How Brand Consistency Matters in Industrial Design

 

Hire an industrial design company like Designstein Studios to help your company maintain brand consistency. Here are the reasons why it's important when creating or redesigning your product(s).

Product Design Services Describe the 8 Stages of Prototyping

 

At the center of product development is a good idea. However, in order to make this good idea a reality, product design services must perform different stages of prototyping and testing. This process can be identified by 8 stages: mockup, proof of principle, concept generation, alpha prototype, beta prototype, engineering test, real-world design trial, and production validation. Product design companies follow these steps in order to optimize their chances for a successful launch.

Mockup

Mockups allow designers to fully visualize the concept of a product before it is engineered for functionality. While some developers may be eager to jump into the technical features of a product, it is a good idea to use storyboards or other visual representations to verify that the product is worth pursuing. In the early stages, prototypes don’t have to be detailed or high resolution because they will inevitably change during development. Instead, a product design and development company can rely on cheaper and quicker technologies to make the mockup. 

Proof of Principle

At this stage, designers can look deeper into the technological aspects of a product with a proof of principle. In other words, product design services determine if the technology for this specific design exists at a reasonable price. This becomes increasingly important for ideas that are new and innovative. If you’re doing something that has never been done before, then you have no point of reference for the logistics of manufacturing. The proof of principle exists to test the technology you are aiming to use for your product. 

Concept Generation

Once you have approved your mockup and proof of principle, then you can move on to the concept phase. In this stage of the process, designers start to make decisions about the product, including the look, form, and experience. What color and shape will it be? What exact features will it include? How will a user interact with it? During concept generation, some designers like to build a physical form. This allows them to actively participate in forming the shape, texture, and weight of the product. However, this is not necessary for all products. If you are designing a familiar product, like tennis shoes, then detailed sketches may suffice at this point. 

Alpha and Beta Prototype

Finally, a real prototype! The alpha prototype should act and look like the final product. When you test this prototype, you will get a sense of whether or not the engineering and design work together. This will then lead into the beta prototype, which helps evaluate the product’s manufacturability. Both prototypes serve a different purpose in the product development process, but offer similar benefits to the goal of a successful product launch. 

Engineering Test

Once the prototypes are approved for their general functionality and form, then you can move on to a more specific engineering test. This will help identify any issues in the ability for manufacturers to reproduce your design. Once this test goes through, you will be able to confidently go into the next step. 

Design Trial

Your design may be functional and beautiful, but is it up to the standard of quality you expect? The real-world design trial should verify whether or not the product is durable for its environment. At this point, developers may require that the design meets certain certifications. Once the product meets these expected requirements, this information can be used later in the marketing stages. 

Production Validation

This is the final stage of prototyping. When you have approved all other forms of the product, you should do a test run of the production itself. How many products in the assembly line follow the design expectations? How many are faulty? If there are any problems at this point, then designers may need to go back a step or two and see what went wrong. However, following this 8-step process minimizes the risk of costly problems and increases the chance of a successful overall product!

Why Industrial Designers Take the Design-for-Manufacturing Approach

 

Lower you production cost while creating a quality finished product by hiring an industrial design company that uses the design-for-manufacturing approach. Read more about it HERE.