know precisely how to do this. Not only that but these professionals are also assisted by their expertise in product design as a whole. This means they possess exclusive insight in regards to translating information yielded by market research into product design that an in-house team may not be able to replicate. For example, at Design Stein our focus is on using creativity and forward-thinking to develop products that are innovative, dependable, and one step ahead of the competition. With this objective in mind, we know how to incorporate data into our design process to develop a product that encompasses this description exactly, on top of corresponding with market trends. In the end, contracting a third-party design firm to assume this responsibility, as well as the entire design development process, is a wise decision for turning your working ideas into tangible products that sell. 

What You Should Know About Outsourcing to an Industrial Design Company

 

If you’re in the business of selling products, you have two options when it comes to product development- in-house or outsourcing to an industrial design company. At face value, in-house development may be a compelling option. However, most in-house operations struggle to reach their full potential due to financial constraints, short deadlines, and a general lack of the proper skills and experience. At this point, outsourcing product development is one of the most effective ways for businesses to turn their preliminary sketches into working products. 

Outsourcing entails hiring a third party to manage all the processes involved with product development from beginning to end. It’s an invaluable service, as it gives CEOs the freedom to apply their skills towards running their business rather than concern themselves with overseeing in-house development. Instead, product development is handed over to a reliable team of designers, like us here at Design Stein Studios, who will turn product ideas into reality. 

If you’re considering outsourcing but are still unsure about the process, here we’ll discuss 5 things to know about working with an industrial design company before scheduling your first consultation: 

1) Be clear with your goals

With industrial designers, their end goal is to devise the product of your dreams. In order to do so, you’ll need to collaborate thoroughly in order for them to understand exactly what you’re looking for. If you have any specific thoughts about your target audience, price points, functionality, aesthetic look, materials, or anything else, it’s best to discuss these ideas with your designers. From here, they’ll be able to incorporate them into the sketches, 3D CAD models, and prototypes. That way, they can get a better picture of the final product and bring your complete vision to fruition. 

2) Trust your designers

It’s common practice for businesses to emulate certain core values and want their products to reflect that. Because of this, you may be reluctant to outsource your development if you’re unsure whether a third-party developer can successfully mirror that into the design. However, it’s important that you trust your designers as product development is their field of expertise. In other words, your project is in the hands of reliable individuals who understand the ins and outs of design and genuinely want to see your ideas come to life. At Design Stein Studios, we are an incredibly accomplished team, with combined dozens of years of experience behind our members. We’re here to use our knowledge of the field to effectively work our way through the stages of product development, including researching the market, rendering multiple sketches, creating 3D CAD models, prototyping the final designs, drafting production documents, and mass-producing the final product, all so you don’t have to stress about a thing while maintaining the integrity of your business. 

3) You will still have control over the creative process 

A popular assumption made about outsourcing to industrial design companies in California is that the CEO will have a lack of control over the project. However, this is far from the truth. While industrial designers are contracted to manage the development process, your word as the contractor is final say. If you see a sketch or prototype and have changes you’d like to implement, your designer will be more than happy to make these adjustments. At the end of the day, industrial designers aren’t here to just take your ideas and run, but rather build upon them using their own expertise in combination with your instructions. 

4) There’s no need to stress over IP theft 

Intellectual property theft is a huge concern business owners must be aware of. For this reason, it’s understandable why some are reluctant to trust a third party to handle their product design. Luckily, Design Stein Studios understands that these products are your livelihood, which is why we prioritize security. Through secure laptops and VPNs, as well as working to confirm that any intellectual property designed for your business is, in fact, rightfully owned by you through copyrights and patents, you can rest assured that we are taking every measure possible to safeguard your property. 

5) You will be collaborating with an exceptional team

Above all, enlisting industrial design services is a great way to ensure only the best are working towards your product goals. With in-house development, you are faced with two options: work with the employees that you already have or hire more staff. Unfortunately, there are a couple of issues with this. The first is that your existing staff may not have enough experience to successfully create a high-quality design. On the flip side, hiring more staff members can get expensive, not to mention there’s no telling if they will be effective team players that work well together. This is why outsourcing is incredibly advantageous- since our team at Design Stein has been working together for years, we have the necessary experience, ingenuity, and creativity it takes to design something innovative, as well as a strong team bond to navigate the entirety of product development with ease. In collaboration with your business, we can work together to turn your product concepts into existence without the hassle of in-house development. 

If you are curious about outsourcing product development, give us a call at (714) 375-4846 to schedule a consultation today. 

Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Outsource Product Development to an Industrial Design Company

 

Running a business comes with plenty of hurdles to jump. In most cases, this includes navigating product design. Generally, businesses choose to take on this process on their own, learning to navigate the world of market research, prototyping, sketching, factory research, developing CAD files, and more. However, product design can get quite complex, which is especially significant considering it can entirely impact the success and quality of your merchandise. Because of this, it’s worth considering outsourcing this responsibility to an industrial design company. Interested in learning more? Here are 5 benefits associated with working alongside skilled design professionals and reasons why you should hire a company like Design Stein Studios to elevate your business to the next level.

 

1) Gain access to an exclusive and knowledgeable network

Industrial design companies are often composed of individuals with their own niche skills that you may not encounter elsewhere. On top of this, developers typically have access to specialized tools and programs that others normally wouldn’t. At Design Stein Studios, our focus is aimed towards using creativity and innovation to reimagine and upgrade what already exists. This means we are able to take something as simple as a preliminary sketch and expand upon it using our expertise and tools to introduce to the market something that is uniquely original. Overall, working with a design company means you’ll be able to collaborate with a group of professionals who are passionate about product development and can bring interesting ideas to the table you may not have thought of otherwise.

 

2) Dominate the market

Market research is one of the beginning stages of product development. At this point, it’s important to analyze everything regarding the market, your competitors, your target audience, and your own product itself. Here, we’ll deduce what prices, materials, and manufacturing methods will work best, what features should or shouldn’t be implemented, and anything else that needs to be capitalized on in order to boost success, among dozens of other significant pieces of data. However, market research also enables us with the opportunity to find which unmet needs exist in the market. This is crucial information as it directly tells us what direction the product development process needs to go in to increase our chances of dominating a certain market segment by creating an interesting product that fills in those gaps. As you can see, this step can make or break your product, but luckily, industrial design companies are well versed in research, allowing them to perform a very thorough and detailed job, so if you want the opportunity to run the market, hiring a design company is definitely worthwhile.

 

3) Expertise across all aspects of product development

Speaking of the stages of product development, it goes without saying that industrial designers are skilled at every single stage. Beginning with research and moving to ideation, 3D CAD modeling, prototyping, crafting production documents, and mass production, it’s no secret that product development is a very involved and complicated process. Because of this, in-house production runs a risk of going awry fast if your employees have little to no experience. On the flip side, industrial design companies in California like Design Stein Studios have decades of experience behind their teams, meaning they know exactly how to perform and complete each stage successfully.

 

4) Boost creativity

A creative mindset and ingenuity are crucial when it comes to product development, especially regarding prototyping and ideation. With in-house development, it’s not uncommon to get stuck behind a mental block or limited by your thoughts if your employees don’t usually concern themselves with creative endeavors. Overall, product development is an art that requires outside-of-the-box thinking, and it can be difficult to navigate without the correct skillset or team. However, outsourcing work to an industrial design company can help in these cases. With a team full of skilled designers, each with their own creative talents, we can collaborate with your business to come up with innovative and fresh ideas that are sure to impress your target audience.

 

5) Focus on what you do best

Finally, when you outsource your product development, you’re also investing in your own business. In other words, you’ll be able to put your own skills as a CEO to better use while industrial design companies take care of product development. Instead of worrying about whether you’re making misguided decisions with in-house development, you can put all your focus into what you do best- running a business. So, if you want more freedom and time to devote to your business, consider outsourcing product development to a talented team of professional designers.

If you’re interested in industrial design services for product development and reaching your business’s full potential, contact us here at Design Stein Studios at (714) 375-4846 for a consultation today.

Ways in Which 3D Printing Revolutionized the Industrial Design Companies

 

Taking a look at how Industrial Design Companies and other companies around the world are impacted by 3D printing. Read more here: 

Understand The Stark Differences Between Modeling And Prototyping

 

Why it matters for you to know what separates modeling and prototyping and the significance between the two. Read more here:

How An Industrial Design Company Can Redesign Your Product To Help Lift Sales

 

Getting an industrial design company to redesign a product can do wonders for boosting sales. Read more here: 

How Industrial Design Companies Can Help You Maintain Your Product Sales, Successive Momentum, And Creativity

 

Compare how an industrial design company retains your company's past product sales success with other companies who let their product become obsolete. Read more here: 

Learn How To Turn Your Idea Into A Product Design With The Help Of Product Design Companies

 

What is your amazing idea? Learn how product design companies can turn it into a valuable design. Read more here: 

Learn About Outsourcing Product Development At An Industrial Design Company

 

Any professional industrial design company will tell you that product design and development doesn’t just involve producing a new product from scratch. The design cycle has many critical steps: brainstorming, product prototyping, mass production, evaluation, marketing, and in due time commercialization strategies. 

 

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Also, as many industrial design companies in California point out, not every new product is achieved from conception to the point of the mass production phase. Sometimes small to medium-sized companies that come to industrial design services have operational limitations such as financing, equipment, and labor shortages. A lot of times, startups and product inventors encounter the same technical problems in the middle of the product development process.  

 

Converting a product from an idea to a mass-produced favorable outcome is never an easy task, even if you work for a multinational company with a large workforce, numerous facilities, financial resources, and access to amazing manufacturing vendors. 

 

Although an industrial design company can confirm that a majority of business ventures need the highest possible efficiency when it comes to resource allocation, colossal enterprises are better equipped to manage the losses that come with the failure of a new product. 

 

In contrast, micro-companies can’t take the chance of taking such a risk. Small companies may want to stay more cash flow positive with their current product roster instead of risking their profits with a new product. 

 

In some instances, hiring staff and building an in-house product development team can dramatically increase the burn rate for a small company. In these cases, companies may choose to outsource their product development initiatives and keep lower overhead. However, as a manager at an industrial design company remarked, each approach has pros and cons to be considered.

 

What Is In-house Product Development?

 

In-house product development is defined by using the company’s available resources to conduct all activities aimed at introducing new products to try to satisfy consumer demands or market niches. Every bit of research that consists of market and profit projections is also performed by the company’s existing departments. If you have to hire new employees to deal with these relevant tasks, you have to place them on your payroll, too. Additionally, hiring a team of freelancers is regarded as outsourcing.

 

Advantages

The company has total control of how the product development process is done. You have the independence to assign every part of the task to specific employees and to supervise their performance candidly. Due to the fact that numerous individuals probably handle the process, having an in-house product development team may improve efficiency, especially if the team includes individuals who have worked together before to complete a project successfully.

 

Disadvantages

It can become a resource-demanding project that involves money and employees’ qualifications. If you don’t have any qualified professionals on your team product development, it can go pear shape very quickly, or you could experience an unavoidable disaster. In any case, both situations are not positive at all. If you don’t have any immediate plans to hire new employees to make up for the lack of competence in related fields, in-house product development should be skipped out. 

 

In-house product development will suck up a lot of time, effort, and money to provide the type of products that will give your company a competitive edge in your market niche. Only opt for the in-house approach if your company has the professionals, eagerness, and confidence to handle the full life cycle of releasing a new product. Also, careful hiring may be an advantageous investment because it lets your company accelerate the process for future product development initiatives.

 

Outsourcing Product Development

 

Outsourcing product development consists of hiring a 3rd party (or a team from another business entity) to deal with the product development initiative. You can outsource the whole job or only part of your project, subject to your in-house resources and technical capabilities.

 

Advantages

Outsourcing product development involves a smaller investment compared to the in-house counterpart since it has minimum strain on your workforce and other resources. You don’t have to spend money on new equipment and facilities usually connected with the job, such as office space, CAD software, prototyping machinery, and so on. Also, outsourcing saves you from a lot of paperwork in market research and bookkeeping. The providers will use their own tools to assign the tasks to their own employees on your behalf for a charge.

 

Disadvantages

Even though you still are involved in the process, you aren’t going to have complete control over how the process unfolds. The overall idea of the product is yours, but you have to get across that fact in precise detail to avoid any mistakes and misinterpretations. The biggest disadvantage is that your company will not get the learning opportunity for any future product development, but it’s a reasonable compromise to achieve rapid get quick results with less strain on your in-house resources.

 

You can’t really say that one approach is better than the other. Both in-house design and outsourced product development have the ability to improve your company’s efficiency. On the other hand, both may result in product failure from poor design execution. However, outsourced product development can turn out to be a money-saving approach when it comes to efficiency, particularly if you calculate the investment on a per-project basis. Overall, as your company grows, you should plan to have a team of product development professionals on your payroll to facilitate operations.

 

When Should You Outsource?

 

If you operate a small business, it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be a challenge to keep up with larger competitors’ product development cycles. Outsourcing product development lets you concentrate on the things you do best: bringing about ideas, building a customer base, and growing your business networks in-between product generations. It sounds good, but outsourcing may not be an intelligent long-term solution. While your company develops, you’ll want to manage every part of the business venture without too much involvement from an external party. At the same time, learn to figure out your company’s limitations so you can make an educated decision whether or not to outsource. 

What Are The Benefits Of Working With A Local Industrial Design Company?

 

Many industrial design services launch a product design project either as a response to an issue or query or as a blank state meant to bring up something completely new. In the first instance, there could be a customer requirement that isn’t being met or a problem with declining sales in a specific product line that has to be focused on.

 

In the second instance, individuals normally concentrate on the next step forward or a big idea — something that can restore a company’s product portfolio. The process is usually the same no matter what starts it. The only difference is that brainstorming to solve an issue will have to be more aimed at that particular domain, while with a blank slate, all concepts may be valid.

 

What Is The Product Design Process?

 

To get started with the product design process at a local industrial design company, you have to start with innovation. This involves a collection of new ideas from a brainstorming session, where no one has a wrong, or silly answer and all options are laid out. Afterward, this collection undergoes a review process where insightful experts can comb through the ideas by evaluating their feasibility, risk, potential rewards, appeal, and any other desired metrics.

 

Once this has been carried out, a decision is usually made by the company’s executives, board, and/or upper management. Normally, an industrial design company has multiple projects that are selected to go on to the next step, which is the creation and construction of a prototype project. These prototypes are analyzed and then changed based on feedback, and this cycle repeats until the product is considered quintessential.

 

What Are The Approaches To Product Design?

 

Many people prefer to go to design firms to develop their products since there are so many ways of conceptualizing this process. The best method for a company will depend on its products, markets, and goals. There are various methodologies for turning ideas into sellable goods. Larger companies could even develop their own product design philosophies based on previous successes.

 

What Are The Concerns Of A Product Design?

 

There are many factors to think about when you come to the product design process, and also, at the brainstorming stage, awareness of these factors is very important. 

 

Customer needs: The customer will have certain expectations when it comes to quality, safety, reliability, lifetime, and so on. Any object that becomes a product will have to meet these requirements upfront.

 

Production capability: When the idea is a tangible product, the existing production plant structure will be required to make the product. For intangible services or systems, the existing infrastructure will need to be able to make them happen. This may call for capital investment.

 

Raw material availability: The company will need to have stable, reliable sources of the raw materials needed. Any new raw material streams will have to go through a process to confirm and ensure their quality.

Cost and price: There should be a good awareness of the estimated cost to produce the new product as well as the expected price for which it can be sold. Comparing this cost to competitors can help clarify the product design.

 

Effect on the product portfolio: More often than not, new product lines can eat away at existing product sales. This leads to current customers choosing to switch to the new product, leaving the old product unsold. The company needs to think about the effects of the new product on future production and future sales and modify the mix accordingly.

 

Company brand: A business that has taken time to build a company image in the mind of consumers will anticipate any new products to match this image. For instance, a company known for its environmental awareness should think about whether new products help build that image or destroy it.

 

Why Is Product Design Important? 

 

Many people feel that the product design process is way too complicated and complex, and a lot of business owners get tempted to streamline just to get their product on the market as fast as possible. Nevertheless, good product design can determine the difference between market success and product failure. 

 

A good product design has to be innovative as well as useful, and the advantages of good product design cannot be blown out of proportion. It is critical that you make certain that the product does something new and different and that what it can accomplish is actually useful for the consumer. 

 

What Is Product Design And Quality? 

 

When the product design is good, so is the quality. So, you have to think about the factors that will communicate quality to the customer when they purchase it and throughout the lifetime of the product. This could signify that even the aesthetics of the product are a critical part of its design. 

 

Also, when you mention quality, most customers think that durability and reliability should be part of the design process. You have to consider whether the expected lifetime is a year or 10 years. These are all of the factors that you have to consider that will count for the customer and has to be declared within the product design. 

 

So, if you are a company in California and looking for a design company to help you through the design process and much more, contact Designstein Studios at 714.375.4846 or email us at info@DesignSteinStudios.com.

How Packaging Can Help Boost Your Concept Sales After Going Through Product Design Services

 

Product design services want their ideas to stand out. Find out why packaging is so important here:

An Industrial Design Company Explains When You Should Use Certain Prototype Methods

Are you uncertain when to use specific prototype methods? Let an industrial design company explain how to go about this here.

An Industrial Design Company Explains The Reality Of Large Scale Production

 

If you sell products you must always bear in mind that when you are designing products for mass production, for instance with an industrial design company, you have to greatly consider how manufacturable the products are and how cost-effective they will be when going into mass production. 

The reality that most industrial design companies in California face is that they cannot simply create a CAD file and ask a plastic modeler to produce a tool for mass production. If only it was that easy! Many companies offering industrial design services recommend that the CAD file of the product has to be designed using equal wall thickness, undercuts also must be prevented, and draft angles have to be added to specific surfaces to prevent the product from getting caught in the mold.

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If the industrial design company ignores any or any other items, the part could be very costly to make, impossible to create or look terrible when it is produced. 

Creating a new product is a pretty big deal and is an enormous part of many various businesses. To sum things up, a new product can result in new revenue opportunities, but there is also tons of work that has to go into the product design process. If you have a new product idea and you are racking your brain to try and work out what the necessary steps are, it is important to understand what product engineering is and how it all ties into mass manufacturing. 

 

What Is Product Design For Mass Production?

As any industrial design company will tell you, unless you have a product that is a handmade item that you only plan to make one or maybe two times, you are probably going to hire a manufacturer to make the product for you. 

In a nutshell, mass manufacturing, whether it is through an assembly line or more complex production systems, is the most convenient method to make a product affordable, as well as ensuring you have sufficient products when demand is high to make sure customers are always happy. 

 

Stage One: Concept

Before a great product is produced, first comes the even greater idea. Maybe you want to create a pen that is ergonomic and comfortable for left-handed users. Or maybe you have a concept for a new toy or have an idea for an improvement in modern technology. 

In any case, whatever your vision is, you can’t go very far without some type of drawing or description to show others in your team how it works. 

This when a product design service is very handy since they can use your ideas and their experiences to help you find out the brass tacks of your idea, and can make sketches or even renders based on it. 

If you have a very sophisticated idea, and you don’t know where to start, you could need a design engineering service to help you get things off the ground. Engineers can assist you in troubleshooting a product that isn’t working correctly, enhance the design that you have, and provide general suggestions to help you make the product more user-friendly. 

Whatever you select, the resulting documentation is your concept design, which you will require for the next phase in the manufacturing process. 

 

Stage Two: CAD Design

After the first concept phase has been carried out, the next step is to make a manufacturer-ready design. At this stage, every single bolt, screw, and wire has to be accounted for within the CAD design. Also, instructions for each part have to be included, and details on exactly what materials are also required. 

Finding a good industrial engineer is important for this phase so that you can send your documents to the manufacturer with assurance, knowing they can understand what it is you want to be produced. 

 

Stage Three: Prototype

At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter how delightfully detailed a CAD is, you must have a working prototype as well to help explain to the manufacturer what it should look after it is completed. You don’t necessarily have to create the prototype with expensive materials either, but it must be as finished as possible so they can understand how it works. 

For instance, if it is a clothing item, how should the pockets and zippers function? What type of decorations does it have? If it’s a toy, does it have any moving parts, and if it does, how do they move?

A prototype is a very good way of avoiding any confusion the CAD designs show and provide the manufacturer some assurance that what they have produced is something that you actually want. 

 

Stage Four: Test

The last stage before production is the testing phase. Even though modern CAD software has made it possible that minimal testing is required. CAD software can measure durability in many situations, from extreme weather to falls of great heights. 

Testing through CAD software is so sufficient that you may not need to go through a series of testing phases to confirm a product’s durability. Despite the fact that CAD software is very advanced, it is still required to confirm the results with at least one cycle of testing first. 

 

Stage Five: Production

Finally, you have reached the last stage of production and that is finding a manufacturer to help you make the product. This is a very crucial stage since, ultimately, the most momentous part of your investment is confined to manufacturing. Until this moment, every step you have gone through is to make certain that this phase of the production process goes without a hitch as much as possible. 

Prior to sending the data, you have collected for product creation to a manufacturer, you have to choose an appropriate one. Do not take for granted the fact that when you are looking for a manufacturer, it will probably be the company you are going to be working with for many years to come if the product launch goes to plan. 

So, try to be as selective about who manufactures your product, just as you are when you choose your new husband or wife!

A Product Design Services Company Takes A Brief Look At The History Of Patents

 When product design services think about patents, they are considering something that goes back hundreds of years. As a matter of fact, within the United States patents’ duty and function dates back to the original constitution and the people who composed it. However, the actual history of patents is older than when it began in the United States, and U.S. patent law appeared after a tradition that was already stated centuries ago. 

Many product design companies refer to the Venetian Patent Statute that dates back to 1474, which was a time when the capitalist system was coming out from the decline of feudalism. Although product design services inform us that patent law is always changing and evolving, the statutes laid out in that document almost six centuries ago are today still the fundamental standards of patent law. 

The Venetian Patent Statute — 1474

The Venetian Patent Statute is the oldest document which product design and development company say it defines in broad terms a codified patent system. It was established by the Republic of Venice as the first statutory patent system in Europe. 

Obviously, the practice of patent rights came before the writing of this specific document, however, what makes the Venetian Statute so fascinating for product design services is that it represented for the first time that patent customs were codified in an overall applicable, well-defined, and broad manner. 

Prior to the Venetian Patent Statute, patents were handed out on a case-by-case basis in response to individual requests for protection by petitioners. From the time the Statue existed, the conditions defining the rights of inventors to find patent protection were well described. They declare that “any new and ingenious device, not previously made” which served some useful purpose was eligible for patent protection.

This quickly reminds us of the current USPTO patent law which calls for a patentable invention to be original and useful. Contrary to patent law, there was no cost for applying for protection under the Venetian Patent Statute. 

From 1474 to 1788, about 2000 patents were granted by the Venetian Senate. This is minuscule in comparison with modern patents, in which the USPTO received 615,243 patent applications in 2014 alone. 

U.S Patent Law: The Patent Act — 1790

Before the revolution and the sanction of the U.S. Constitution in 1787, patent law in the American colonies was managed in an off-the-cuff manner, with no across-the-board patent rights until the early 1780s when specific states started to bring in their own statutes. This was all amended with the Constitution and the Patent Act of 1790, which established the basis of patent law which has regulated intellectual property rights in the U.S to this day.

These rights were detailed even further in the Patent Act of 1790. The act issued the responsibility of granting and administering patents to the Patent Board. There were only three members of the Board, and they were the Attorney General, the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of War. 

As anticipated, the patent process was very slow initially, as these three would have to appoint meetings in which to talk about the applications they had received. 

Applicants had to hand in a written description of their invention, along with drawings when possible. This had to both sufficiently describe the invention as well as provide instructions that could be followed for the replication of the invention by others. At first, applicants also had to complete an examination though this requirement was quickly abandoned by the Patent Act of 1793.

When there was a violation, a jury was summoned to determine whether a patent holder was entitled to damages. Convicted infringers would have to surrender all their infringing items to the patent holder, and patents could be declared null and void if they were found to be infringing upon a previous claim. On the other hand, if someone brought up an accusation of infringement against someone else but lost, they were forced to pay the costs of the case. 

Up To The America Invents Act — 2011

American patent law was subjected to various changes after the original patent Act of 1790. The first was an amendment in 1793 to clarify the application process. This was tailgated by the Patent Act of 1836. Patent law then encountered fierce criticism during the Great Depression, which witnessed the eventual legislation of the Sherman Antitrust Act which wanted to reduce the influence of monopolies. 

The Patent Act of 1952 proposed the requirement that patents be ‘non-obvious’, and to be original and useful. This amendment was created to prevent shady people from claiming patents over what should be thought of as common knowledge.

The most momentous change to U.S. patent law that has happened recently was the America Invents Act of 2011. When referring back to the English Statute of Monopolies which advised U.S. patent law up till this moment, patent rights were awarded to whoever could show that they were the first person to invent the object in question.

Although this requirement sounds like a lot of sense, it caused some complications. With the total number of patent claims now encountered by the USPTO, it became challenging sometimes to figure out who was the first inventor. This led to the popularity of “interference proceedings”, where inventors would compete in trying to show that they had been the first inventor so they could claim patent rights.

With the America Invents Act of 2011, U.S patent law changed from a “first to invent” system to a “first inventor to file” system, which got rid of interference proceedings completely. Under U.S patent law, it is no longer important who invents a thing first, what matters is which inventor files a patent application first.

Keep in mind that not everyone can file a patent application since you still have to be an inventor. Therefore, if two people both invent a new device, the first of them to file a patent application will be granted the patent. The law does not allow someone who had not invented that device to takeover by filing for a patent for their invention. 

The Difference Between 3D Rendering And 3D Visualization

 

Know the difference between 3D rendering and 3D visualization from product design services like Designstein Studios. Read more here: 

How to Nurture Innovative Ideas at an Industrial Design Company

 

Innovation allows transformation for both businesses and consumers. The experts of Designstein Studios, an industrial design company in California knows how to encourage innovation. Here's how!

Why an Industrial Design Company Must Preemptively Protect Rogue Users

 

When creating a product, many people fail to consider how a user might improperly handle its features because they assume that it is a straightforward design. However, there are cases in which human error or experimentation happens and the product is suddenly in very different hands. Whether by choice or accident, misuse of products can lead to unintended safety hazards. This is why an industrial design company must account for product misuse in their initial design. 

 

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People make mistakes, which is why designing for human error is such an important part of product development. It’s the reason that we have seatbelts and airbags in cars as well as fail-safes in other kinds of devices. Industrial design companies in California particularly Designstein Studios have at least four different approaches to protect users against their own unpredictable behavior, including extensive research, simplicity of design, use of safeguards, and communication to users. Without these considerations, products could fail to satisfy consumers. Below, each of these methods of designing for misuse is explained. 

 

Extensive User Research

 

User research should start with a demographic. Who is your target audience and how will they likely interact with your product? When you have this information, you can start to do tests. Besides noting your focus group’s initial impression of the product, you should also run through some scenarios with them. In order to predict product misuse, it is valuable to hone in on the buyer’s personality, skills, and experience with similar products. Industrial design services can help you tweak designs that present issues with your users so that your product is ready for a successful launch.  

 

Simplistic Designs

 

The more complicated your design, the more chances there are for human error. Simplify wherever possible to prevent risky product misuse. Determine the goal of the product and eliminate any unnecessary features that do not offer a significant advantage to the consumer. Is it possible to reduce the number of controls, for example, combining the on and off switch? Things like this will ultimately save you the trouble of confusing your user or prompting an accident. 

 

Use of Safeguards

 

The ideal product has no errors. However, it is not enough to design with perfection in mind. Experts at an industrial design company say that having safeguards provides that extra layer of protection to minimize the chances of product failure. For example, you might add a safeguard to a vacuum cleaner, so that the suction turns off any time you remove an attachment. Safeguards protect the user from injury and protect the product from being damaged by accident. 

 

User Communication

 

Last, but certainly not least, product developers should think about how their product will be communicated to their users. User manuals or small instruction booklets are necessary for many products. This will define any complicated features and inform users of the best safety precautions. User communication can also be implemented into the design of the product with mini commands. For example, when you empty your trash on a desktop, the computer may ask, “Are you sure you want to delete these files? They will be permanently deleted.” Confirmations of irreversible actions can reduce the chances of user error.