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I have been designing products for 10+ years and have helped more than 100+ clients turn their ideas into manufacturable products. I have a passion for the business side of taking a product to market and understanding the ins and outs in what makes a product succeed in the market place.
I have taken three products to market so far. With a cupboard full of half-baked prototypes, and a notebook of ideas!
While I have not retired to an island yet,
I know a thing or two about developing a product for the first time,
and if you are thinking about developing a physical product and not sure what to expect.
I can help share some industry insights that will save you money and time when developing a product for the first time.
I’ve always imagined designing a product, selling a 10 000 units in my first month and retiring to an island by the end of the year. It’s why I’ve spent years designing, testing, failing and learning so much in the product development world.
Little did I know,
Taking a product to market is far more complex than I realized. And most definitely not the fairy tale I imagined it would be.
Those videos on YouTube of people making redonkulous amounts of money off one product. They live in the top 1%. They have either suffered through many failures, or touched a Leprechaun at the right time.
In this article I want to level with you and share truths and realities when designing a product for the first time.
Let’s get into it!
The first thing I needed to come to peace with was failing, again, and again.
It was,
and still is,
and will continue to be,
a relentless reality within designing a physical product and taking it to market.
Those new to the physical product design world, have not yet had the pleasure of been kicked to the ground 23 times, with no hope on the horizon.
It’s a grind that no CrossFit gym could prepare you for.
When I’ve had a rally of these failed moments. I end up in a deep dark corner of my mind where the gremlins live and feed on my sole. They want me to give up. Pushing me closer to the edge
It’s in these moments, I have learnt to pull out the binocs, and look for the light. There is always light.
At dinner, across from the table, there is my loving wife, we have food on our table and a roof over our heads. Some people are not so lucky. Grounding my thoughts in actual reality and what’s important in life is what helps me focus on the light.
Okay, enough weirdness Dylan.
“Nothing in this world worth having comes easy”
Product design failures come in all shapes and forms.
A failure in product design is when the design falls short of expectations or misses its intended mark.
Like in all failures in life, it’s how you deal and learn from these product design failures that count. This can be the key to unlocking innovation, pushing boundaries, and finding creative solutions. Separating you from the pack.
In life, disappointments come from expectations not being matched.
Whether it’s paying for a Hyundai i10 and expecting a Lamborghini experience or making plunger coffee at home and expecting a barrister made flat white.
Either of those will leave you unsatisfied.
In product development, it’s similar:
We’ve seen it all and I’m sure you know the feeling of having your expectations not met.
Check yourself and your expectations,
Listen to someone that has gone through the process and wrap your head around what to expect.
This could help you set realistic expectations so you are prepared for when you hire someone and start receiving work from them.
Over time,
Expectations will eventually meet manufacture.
And manufacture, does not skimp on hard truths.
When it’s time to manufacture your product. You can skip to the back of the book with the answers. There is no hiding from the truth once you’re dealing with production and it’s time to make things a reality.
Manufacturers will not be kind and caring if your product is not designed well. They cannot soak up extra cost because your parts are complicated and difficult to manufacture. If you request a quote, you will receive a quote. That’s it.
Only some manufacturers actually take the time to tell you your design is very complicated and you need to refine the design to achieve a better manufacture cost. They receive tons of requests, and firing off a quote based on the design they received is what they do most of the time. Expecting the manufacturer to hold your hand while you figure your design out is not what they do. Unless you have a relationship with them.
On the flip side, if you have a relationship with your manufacturer. Then it’s like the heavens open up and you can see the angels singing. Manufactures are an awesome breed of humans, they are tough as nails, but extremely helpful (many of them). If you build up that relationship, don't treat them like a commodity, the guard rails drop and they are more than willing to make things work for both of you.
This is why we put an enormous emphasis on making sure your product can be manufactured. And manufactured well! You want to get off on a good foot with the manufacturer. And one method to help the cause, is to make their job easy.
The same sized and functional part can have a mold cost of $5000 or $15 000 depending on how it is designed.
These differences are slightly ridiculous.
Why wouldn’t you want to prioritize design for manufacturing when mold and production costs can be so different for the same functional part just designed a different way
An old saying that has stood the test of time, and always comes back to haunt you if you attempt to test it.
You get what you pay for
Comon' now, I know you like to test this, we all live in hope!
and we all love to push boundaries.
Finding that one in a million, top class product designer that hasn’t realized it yet and is still using her rates from 1973. Is very difficult to find these days. Good product designers, understand their worth and cheap product designers, might not give you the results you are looking for, especially if your expectations are to design a product ready for efficient manufacturing.
When you decide to build a product that can satisfy your customers AND be manufactured efficiently for your business. You take on a system of hoops to jump through. and if you hire the wrong person to line the hoops up, your ball is going to spend more time missing hoops, than slam dunks..
Designing for manufacture looks different for each business.
You may only need a few 100 products, or you may need 20 000. The product design team that is going to help you the best understands your vision, asks about your goals, and then helps you achieve them through a design process that work for you. They don’t just agree with what you want.
It’s not easy to understand what is possible if you have never built a product. Relying on an honest product designer is all you can do. Cheaper product designers don’t know what they don’t know.
I hate to admit it, but I was there. I still cringe at the thought of some of my earlier projects that could have been better optimised for manufacturing.
Hiring cheap will:
This issue comes from our real world experience when dealing with entrepreneurs that are starting out.
Let’s go back in time.
You’ve been thinking about your idea for months, probably years, and you’re decided to take action. Time to get in touch with someone to help you design the product.
You receive a few quotes.
The price differences are interesting, we have $3500 all the way up to $17 000.
If you’ve never hired a product designer before, who do you choose? And why is there such a range?
The biggest ‘trick’ in physical product design is when products are in their digital form, it is easy to hide the design flaws and pretend like everything works and is ready for the real world. When in real life product design, we don’t assume anything until we have prototyped, learnt, updated and prototyped again, validating all our digital assumptions with a physical working prototype.
If you don’t know what you are looking at, you may never understand that a perfect digital render, looking super realistic, is actually un-manufacturable.
You only find this out once you go through the entire design process of beautiful renders, only to get to manufacturing and the engineers tell you it’s going to cost another $13 000 to redesign the product to suit molding and btw the design is going to look completely different, oh and this feature won’t work so we need to change it.
I imagine you’re going to be a bit surprised, irritated, confused. Hiring a professional product designer IS how you get a product that works in the real world!
What the right product and industrial designer should do:
So if you want a product that works and can be manufactured, it is going to cost you more money upfront by hiring someone that knows what they are doing. There is no way around that. Either you start off cheap, then pay later, or start off paying the same amount, but get things done quickly with no hiccups.
A penny now and a dollar later. Or a dollar now and a penny later
Hiring is tricky, especially if you don’t know what to look for.
One of the best methods of figuring out who to work with. Is to match your product idea with 1 or 2 of the products in the design teams portfolio.
Matching your idea with the product design companies portfolio is the smartest way to eliminate failure.
The next thing to do is ask them about the project that is most similar to your product idea.
This is an opportunity to learn from the projects failures, wins and your potential design team.
Then ask them about your project:
Unless you bought Bitcoin in 2015, and can afford a top engineering and design firm from the start.
Being smart about who you hire can help you eliminate failure down the line
Building a physical product for the first time is challenging, but with the right product designer or team helping you design your product and with the right attitude. It can be a magestic journey ending with an amazing product that can help your customers and contribute to a successful business.
Push the boundaries of what is possible, and strive to create work that is not only beautiful and effective, but also meaningful and impactful.
I have been designing products for 10+ years and have helped more than 100+ clients turn their ideas into manufacturable products. I have a passion for the business side of taking a product to market and understanding the ins and outs in what makes a product succeed in the market place.
I have taken three products to market so far. With a cupboard full of half-baked prototypes, and a notebook of ideas!
While I have not retired to an island yet,
I know a thing or two about developing a product for the first time,
and if you are thinking about developing a physical product and not sure what to expect.
I can help share some industry insights that will save you money and time when developing a product for the first time.
I’ve always imagined designing a product, selling a 10 000 units in my first month and retiring to an island by the end of the year. It’s why I’ve spent years designing, testing, failing and learning so much in the product development world.
Little did I know,
Taking a product to market is far more complex than I realized. And most definitely not the fairy tale I imagined it would be.
Those videos on YouTube of people making redonkulous amounts of money off one product. They live in the top 1%. They have either suffered through many failures, or touched a Leprechaun at the right time.
In this article I want to level with you and share truths and realities when designing a product for the first time.
Let’s get into it!
The first thing I needed to come to peace with was failing, again, and again.
It was,
and still is,
and will continue to be,
a relentless reality within designing a physical product and taking it to market.
Those new to the physical product design world, have not yet had the pleasure of been kicked to the ground 23 times, with no hope on the horizon.
It’s a grind that no CrossFit gym could prepare you for.
When I’ve had a rally of these failed moments. I end up in a deep dark corner of my mind where the gremlins live and feed on my sole. They want me to give up. Pushing me closer to the edge
It’s in these moments, I have learnt to pull out the binocs, and look for the light. There is always light.
At dinner, across from the table, there is my loving wife, we have food on our table and a roof over our heads. Some people are not so lucky. Grounding my thoughts in actual reality and what’s important in life is what helps me focus on the light.
Okay, enough weirdness Dylan.
“Nothing in this world worth having comes easy”
Product design failures come in all shapes and forms.
A failure in product design is when the design falls short of expectations or misses its intended mark.
Like in all failures in life, it’s how you deal and learn from these product design failures that count. This can be the key to unlocking innovation, pushing boundaries, and finding creative solutions. Separating you from the pack.
In life, disappointments come from expectations not being matched.
Whether it’s paying for a Hyundai i10 and expecting a Lamborghini experience or making plunger coffee at home and expecting a barrister made flat white.
Either of those will leave you unsatisfied.
In product development, it’s similar:
We’ve seen it all and I’m sure you know the feeling of having your expectations not met.
Check yourself and your expectations,
Listen to someone that has gone through the process and wrap your head around what to expect.
This could help you set realistic expectations so you are prepared for when you hire someone and start receiving work from them.
Over time,
Expectations will eventually meet manufacture.
And manufacture, does not skimp on hard truths.
When it’s time to manufacture your product. You can skip to the back of the book with the answers. There is no hiding from the truth once you’re dealing with production and it’s time to make things a reality.
Manufacturers will not be kind and caring if your product is not designed well. They cannot soak up extra cost because your parts are complicated and difficult to manufacture. If you request a quote, you will receive a quote. That’s it.
Only some manufacturers actually take the time to tell you your design is very complicated and you need to refine the design to achieve a better manufacture cost. They receive tons of requests, and firing off a quote based on the design they received is what they do most of the time. Expecting the manufacturer to hold your hand while you figure your design out is not what they do. Unless you have a relationship with them.
On the flip side, if you have a relationship with your manufacturer. Then it’s like the heavens open up and you can see the angels singing. Manufactures are an awesome breed of humans, they are tough as nails, but extremely helpful (many of them). If you build up that relationship, don't treat them like a commodity, the guard rails drop and they are more than willing to make things work for both of you.
This is why we put an enormous emphasis on making sure your product can be manufactured. And manufactured well! You want to get off on a good foot with the manufacturer. And one method to help the cause, is to make their job easy.
The same sized and functional part can have a mold cost of $5000 or $15 000 depending on how it is designed.
These differences are slightly ridiculous.
Why wouldn’t you want to prioritize design for manufacturing when mold and production costs can be so different for the same functional part just designed a different way
An old saying that has stood the test of time, and always comes back to haunt you if you attempt to test it.
You get what you pay for
Comon' now, I know you like to test this, we all live in hope!
and we all love to push boundaries.
Finding that one in a million, top class product designer that hasn’t realized it yet and is still using her rates from 1973. Is very difficult to find these days. Good product designers, understand their worth and cheap product designers, might not give you the results you are looking for, especially if your expectations are to design a product ready for efficient manufacturing.
When you decide to build a product that can satisfy your customers AND be manufactured efficiently for your business. You take on a system of hoops to jump through. and if you hire the wrong person to line the hoops up, your ball is going to spend more time missing hoops, than slam dunks..
Designing for manufacture looks different for each business.
You may only need a few 100 products, or you may need 20 000. The product design team that is going to help you the best understands your vision, asks about your goals, and then helps you achieve them through a design process that work for you. They don’t just agree with what you want.
It’s not easy to understand what is possible if you have never built a product. Relying on an honest product designer is all you can do. Cheaper product designers don’t know what they don’t know.
I hate to admit it, but I was there. I still cringe at the thought of some of my earlier projects that could have been better optimised for manufacturing.
Hiring cheap will:
This issue comes from our real world experience when dealing with entrepreneurs that are starting out.
Let’s go back in time.
You’ve been thinking about your idea for months, probably years, and you’re decided to take action. Time to get in touch with someone to help you design the product.
You receive a few quotes.
The price differences are interesting, we have $3500 all the way up to $17 000.
If you’ve never hired a product designer before, who do you choose? And why is there such a range?
The biggest ‘trick’ in physical product design is when products are in their digital form, it is easy to hide the design flaws and pretend like everything works and is ready for the real world. When in real life product design, we don’t assume anything until we have prototyped, learnt, updated and prototyped again, validating all our digital assumptions with a physical working prototype.
If you don’t know what you are looking at, you may never understand that a perfect digital render, looking super realistic, is actually un-manufacturable.
You only find this out once you go through the entire design process of beautiful renders, only to get to manufacturing and the engineers tell you it’s going to cost another $13 000 to redesign the product to suit molding and btw the design is going to look completely different, oh and this feature won’t work so we need to change it.
I imagine you’re going to be a bit surprised, irritated, confused. Hiring a professional product designer IS how you get a product that works in the real world!
What the right product and industrial designer should do:
So if you want a product that works and can be manufactured, it is going to cost you more money upfront by hiring someone that knows what they are doing. There is no way around that. Either you start off cheap, then pay later, or start off paying the same amount, but get things done quickly with no hiccups.
A penny now and a dollar later. Or a dollar now and a penny later
Hiring is tricky, especially if you don’t know what to look for.
One of the best methods of figuring out who to work with. Is to match your product idea with 1 or 2 of the products in the design teams portfolio.
Matching your idea with the product design companies portfolio is the smartest way to eliminate failure.
The next thing to do is ask them about the project that is most similar to your product idea.
This is an opportunity to learn from the projects failures, wins and your potential design team.
Then ask them about your project:
Unless you bought Bitcoin in 2015, and can afford a top engineering and design firm from the start.
Being smart about who you hire can help you eliminate failure down the line
Building a physical product for the first time is challenging, but with the right product designer or team helping you design your product and with the right attitude. It can be a magestic journey ending with an amazing product that can help your customers and contribute to a successful business.
Product Development studio creating the highest performing products for your customers.