We can’t all be experts in everything, but we’re all experts in one thing: our own ideas.
But where and how does something as small and abstract as an idea evolve into something bigger? Something real?
When it comes to something like product design and development, a multidisciplinary team like Enginuity can streamline the innovation process that transforms your idea from figment to functional.
Don’t worry — we’re not here to hijack your idea. After all, you’re the creative architect behind it and it belongs to YOU. We’re here to help you bring that idea to life with a practical and feasible strategy.
What’s the difference between prototype and production?
Every product journey starts with a prototype, but it’s important to recognize the difference between the two VERY different phases of new product development innovation: prototype and production. Prototyping is the initial step (and usually it’s more than one step!) in bringing your idea to life: it’s the creative product discovery process that takes your idea from conceptual to tangible. Our recent blog post “I have an idea…” specifically outlines our proven prototyping process that gets you a working model of your product. Production, on the other hand, is evolving that prototype beyond the “working model” into a marketable “working product” optimized through extensive market research and business development strategies.
Beyond the prototype:
You’ve got a working prototype and you’re ready to bring your product to market, but what does “bring to market” even mean? How can an engineering firm drive my product any further? Enginuity has more hands on deck than simply engineering and design experts. We’ve also got business analysts and market experts. These professionals are specifically dedicated to narrowing YOUR particular pathway to market by guiding your product through an extensive industrial design product development process.
Here’s what to expect from the product to market journey:
1. Preliminary Design. This essential step defines any successful attempt to bring a product to market. It’s a trial run — or “mini-production” — shared with customers we call Early Adopters. From this trial, we collect vital information and comprehensive consumer feedback to direct your product release to the appropriate target market and/or make the product more useful, appealing, or functional. It’s a fundamental step in removing the ever-present funder bias from your idea.
2. Detailed Design. Data is really useless unless you (we!) put it to work. Using comprehensive market research and data collected from the trial release, we filter your product to the most viable markets and help you with business development strategies that optimize your product’s scope and trajectory.
3. Production Design. Once you’ve (we’ve!) developed both an excellent design for your product and a comprehensive and sustainable strategy to take it public, you’re on track for success. No more practice runs: It’s time to engage the market and potential consumers with your product. Design for manufacture, source and truth supply chain, packaging, certification, testing, testing, testing….pre-launch….GO!