Product Design

Product Designers and Software and Electronics Designers

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Read our ‘understanding the design process’ blogs with part 2 of ‘Creating the Perfect Product Design Brief’ https://conficio.design/creating-the-perfect-product-design-brief-part-2/

[conficiodesign-blog]

Read our ‘understanding the design process’ blogs with part 1 of ‘Creating the Perfect Product Design Brief’ https://conficio.design/creating-the-perfect-product-design-brief-part-1/  

[conficiodesign-blog]

Creating the Perfect Product Design Brief – Part 2

Hello and welcome to part two of our guide to creating the perfect design brief. In our previous blog we addressed the questions you will need to answer earlier on in the design process, including things like identifying your product’s USP’s, the level of build you are looking to achieve and who will be using your product on completion. If you haven’t already addressed these points, pop back and take a look at the previous blog.

If you’ve already mastered the first section, then read on for the next level of your effective product design brief, where we look at addressing patents, competition and launch dates – take a look:

Project Briefing Checklist – Part 2

Who is your competition in the market?

If your idea is all shiny and new, there may well be no competition to speak of. Who is your closest competitor and what are they well known for? What do they do well and why should your product outperform theirs? Any great design consultancy will be really excited to work on something brand spanking new. Remember, your success in the market, will also be their success and could get your consultancy recognized in a market which is new to them – win win!

Do you intend to patent your design?

It’s really sensible if you have something brand new and game changing up your sleeve, to protect your idea with a patent. We’ll be coming back to this topic in the coming weeks, so keep checking back. Meanwhile let your design team know if you want to patent your idea as they will need to assist you in this process. It’s also important at this stage to check your concept doesn’t infringe anyone else’s copyright or IP from competitors. A good design consultancy will be able to help you with this process.

Do you have a launch date in mind and what is driving that deadline?

When are you aiming to launch your product? Will you be launching a prototype product which will demonstrate how it all works; will this be the item you take to your board for approval to take this to manufacture? Or will this be a minimum viable product (MVP) to go to market, designed with the early adopters in mind, so you can crack on with evolving your brainchild?

How do you plan to take your product to market?

What is your ultimate marketing strategy? Will you utilise resellers or partners to get your product moving, or will you be running it through an ecommerce solution online direct from your own warehouse?

Take a moment to explore the answers to these questions, in order to really help build a comprehensive understanding of your concept, your objectives and your market strategy. This should really help you to communicate effectively with your design team.

It’s important to come to this discussion with a really open mind. Remember, your product design consultants will want to ensure they are creating the best product for you, because your success is their success! There will be many questions, in order to reach the nirvana that is your ultimate concept brought to life, but this guide should give you a great start!

If you have any questions on next steps, why not hop on over to the Conficio Design website and get in touch with the team.

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Creating the Perfect Product Design Brief – Part 1

Welcome to our blog series which aims to guide you step by step on your journey to creating your product. 

It’s now critical to ensure you communicate your product concept to your product design consultancy with clarity. There’s a lot to consider, so how about a checklist to ensure you are providing the best brief that you can, for best success? We thought you’d never ask.

For ease, we’ve broken this down into two parts, the latter of which will follow in next week’s blog. So let’s get started with the first half of our essential checklist:

Project Briefing Checklist – Part 1 What is the desired end product?

You’ll need to provide a full and thorough explanation of what it is you are trying to create. The description should include items such as any technology you would like to adopt, visual styling, sketches, thoughts and ideas.

Are you expecting the full and final product, or is your consultancy building a part of it?

Some clients only need a part of the product creating. If this is the case, it will be important for the team you use to be able to understand what the component should connect to or interact with.

What should the product do in the end?

The product designers will need to understand what the product will need to actually do in terms of functionality once built. If it’s a sports watch for example, should it tell the time? Or should it tell the time, track your distance, monitor your health statistics and answer your phone?

How will the product be used?

It’s important to understand how your product will be used; will the item need to be mass produced or will it be a limited edition run? This will affect not only how your costs surrounding the feasibility study and design works are absorbed, but critically, what the final outcome should look like.

What are the USP’s of your product?

What really sets your idea apart from the competition? If indeed there is any competition! What does your product aim to do, that your rivals doesn’t?

How will you finance your project?

Do you have the funding to proceed with the project, or are you waiting for a crowdfunding campaign to deliver the budget? This will be important for the team to be able to schedule the work accordingly and understand the best way to manage the commercial aspect of your project.

Who is the product aimed at market-wise?

Have you identified your target market? Are you targeting millennials based only in the UK? Or will this be a product designed for anybody, anywhere in the world? The product will likely be designed differently for a consumer audience, versus a commercial client. These factors will affect how the product will be used and even how it should be designed.

These questions are designed to help your design partner to fully understand your concept, in order that the end result is as true to your vision as possible. Once you’ve taken the time to answer these questions as fully as possible, click on to part two of this blog, launching next week, where we look at competition in the market, patenting and deadlines.

Meanwhile, for any questions on how to create the perfect product design brief, don’t hesitate to hop over to the Conficio Design website and request our project brief template.