Designing a brand-new product isn’t exactly a walk in the park, especially if you intend to mass-produce and sell it at a profit, too. It takes meticulous planning, some serious budget considerations, and an almost obsessive level of devotion to the undertaking just to get the product properly designed and made to begin with.
And even when the product is finally here and ready to market, there’s little guarantee that it’s going to hit the ground running. Unless you have designed, produced, and released a product before, chances are you’ll bump into a number of perplexing challenges and get caught off guard by some hurdles you never knew existed in the first place. Even if this isn’t your first run, it doesn’t mean you won’t come across some difficulties, either. The difference is that you’ve gained some experience now, meaning you’ve gone through the intricacies before and become more prepared to face what’s coming next.
Either way, help isn’t always hard to come by. Like every other challenging task, designing a product is best left to the professionals. In this case, you have the option to seek assistance from a product development firm or a freelance design expert to provide guidance throughout the process. For example, you can find plenty of design forms and experienced freelance 3D design experts on freelancing platforms like Cad Crowd. However, not all design firms and experts are created equal; each has a distinct specialization in product categories, varying experience levels, a track record in the industry, and a history of successful projects. The following tips should help you discover the best possible partner for your specific needs and circumstances.
🚀 Table of contents
Be crystal clear about your goals
This first tip actually has little to do with hiring a professional design expert. Instead, it concerns your vision of the product and how you want to achieve it. Every product starts its existence as an idea. However, it takes work to turn the idea into a tangible product. A significant portion of this “work” involves identifying the nature of the product itself, including what it does, how it works, where it can be manufactured, why people would want it, who the target buyers are, and when it will be ready for sale.
You need to set a series of measurable goals, such as the target research and development cost, maximum production cost, estimated time to market, and expected profit margin, among others. Everything must be well-articulated from the beginning. All those targets and product descriptions will likely change throughout the development process, but at least you start with something definable, so you can keep track of those changes.
Research potential partners
Now that you’ve clearly defined everything there is to know about the product (or rather the idea of a product), you’ll come to realize that a collaboration with a professional design expert, or perhaps a product design firm, should go a long way to help you turn the idea into reality. The next step is to research potential partners. Because it makes little sense to just browse every single firm you can find online, you need to set the search criteria in advance to narrow down the options.
For example, limit the search to design experts who specialize in physical products rather than apps, UI, firmware, or other digital objects. Ensure the specialization includes the product category relevant to your idea. Focus on specific regions or areas, as well as a price range. The level of experience should also be included as a requirement, as seasoned product designers are more likely to understand the task’s complexities and guide you through the process.
Take a closer look at their portfolio
This is a no-brainer, really. Product development firms and freelance design experts often highlight their previous successful projects, prototype designs, collaborations with notable individuals, partnerships with prominent companies, and current ongoing projects. Don’t be surprised if their portfolios are filled with a broad variety of designs or products from entirely different categories. The key step here is to determine if any of them have experience working on a product similar to your design. It doesn’t have to be exactly the same, however.
As long as the product in the portfolio is in the same category as yours, it’s a huge plus. That being said, a diverse portfolio actually indicates versatility, a wide range of expertise, and proficiency in the trade. Don’t forget to read the case studies, if available, as they often provide valuable insights into problem-solving methods, client interactions, design workflows, and other project-related information.
RELATED: How 3D printing for rapid manufacturing is pushing boundaries at product design services firms
Pay attention to the team members’ skill set
When looking for design firms, it’s advisable to pay close attention not only to the principal engineer’s qualifications but also to those of the other team members. Partnering with a design firm doesn’t always mean you’ll be working directly with all the senior engineers. A design team typically comprises a project leader (manager), a product design experts, and two or more junior engineers. Of course, every firm has a different approach to a project, but the description generally holds true for the vast majority of small to medium-sized companies.
What you want is a diverse team comprised of professionals from various backgrounds. For instance, for the development of a complex mechanical product, the ideal team should consist of a mechanical engineer, an electrical engineer (for electronic products), and industrial/product designers. It’s essential that the team’s combined expertise encompasses a broad enough range of knowledge to develop your design into a viable product.
Take a long look at the pricing model
Some product development firms do not provide clear pricing information on their websites, but they’re willing to email it if you ask. If you opt for the freelancer route, pricing information is often more readily available. The most common pricing models include fixed-fee (a single fee that covers their services for the entire duration of the project) and hourly rate (based on the time they spend working on the project). A fixed fee is predictable, but it likely involves a large upfront payment; an hourly rate is more flexible, but it may lead to a significant expense if the project takes longer than expected.
Understand the design process and QA practices
The product development workflow is just about the same, no matter the design expert or the firm you hire. It begins with the ideation step, followed by market research, and then proceeds to prototype making, testing, documentation, and ultimately, mass production. But this is a generalization because they always have their own unique perspectives and approach to the design process.
Even if the basic workflow is the same across the board, they might employ different methodologies, such as Agile (focusing on iterative processes and flexibility), Waterfall (emphasizing linear and sequential development), or Design Thinking (focused on meeting users’ needs). Each methodology also has its own strong and weak points, so get yourself familiar with the matter before making a choice for your consumer product design firm. QA practices are just as important; ask the firms and design experts about their product testing procedures, how much of the design budget goes to quality assurance activities, who is involved in product reviews, and so forth. The more questions you ask, the more answers you get.
Place emphasis on project management
The cornerstone of a successful project is effective management. The term “management” is used in the broadest possible sense of the word and should encompass communication, collaboration practices, budget efficiency, and the extent of your involvement, among other aspects. A good product development firm should always keep you informed by providing timely updates on progress and timeline reports.
Poor communication often leads to design clashes, multiple runs of revisions, and misunderstandings, all of which can result in increased cost. It can be quite tricky to assess how exactly a firm manages a project unless you’ve hired them before. But it shouldn’t stop you from inquiring about their project management tools and preferred communication methods or channels. You may also be able to gauge their responsiveness during the initial consultation phase. In general, you should prioritize a firm or design expert who demonstrates strong collaborative effort, provides prompt answers to inquiries, responds to feedback, and uses a robust project management platform.
Get to know their manufacturing considerations
The ultimate goal of designing a physical product is to have it mass-produced in a cost-effective manner and sell it for profit. This is why you should be persistent with your inquiries about the production considerations. Product development experts are not inexpensive. You’ll be making a pretty substantial investment, so you need to know what you’re getting even before you make that hiring decision. Ask as many questions as you can muster about the firm’s strategies to prepare the product for mass production.
The question can be about injection molding, CNC machining, electronic product assembly, and 3D printing. If your product needs to be environmentally friendly, ensure the firm can provide you with satisfactory answers regarding material selection, product recyclability, end-of-life management, and other relevant aspects. A significant aspect of production consideration is DFM (Design for Manufacturability), which involves design optimizations to prepare the product for practical manufacturing. A product designed with the DFM approach in mind typically has a lower production cost as well.
Ask for well-defined deliverables
Developing a product from scratch isn’t something you can do in a matter of days. It may take weeks or even months, depending on design complexity and requirements. You shouldn’t expect any firm or design expert to get the job done in record time, but you can ask for details about project scope, realistic timelines, and a schedule for deliverables. All this information should help you track progress easily, address potential issues as they arise, and ensure proper collaboration throughout the project. If there are changes to the schedule due to unexpected challenges, the firm must provide prompt and clear updates, as delays may ripple through the project timeline.
RELATED: 10 design principles for product development & industrial design services teams
Discuss the issues regarding confidentiality and intellectual property
The idea is yours, and you hire the product development firm or design expert to help you materialize that idea into reality. Whether you like it or not, collaboration means sharing every single detail about the idea with the professionals you hire. You practically present a potential invention to them, and you have to pay for it. Ideally, all the inventions and innovations that may come to the surface during the collaboration, along with the documentations related to the project, should be yours, because it’s your project, and you merely hire them to help you. But sometimes, things are not always that simple. This is why it’s essential to have a proper discussion about IP ownership and confidentiality in advance with product engineering services. The usual solution is to enforce an NDA.
Consider cultural fit
When people say “cultural fit” in hiring, it typically refers to the alignment of values between the employer and the employee. For example, if you want to design an eco-friendly product, then you should collaborate with a firm or design expert who also demonstrates an inclination for reducing harm to the environment; if you’d like to be heavily involved in the day-to-day activity in the project, you should hire a team with a dedicated project manager. When both parties share similar values and prefer the same approach to working, it’s easier to avoid misunderstandings, reduce conflicts, and tackle all possible challenges. In short, cultural fit improves productivity.
Check testimonials
A reliable method for gaining insight into a firm’s capabilities, communication style, collaborative efforts, and project management skills is to review testimonials. If possible, reach out to previous clients and ask them to describe their experience hiring the design firm. Please understand that it can be difficult to track down every single client who hired the firm in the past because of the NDA in their contracts. Seeking information from unofficial sources, such as through a professional network, can also reveal the quality of the services. The reputations of freelance design experts are likely easier to verify by simply looking at their ratings and clients’ feedback on freelancing platforms.
Avoid the common pitfalls
You’ll be surprised to know how many mistakes you can possibly make when hiring a design firm. For example, you decide to hire a firm or a design expert simply because the services are cheap. While price is always an important consideration, making a decision based solely on price often leads you to a design firm that may not have the necessary expertise and experience to complete the job. In some cases, cheap prices also indicate a long completion time; even if the firm has the professionals to deliver a quality product, the low price may suggest that your project is not a priority.
Another common mistake is choosing a design expert whose specialization is entirely different from your product category. Say you want to build a relatively simple yet robust desk ornament made of stainless steel; it makes little sense if you hire a design expert known for fashion accessories services. Even if the price is good and the designer has years of experience in the clothing industry, you can find a much better fit for the project.
Overemphasizing experience or reputation over creativity and fresh ideas can also be a mistake. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of new design professionals out there eager to showcase their skills and unique visions to clients everywhere. Just because they’re new, it doesn’t always mean they’re any less capable than the others. Consider giving them a pilot project for simple product development, just to see how they handle the job. Like all pilot projects, don’t spend too much money on it; keep it a low-risk investment, but make sure the project allows you to assess its overall performance.
Conclusion
Whether you end up partnering with a freelance design expert or a full-blown product development company, the decision likely comes with quite a sizable investment for good reasons. They lend some specialized skills to help materialize an idea, bring an objective viewpoint to your design preferences, and offer a fresh perspective to keep everything on track. Believe it or not, much of that investment actually goes to something a little less tangible: experience. Now that you have experienced professionals on your team, the product development process has every chance to run more efficiently; they should know which strategies will work to your advantage and what to avoid, to prevent a waste of resources.
But the investment is not without risk, either. The right product development firm can open the door to brilliant ideas, help execute every action plan with good accuracy, and lead you to a hassle-free path toward a successful venture. On the other hand, choosing the wrong one can lead to a significant waste of time and money. The problem is, sometimes there’s no way to know if you’re making the wrong decision before it’s too late.
RELATED: Prototype design engineering: How well should your company’s prototype function?
How Cad Crowd can help?
While the tips above may not cover everything, treat them as essential guidelines for finding reliable design professionals in your product category. To kick-start your search, explore freelancing platforms like Cad Crowd, which are well-regarded for their impressive product design portfolios, with Cad Crowd being the premier place to find these talents. Don’t hesitate! Start your journey now to discover the perfect designer for your needs! Request your FREE quote now!
