If you’ve got a product idea, it can be daunting to take it from the idea phase into a real, marketable product. But you don’t need to be a great inventor or entrepreneur to have a good idea. As with any other task, if you break it down into stages, the plan of designing a product can become a lot more viable.
With this in mind, here are a few tips that can help you design a successful product.
1. Market Research
First, you need to determine whether your product is actually marketable. You have to be a bit cruel with yourself sometimes, especially if you’re going to invest a lot of time, money, and effort into a product. Market research can help you see what products are already on the market, including in your target industry, as well as how successful they are and what demographics are more interested in them.
Sometimes it becomes immediately apparent that your product idea might not work as you’d hoped, especially if you’re trying to enter a saturated market or, on the other hand, there’s no interest in a product like the one you’re designing.
Market research helps you to work out how viable your product idea is from the beginning, and it can help inform the development of your ideas. So, keep on engaging in market research by looking at competitors and speaking to potential customers as you design your product.
2. Develop Prototypes
Let’s say that you’ve engaged in market research, worked on your idea, come up with some solid concept drawings and ideas, and you’re ready to go to the prototype phase. This is the point when your idea suddenly takes shape into something real.
One thing that can bridge the gap between concept and prototypes is a digital prototype, which allows you to create a virtual version of your product that you can test with real-world situations. This allows you to tweak the product more easily, so you’re ready for the real prototype.
From there, focus on emulating the basic design, materials, and dimensions of your product so it’s as accurate a prototype as possible. You can then use your prototype to help you market your upcoming product, both to customers and potential investors.
3. Outsource for Manufacturing
Once your prototype has successfully validated your concept, you can transition to the manufacturing phase. For most without in-house production facilities, outsourcing is the most practical path forward. The scope of this outsourcing can be tailored precisely to your needs: you can outsource the design and fabrication of essential components like the PCB design for an electronic device, or you can outsource the complete end-to-end manufacturing process.
Just make sure to patent your product design so you know your idea is protected.
4. Quality Control
Finally, it’s important to ensure that your products are of a consistent quality. This prevents complaints or, in severe cases, legal issues if your product isn’t what it’s advertised to be. Quality control makes sure that your product works as it should and isn’t dangerous to customers, so always get your products checked once they enter production.
