New product development can be a time consuming and expensive process, especially when it involves new innovation. If at the end of that process you are only getting one product to market, you may not be making the most of the effort. Smart manufacturers develop a product platform—a range of products, with varying feature sets and price points, based on the same core product architecture.
The concept was popularized in the automotive industry, but can be seen today in everything from sporting goods to consumer electronics.
Usb 3 external hdd. InVision is the digital product design platform used to make the world's best customer experiences. InVisionApp, Inc. With our design studio for mobile users, it becomes easy even for a novice to try their hands on product personalization. The mobile version of the design studio comes with a crisp interface that makes product designing all the more fun and easy. Friendly mobile UI for easy designing of products.
There are several benefits to this approach:
- Your product development dollar is stretched further because the bulk of the engineering and tooling is only designed and developed once.
- Instead of trying to please everyone with one product (usually impossible), a product range lets you cater individual products to different user groups.
- Many retailers prefer to offer a 'good-better-best' product range, instead of a 'one-off' product.
- Product platforms benefit from improved efficiency in manufacturing and service due to common parts, assembly, and packaging.
- A product family, with shared design characteristics, helps reinforce a strong and consistent brand. Consumers will better recognize your products.
- Oh yeah, and did I mention multiple, diversified revenue streams?
To create a product platform strategy that works for your business, you need to start with your market segmentation strategy. Based on the user types you want to target, describe the feature sets and product behaviors that work for each. With the help of product designers and engineers, you can identify which features make sense to group under the new platform umbrella.
At BOLTGROUP, we worked with our client CoachComm to develop a new beltpack radio platform with product SKUs for each of their current customer types, plus additional SKUs that would allow them to expand into new markets. All of the new products were based on the same core tooling. The manufacturer could swap tooling inserts to convert the parts between 2-channel, 3-channel, and 4-channel models. We even built flexibility into the design that allowed CoachComm to modify the color and branding of the products at their own facility. Armed with this flexible new product platform, CoachComm was able to better serve their current market (intercom for sports teams), while also expanding into studio production and industrial markets. And the product's features could be customized on the manufacturing side to cater to each user type.
Executing a successful product platform strategy takes significant planning on the back end, but it doesn't necessarily require a huge up-front investment. For one thing, manufacturers don't have to develop and release all products at once. They can start with a core offering and build from there. They just need to make sure to accommodate for future expansion in the initial design.
For your next product development effort, ask yourself whether your business and customers would be better served by a product family, based on a common platform. And challenge your engineers and designers to deliver a design geared for flexibility and growth.
Image: https://reportgarden.com/graphic-design-tips/
When it comes to product design, there are a ton of options. Access phone files from pc. Especially for new product designers. The software and platforms available to new product designers can be overwhelming, and be counterproductive. Product designers want to make the design process as simple and efficient as possible.
There are a lot of newbie product designers on the scene now too. In fact, product design jobs are starting to play a role in the economy with over 50 percent of new manufacturing jobs aiming to fill product design positions. That's pretty amazing.
But product design is no easy position. There are new cars, furniture, houses, and more to be designed. The use of CAD software is useful, as well as other software and platforms a newbie product designer can employ for success.
To help in your design journey, we compiled a list of six software options and platforms to keep you on track. Let's take a closer look.
1. PCB Design Software
For product designers stuck on electronic design, PCB design software can be very helpful, especially for product design newbies. PCB design software is used for electronic design automation, or EDA, in the space of printed circuit boards (PCB).
For instance, platinen design software like Altium has assisted in the growth and success for product designers and companies for next-gen electronic products and systems.
2. There's An App For That
But product design is no easy position. There are new cars, furniture, houses, and more to be designed. The use of CAD software is useful, as well as other software and platforms a newbie product designer can employ for success.
To help in your design journey, we compiled a list of six software options and platforms to keep you on track. Let's take a closer look.
1. PCB Design Software
For product designers stuck on electronic design, PCB design software can be very helpful, especially for product design newbies. PCB design software is used for electronic design automation, or EDA, in the space of printed circuit boards (PCB).
For instance, platinen design software like Altium has assisted in the growth and success for product designers and companies for next-gen electronic products and systems.
2. There's An App For That
Apps have pretty much become the norm, and when it comes to product design, nothing is different. Now there's an app for industrial designers. Smartphone apps like Red Dot delivers already built assets for product designers to begin new designs.
Apps like this for industrial design are great starting points for newbie designers, or even those interested in product design as a whole, like students in college, or at multiple lower academic levels.
Product Design Platform
3. Design Sketching Help
All product designs that come to fruition begin with a sketch. This makes design sketching an important element in the product design process. But design sketching is a bit more complex than simply sketching something quickly.
To help newbie product designers, a number of design sketching platforms and applications are available. From planning to drawing product models, basic knowledge can be achieved for beginners to move to novice product design sketch levels. You can even take a few online course.
4. Build Your Product Designer Network
Newbie product designers can learn a lot from those who have the industry knowledge and experience for success. This makes networking in the space of product design essential for beginners. You may not think there are many places to network among other product designers, but there most certainly is.
For example, Linkedin and Behance can be great platforms to begin your networking. On Behance, you can meet professional designers and learn about strategies and even share your work. Who knows, you may even get a job offer.
5. Collaboration Is Important
The product design industry is a vast network of professionals. Once you begin networking you will see just how many product designers you can call upon for guidance and advice.
This is also a clear call to action to keep collaboration at the forefront of every design. When on a design project, you will need to collaborate with a number of other designers, managers, and clients.
To do this, you need to have a collaborative software or platform to share your design, get valuable feedback in real-time, and track modifications. For example, software like GrabCAD Workbench can be useful in collaboration and streamlining the design process.
6. Pricing Product Design Projects
When first starting out, you may find pricing and setting deadlines for projects pretty difficult. This is nothing to beat yourself up about, since you don't have the experience under your belt to know how long and how much.
To ease your transition from product designer hobbyist to getting paid, you can use software like Innovative Product Design to deliver pricing and timelines. From sketch to production, you can map out the entire process. This gives you a professional look and competitive edge when beginning your product design career or business.
Platform Vs Product
Wrapping Up . . .
The above six product design software and platforms for design newbies is only the tip of the iceberg. In fact, there are tons more tips and tricks to employ in order to become a professional designer.
Product Design And Development Process
Whether starting out with your own startup or working for a company, make the most of each design with the help of technology. What software or platform helped you when you started your product design career? We want to hear from you.
