Before the Project
Initial Design Brief
If the client doesn’t provide this, I will answer these questions in our initial meetings. I limit this to no more than a page or two, as it is a living document that will be modified as the project progresses.
Project Goals - What is the goal of the project? What would you like to have in hand at the end of the project? What problem are we solving, as it is currently understood? What does success look like for this project, and how will we measure it?
Company Overview - What is some key information about the business and its mission, values, and relevant products?
Target Audience - What are the demographics of the intended users? What are their pain points, needs, and lifestyle desires?
Market Competition - What are the competing products, current trends, or market opportunities? Why should someone choose this product over the competition?
Product Requirements: Are there any initial constraints on the product in terms of its function, its manufacturability, its user experience, or its marketing? Apart from any non-negotiable constraints, what are the desired qualities in each of these four categories (which could change during the project)? Be realistic but also blue sky at this point.
Budget and Timeline - What is the budget for the project? What is the desired date for the deliverables?
Communication - Who are the main contacts and decision makers for this project? What methods will we use to maintain communication about progress during the project?
Additional Information - Does the client have any reference material, sketches, notes, ideas, prototypes, or research that precedes this project? Let’s bring that up now, and we can incorporate it when appropriate into the project. This may change if we discover improved solutions during the project.
Design Contract
Introduction - This summarizes the project for others to understand. It follows the brief which was already made.
Objectives - Project goals decided on by the client and the designers are concisely stated. This is an opportunity to make the objectives clear for posterity.
Program/Procedure - Describes what will be done and the procedures that will be used. It is important that this section be clear because arguments often result from a lack of clarity in this section. A list of deliverables should be provided, organized by the steps of Research, Development and Communication.
Time Schedules - This can be done by including an event calendar or including a Gantt chart. This ensures everyone agrees on the same timeline and deliverable dates.
Costs - Costs should be broken down under the individual sections of research, development and communication, and include material costs, overhead, travel expenses, etc. Will we use a fixed fee, a retainer fee, and will there be royalty fees? Project costs are a combination of the different types.
General Conditions - Specifies intellectual property rights and the ownership of things created for the project. It covers the designer’s service agreement, timeframe for this agreement, ownership of patents and copyrights, assignment of liability, and an escape clause.
Acceptance - Includes spaces for the designers and client to sign in agreement. A proposal contract should be signed in the presence of a Notary Public.
Phase 1 - Discover (Divergent Phase)
At the start of this phase, I will meet with the client to discuss existing parameters and define the boundaries of the project. These are various methods that may or may not be used during the project.
Primary/Secondary Research
I familiarize myself with the target audience and the various products they are currently using. I read reviews, forums, user comments and feedback. Do the problems I find match the initial problem statement? What are the key pain points users experience with existing products in this category? What features are most important to potential customers when choosing a product? How often do users typically use a product like this? What are the price expectations in this market segment? Who are the main competitors, and their strengths and weaknesses? I conduct interviews, questionnaires, and first hand observation.
Trend ID
I look at trends for directly competing products, as well as products related to the lifestyle of the typical users for the project.
User Observation
This involves watching people behave without interfering - documenting with pictures, recording comments, recording interviews, etc. Watch for pain points and points of positive pleasure in interaction with the product.
Interview and Focus Group
I ask about behaviors, opinions, feelings and reactions, their expertise, their 5 senses, and background about them. I ask open ended, clear questions, without guiding them to a certain answer. Not simply yes or no. I try to dig for what engages them.
Surveys
I focus surveys on important areas that affect the users, considering which groups have the needed information. I create essential questions that are focused on the design goals, and keep it the survey succinct.
User Behaviour Flow Chart
An interaction that the user has with a product can be broken down into Terminators (start or stop action), Process (action Step), Decision, Delay (possible pain point). This helps to quantify interactions.
Patent Research
Conduct a patent search personally or have it done by a patent attorney if applicable.
Product Comparison Chart
Products are broken down into a grid with each product on one axis and various functions on another. This allows apples to apples comparison between products.
Phase 2 - Define (Convergent Phase)
Insights
My first step is to group the research findings into themes. Then, from all the themes, I conclude the insights. Insights are what I discover about the user experience or state of the system.
Opportunity Areas
I need to describe the potential areas of action to guide our exploration in the next phase.
Target Consumer Personas
Now, it’s also time to revisit the personas that I probably mentioned in the initial brief. I need to answer the question ‘who we’re creating this solution for?’. The best profiles will include demographic, educational, cultural, psychological, social, and other aspects of the target group. By creating personas, the generic and faceless data can be applied to believable, if fictional personas.
How Might We? Questions & Problem Statements
I scope down the focus and describe the essence of the project. A problem statement is a brief description of the problem (or need) that needs to be solved. How might we (HMW) are short questions that start the process of generating ideas and solutions. Problem statements describe what’s needed from the user’s perspective.
Outcome
At the end of the Define phase, we have our revised brief. It is a good foundation for the next step — Develop.
Phase 3 - Develop (Divergent Phase)
My general template for concept review meetings
Before the first meeting, I create 20-50 ideas. At the first meeting, there will be 4-6 concepts presented. At the second meeting, we narrow down to two or three concepts. At the third meeting, we have our final concept.
How I think about individual product concepts
When I create a concept, I ask myself two questions: What is it? (What is the big idea and its key features?) Why should you care? (How does it benefit the user and the client?)
How I approach concept presentations
The concepts satisfy all constraints - Every concept in the deck needs to satisfy the design criteria. Some concepts might address the problem in different ways, so there’s some flexibility here. They’re all good ideas - what is a good idea exactly? It passes the basic check for attempting to solve the criteria in a reasonable way. Bad ideas (those included simply as filler) are trimmed out of the deck, as they waste time. Variety - Typically the client asks for just one problem to be solved or one big opportunity to be seized, but there are almost always multiple solutions to the same problem. Showing a wide variety of concepts captures the possibilities and avoids placing all the design eggs in one basket. Range - I show a variety of concepts from Mild to Wild.
Morphological Matrix
This method is a way to quantify and organize the inventive process because it breaks down the design into smaller parts. It consists of a grid in which the columns list the functions of the product, and each row contains concepts that provide a solution for that particular function – for example, types of handles or lids. By combining different concepts for each function, a huge number of possible product concepts can be formed. The matrix can help to speed up the process of concept generation in order to get to the good concepts faster.
Brainstorming
There is no restriction on what can be proposed. Ideas can be narrowed down and refined later, as ideas that seem ridiculous now can inform the later concepts. It’s important to avoid criticizing ideas in the initial stage. In order to get to the good ideas, a large quantity of ideas must be created.
Mindmapping
The basic layout of a mind map starts with a single concept, word, idea, or thing in the center of a page. Surrounding this are sub-ideas or sub-systems branching out from it, and smaller ones in turn branching out from these. In this way a large number of topics are addressed.
Role Playing
I can create personas or roles for users in order to get varied perspectives on a product. For example, you could imagine you were an 86 year old man, complete with a cane, grip reducing gloves, and dark glasses to reduce your vision. This would get you realistically close to his real life experience.
Moodboards (How I think about Inspiration images vs Reference images)
I will collect images of other products in the same category - this is used to learn how products in this category are built, and study how the materials are being used. How have other designs solved the problems of function and ergonomics? These are Reference images. I don't use these to copy from, simply to learn about the state of the art. Inspiration images are images that match the theme, intended user, or mood of the product I’m designing. These don’t come from competing products, but other unrelated products our typical user might have in their lifestyle, such as clothes, architecture, hobbies, aspirations, etc. Certain design details from Inspiration images may show up in the final design.
Phase 4 - Deliver (Convergent Phase)
3D Modeling
I create detailed Solidworks models of the final product concepts. Although in the previous phase I consider manufacturability while creating many prototypes, in this phase I begin to incorporate final wall thicknesses, part lines, and assembly features such as snaps and screw bosses. I create these models with robust reference sketches at the beginning of the feature tree. Once down to the final couple of models before production, I strive to incorporate as many features of the product as possible into the reference sketches at the beginning of the modeling process, to ensure that the model is built for maximum parametric adjustability.
Photorealistic Renderings
Using primarily Keyshot, I create detailed renderings for the client, the factory, and packaging art. I approach this like a classic photography shoot, making sure that each light is placed with a specific purpose, enhancing the goal of the image.
Appearance Models
I work with overseas vendors to create CNC milled and painted models that mimic the final product with high visual accuracy. These are often very affordable, and I ensure the factory can easily produce my prototypes.
Prototype reviews and red line notes
I inspect and provide feedback to the factory for final prototypes coming in, examining texture, fit and finish.
Color, Material, Finish Documentation
I create a detailed document specifying CMF to deliver to the manufacturer. I typically use Illustrator, first exporting detailed line drawings from Solidworks of the orthographic and perspective views. Then I add in realistic renderings of the same views on a layer underneath the line work. On top of this, I place any labels or silkscreens in a separate layer. All of these assets are scaled 1:1 in the document when possible. I then add a layer of callouts specifying Pantone colors and materials. In a separate document, I use screenshots from the CAD with surfaces colored to indicate different areas for molded in texture.
Photography
When necessary, I will create product shots either isolated on a background or staged with other items. I typically will use a standard three point lighting setup to emphasize the features without adding excessive lights.