5 Things To Consider When Designing A New Product

5 Things To Consider When Designing A New Product

The initial point at which you or your business develop a concept for a brand new product is very exciting.It’s quite easy to get distracted by thoughts about its ground-breaking tech, its impact on the current market or the money it might make.

However, before you get too carried away, there are far more important things to consider to ensure your new product hits the shelves without any hiccups along the way.To make sure your invention doesn’t fall at the first hurdle, here are five things to consider when designing a new product.

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Intellectual Property Infringement

Before you go ahead and create your concept, you absolutely need to check, double check and treble check any existing patents or products which might already exist.

While you might feel like your idea is entirely original, there is a good chance it might not be. If your product does infringe on another product or patent, you are best of knowing early before you commit and face any penalties or legal action.Take a search on gov.uk for and existing patents.

The Competition

Aside of the legalities of intellectual property, there is also the issue of what other products are on the market.

While your product might be great, it could well struggle to establish itself in a saturated market. It is also difficult to infiltrate a market with similar products because unless you have a unique selling point above the rest, potential customers are more likely to side with the established product.

If your product is too similar to another, consider what you can do differently. Most of us cannot construct a completely organic, original idea, so consider how you might improve a current one.

Headline-Grabbing Qualities

Not matter how different your product is to the rest of the market, you need to find a short, snappy of telling the world.

Ever since the golden age of invention, when the likes of Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were creating ground-breaking things such as the light bulb, phonograph, AC & DC, X-Rays, the electric motor and remote control, it has been important to explain what it does swiftly.

While it’s highly unlikely that you have created anything like the above, it’s important to consider whether you can explain the unique qualities of your product in one line, because if you can, you might be onto a winner. A pretty good place to try this out would be at your next corporate event, on promotional materials such as banners, billboards, and especially those Custom Plastic Cups useful for serving beverages.

Prototyping

Every new product needs to go through some sort of prototyping process, however, it is p to you as to how rigorous that process is.We caught up with prototyping experts Cambridge DT who told us that “prototyping has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years because of the advancements in 3D printing”.

“In the past, we were limited to certain plastics, but now we have a number of different ones as well as metals at our disposal, enabling more advanced operational prototypes.”

“3D printing has also meant that we can make more prototypes, for a lot less, a lot quicker, allowing for creators and designers to have a lengthier trial-and-error approach, which helps iron out any imperfections.”

Audience & Reaction

You wouldn’t have got to this stage if you didn’t think there was a market for your product. However, no matter your gut instincts, you can never be certain until you do some research.Once you have put together some promotional material and most importantly created a prototype, it is worth testing it in focus groups to gauge a reaction.

Feedback can be great, and could spring up issues you might not have previously thought of. You can then make any alterations before the product goes into final production.