3 Ways to Involve Your Customers in the Product Design Process

There are few things as valuable as consumer feedback in the design process. The right consumer feedback can take your product from a flop to a major success. But remember, the key to engaging customers in the design process is soliciting input and feedback effectively.

“Every day, companies solicit feedback from customers, yet only a few translate that feedback into meaning. An even smaller fraction of companies actually take action or close the loop with the customer, to let them know their voice was heard,” explained Whitney Wood, a managing partner at the Phelon Group. “If you handle it right, the dialog between you and your customers can become the lifeline of your business. To establish and maintain a healthy flow, customer feedback must result in change your customers can see. Change is the most powerful currency to reward vocal and consultative customers.”

So, what methods can you use to effectively engage your customers in the design process? Be sure to keep the following in mind:

A/B Testing

Traditional A/B testing refers to a manner of website design in which consumers are presented two slightly different versions of a website (version A and version B). Developers then conduct an analysis to see which version drives higher conversion rates, better engagement, etc. Increasingly, however, the concept of A/B testing is being employed in the product design process, and research suggests the advantages are substantial. For example, a survey conducted by MarketingSherpa found that of online marketers who measured the return on investment for A/B testing, over 80 percent saw positive returns. Furthermore, research also shows that A/B testing tends to work better than traditional focus groups, as it provides a certain sense of immediacy.

Julep, a Seattle-based cosmetics startup, tested demand for a new nail-polish wand with A/B testing by purchasing several different ads on Google. In reality, each ad was for a different variation of the same product. The first advertised the wand as a tool for color mixing, while the second ad touted the wand as a way to get results similar to those at a professional nail salon. The second ad was by far the most successful, giving the company valuable insight into which direction to take its product development. When you pay people to participate in a focus group, their opinions tend to be not as reliable. People think much harder when they think they are being asked to open up their own wallet.

Solicit feedback regularly with surveys

Julep also regularly solicits feedback from customers via surveys to garner better insight into customer wants and needs. It has 5,000 consumers on hand to poll early in the prototype development process. “I have a disagreement with my creative director almost every day,” said CEO and Founder Jane Park. “But there’s a simple way to settle any argument: We take it to the people.” It is important to remember that even the smallest tweaks made in response to customer feedback can have a substantial impact on sales. While A/B testing should be used to test different concepts, surveys can be more valuable when it comes to fine-tuning.

Always close the feedback loop

Remember, engagement with the customer should be sustained. Consumers are much more likely to give feedback again after they know how you’ve integrated their thoughts and opinions into product design.

“Customers will be encouraged to give input if they know they are being heard and know they may be driving change,” explained Ariel Finkelstein, co-founder and CEO of Kampyle. “One of the most important things to remember is that these are human beings and if you don’t have that kind of communication and close the feedback loop, you don’t have the human touch between yourself and the customer.”

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

3 Unique, Boundary-Pushing Product Designs

When it comes to product design, pushing design boundaries and charting new design terrain can often lead to unique products. But is there a such thing as too much innovation?

Innovative Product Designs

Take a look at these unique, and perhaps bizarre, boundary-pushing product designs.

1. The Firrin Toaster

The Firrin Toaster may look like a mailbox, but believe it or not, the appliance can actually toast your bread. Forget about the popping-out mechanism long known to be the standard of a modern toaster. The winner of the 2012 Design Turkey Award, this gem employs a convenient slide-out mechanism that ensures the toasters can seamlessly handle bagels, rolls, and other foods that may not fit in a traditional toaster. It’s an unusual idea, but the product is certainly a hit. Sometimes, it really does pay off to reinvent the wheel when it comes to product design!

2. The Plug Lamp

You know that endless cycle of frustration you feel when you need to charge your phone or laptop but no outlet is in sight? Luckily, the Stockholm designers dubbed “Form Us With Love” have developed an easy fix. An electrical outlet is integrated right into the base of their Plug Lamp so you’ll never have to stress out about having a shortage of outlets in your home again. It’s the perfect bedside table lamp that comes with an aluminum case which makes the lamp as aesthetically pleasing as it is useful. That’s a double win!

3. The S2 Water Purifier

This invention looks less like a water purifier than it does a work of art — and manages to simplify the entire water purification process. Instead of removing a cup from the cupboard, filling it with water from the filter, and then washing it when you’re done, you can just allow the S2 Water Purifier to do it all for you. The water purifier, which mounts directly to your kitchen wall, acts as a shelf, a purifier, and a dispenser. After you’ve drank your glass of water, this machine will even clean the cup via a UV-sterilization system. Drinking a purified glass of water has never been as easy.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

4 Notorious Product Design Errors

All product designers are bound to make mistakes from time to time, but some product designs take the meaning of “mistake” to a whole new level.

Product Design Error Examples

Check out these four examples of truly cringe-worthy product design blunders.

1. Lava’s new keyboard

Back in 2010 Indian company Lava decided to revolutionize the world of mobile phones with a new keyboard design on their Lava 5B model. Most tech-savvy users are already highly familiar with the current standard keyboard design, but Lava introduced a keyboard that was confusing to users around the globe. Consumers were not pleased with Lava’s new product. The takeaway? Innovation is ideal, but consumers may not enjoy having to re-learn something new.

2. Reliant Motor Company’s three-wheeled vehicle

UK-based Reliant Motor Company was convinced that the three-wheeled Reliant Robin would be a resounding success. The only problem? Vehicles have four wheels for a reason — it helps keeps the vehicle safer and more stable. In this instance, it may not have been the best idea for Reliant to reinvent the wheel, literally.

3. JCPenney’s Hitler tea pot

When JCPenney recruited Michael Graves, one of America’s most influential postmodern architects, to design a new teapot, consumers expected the design to be popular. And it was, but not popular in the way you would have expected. It turns out that the silhouette of Graves’ tea pot bore a striking resemblance to Adolf Hitler. Graves insisted he simply couldn’t see the resemblance. “With sales the way they are, this will die down,” he said in regards to the controversy. “And it’s really the sort of way you photograph the teapot, how you can get that image. I test very well for this sort of thing, seeing objects in cubist paintings. And for the life of me, I don’t see it. I just don’t get it.”

4. London’s Walkie-Talkie skyscraper

London’s Walkie-Talkie skyscraper could be one of the best examples of design myopia, or products designed with appearance in mind as opposed to actual functionality. The skyscraper is curved in a manner that makes the building resemble a walkie-talkie, and reflects sunlight in a way that at certain times of the day, the heat generated can actually melt cars located below the building. Luckily, the building has since been outfitted with new special features to address the problem. However, we’re sure the owners of the cars that were melted wish this issue had been resolved before the building was constructed.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

Eco-Friendly Design: Plastic vs “Green” Plastic Substitute

There is no denying it: plastic is bad for the planet. In the United States alone, some 32 million tons of plastic waste are generated annually, yet only about nine percent of this waste is ever recycled. Because it takes between 500 years and 1000 years for plastic to degrade naturally, all excess plastics end up in places they shouldn’t be.

Green plastic substitutes in product development

There are now more than 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris floating in the earth’s oceans, but unfortunately, more than 100,000 marine creatures and one million sea birds die annually from plastic entanglement. Additionally, an estimated two-thirds of the world’s fish stocks are suffering from plastic ingestion. On land, things are just as bad. A significant portion of landfills are increasingly comprised of plastics.

The problem is that while plastic is bad for the earth, it is often good for product design. Plastic is lightweight and flexible, yet durable and sturdy. For companies that want to reduce their environmental footprint by eschewing the use of plastic in product design, there is an alternative option: bioplastics. Bioplastics are made from renewable biomass sources, typically agricultural byproducts, including vegetable fats and oils, corn starch, pea starch, or microbiota, as well as starches, cellulose, biopolymers. Biomass bioplastics are designed to biodegrade much faster, and therefore can mitigate environmental issues related to plastic use.

However, if you are wondering whether or not to use a green or environmentally-friendly plastic substitute, there are several factors to take into consideration. First, note that bioplastics have an environmental toll. The manufacturing of biofuels depends on fossil fuels, which isn’t ideal for the environment. Bioplastics are also more expensive and more difficult to access than traditional plastics. The biomass for production must be cultivated and composted, which is often a lengthy process. However, for companies looking to reduce their environmental impact and can afford to use bioplastics, they can certainly be an excellent way to attract the attention of eco-conscious consumers.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

Product Design Trends to Watch Out for in 2015

As the years tick by, we can expect product designs to become grander, complex, and more tech-savvy as consumers continue to look for products that can help make their lives easier. What are the hottest design trends right now?

Product Design Trends

Check out this list of product designs and development trrends to watch out for in 2015.

Generative design

Generative design refers to designs created using generative software and computer algorithms. The Convivial Project is currently churning out some of the best examples of generative design available. The company’s debut collection, Generative Scarves, made use of a procedural algorithm that is often used digitally to generate patterns of the natural world. The scarves are “characterized by unexpected and unique results, the program allows us to generate intricate visual landscapes of melting shapes and colors,” the company explains. “With its set of modifiable parameters, it enables the user to customize colors and patterns and create a unique print of their own.”

Going green

Consumers are putting an increasing amount of pressure on companies to go green, and brands need to keep this factor in mind when designing products. “Socially-conscious consumers care most about environmental sustainability,” explains prominent global information and measurement company Nielsen in a recent report. “From a list of 18 causes that included the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals as well as other prominent corporate social responsibility topics, 66 percent of socially conscious consumers identified environmental sustainability as cause companies should support.” In order to succeed in 2015, brands should focus on revving up their efforts to appeal to socially-conscious and environmentally-conscious consumers. This means using packaging and product materials made from natural materials, carbon neutral products, and environmentally-friendly product manufacturing processes.

Visual authenticity

When it comes to product design, consumers are increasingly looking for visually authentic products. Visual authenticity refers to the rejection of a standard corporate brand image in favor of handwritten, or freeform typography, vintage-inspired, simple, hand-rendered illustrations, and natural color pallets. The idea is that this kind of authenticity can help brands foster a more human connection with their consumers. For example, take a look at the packaging and materials put out by Santa Cruz, a quick service Mexican BBQ restaurant. All items boast handwritten fonts, a natural color palate, and sleek and simple designs.

“The hand-made quality of the logotype and overall identity is meant to praise the careful, traditional, and apprehensive food-making process of Santa Cruz,” explains Anagrama Studio, the design studio behind Santa Cruz’s new product packaging. “The brand is simple and direct, and above all, always honest and sincere, never attempting to hide its conceptual rugged awkwardness. Destined to be franchised in the future, Santa Cruz’s honest and handcrafted demeanor will inevitably be distinctive amid all other, more synthetic fast food chain restaurants.”

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

Top 5 Elegant Product Designs

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as designing a truly elegant product.

Best Elegant Product Design Examples

What are the best example of elegant product design out there? Take a look at our list.

The Samsung Neo Retro Oven

As the name suggests, this beautiful oven employs a “Neo Retro” design concept, bringing together the best of both the past and the future. Clean shapes and sleek lines give this appliance an utterly modern feel, while details like the copper gold accent color, a matte luster finish, and an analogue knob dial evoke the nostalgia of the past, lending the product a subtle, “homemade” kind of feel. The downside? This elegant oven is exclusively available in Russia.

Leica X

This truly gorgeous-looking camera boasts a vintage feel with all of the modern-technology a camera could possible offer. With a sleek shape and clean lines, the only thing better than this camera’s aesthetic appeal is its technical power. It boasts an MOS image sensor with over 16.5 megapixels and a high-performance zoom lens.

The Bēm Wireless Kickstand

This ultra-light, ultra-portable projector is as sleek as it is useful. With a range of elegant finishes, it will look great in your living room and can also easily be transported to the office via briefcase. There is nothing better than elegance that is portable.

Bang & Olufsen’s BeoPlay A9 Wireless Speaker

These speakers might come in a strange, saucer-like form, but they are absolutely the pinnacle of elegance. Designer Slaatto took inspiration for the unique shape from sound waves, trying to avoid utilizing any horizontal or vertical lines in the design. “Sound travels in circles—just as you see circular waves when a stone hits the water’s surface—so the essence of this design simply is the circle,” he explains.

The Nitecore Titanium Pen

Carved from CNC milled titanium alloy, this pen is not only beautiful, but is also virtually unbreakable. This sleek and sophisticated pen is much more than just a mere writing instrument. It comes fully equipped with a fisher pressurized cartridge that is both fully waterproof and temperature proof, meaning that you will always have a reliable writing instrument whether you are in the depths of the Atacama or on the fringes of Antarctica. The Nitecore Titanium Pen is also designed to break windows and serve as a discreet weapon for self-defense. Perhaps the pen truly is mightier than the sword after all.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

3 Examples of Great “Green” Product Design

There has been a great deal of attention paid to the topic of green product design as of late. But what exactly constitutes effective green product design? Take a look at these three excellent examples.

The Nest Learning Thermostat

Developed by Nest, a home automation company recently acquired by Google, the learning thermostat is potentially the most intelligent accessory you can add to your home. The thermostat boasts sophisticated algorithms that are specifically designed to schedule and automate your temperature, taking into consideration your unique preferences and efficiency. What, exactly, makes this product such an excellent example of green product design? Its ability to adapt to user preferences.

A recent software update has made this learning thermostat even more adept at adjusting home temperature according to your preferences in order to maximize efficiency. “The main improvements in our algorithm is the way it compiles and analyzes additional information from the home,” explains Maxime Veron, the head of product marketing at Nest. “We are learning the schedule better based on understanding occupancy better. This enables the thermostat to save more energy. Every interaction is treated as a way for the user to communicate with the device about his or her preferences for a particular temperature at a particular time and day of the week. This provides a more holistic view of user preference than was considered previously.” The learning capabilities of this device are truly impressive. For example, it can discern when your kids have gone back to school in the fall after summer vacation, and adjust the temperature accordingly to a vacant home.

Replenish

Did you know that the vast majority of cleaning products are actually just water? That means that it doesn’t really make much sense to sell something that is 95 percent water in a disposal plastic bottle — it generates a substantial amount of unnecessary waste. Think of it this way: 35 billion plastic bottles are thrown away each and every year in the US, and the country wastes billions of dollars of energy shipping these bottles to stores. That is where Replenish comes into play. The product boasts a refill system that allows consumers to easily mix concentrated liquids into reusable plastic bottles. Not only does this eliminate waste, it saves consumers money.

Water Cones

Although water covers a staggering 70 percent of the world’s surface, over 97 percent of this water is salt water, meaning that it isn’t available for drinking. Fresh water is in short supply, and global climate change and increased demand are further straining already strained resources. One potential solution is to convert salt water into fresh water, but this can unfortunately be incredibly costly and time consuming. That’s where water cones come into play. These solar water distillers allow users to convert salt water to clean, fresh drinking water. It can desalinate up to 1.5 liters of water per day, which is enough for a child. Furthermore, the process is efficient and simple. That’s what makes the green product so great. It directly responds to a serious problem, providing a solution that is easy, simple, and cost-effective.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

Boost Productivity During the Product Design Process with These Apps

What’s the key to success during the product design process? Maintaining an excellent rhythm of productivity.

Product Design Process Productivity Apps

To ensure your productivity levels are at their peak, download these three great apps.

XMind

The product design process can be pretty overwhelming. After all, there can be no less than 50 different things to keep track of simultaneously from packaging to prototypes. If something gets lost in the shuffle, it can seriously set back the progress of your entire project. That’s where XMind comes into play. This innovative mind-mapping app allows you to brainstorm and implement your ideas more effectively, ensuring that you can clearly visualize your thought process. This makes it easier to develop plans and to-do lists. This app also boasts a range of innovative features, including search, spell checker, import and export, encryption, and file attachment, as well as a range of other features.

Dragon Dictation

What do you do when it’s pouring rain and you have an umbrella in one hand, a coffee in the other, and two whiny offspring trailing behind you and suddenly, out of nowhere, a brilliant product idea strikes you? Do you continue trekking through the rain in hopes that when you arrive home and have a chance to set everything down you can jot down your idea, risking that it might be lost by the time you arrive? Of course not. You use Dragon Dictation to record your idea.

This brilliant app uses voice recognition software to transcribe messages, notes, or reminders, enabling you to write down everything important without having to rely on your hands. You will never again miss an important meeting or forget a crucial piece of information because you were too busy to write it done. You will also be able to take notes much more rapidly — the average person can talk five times faster than he or she writes. We’re confident that Dragon Dictation is the golden key to productivity.

Binfire

In order to ensure that both you and your team stays productive throughout the product development process, you need to be on top of project management, as it is likely you will have different teams working on different aspects of the design process. Binfire is just what you need. This handy app allows you to share calendars, task lists, documents, analytics, and collaborative tools. The security features are also top-notch, so it is excellent for secure or sensitive projects.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

How to Design with the Consumer in Mind

Customer-centric product design has a number of advantages. By developing products to please customers, brands can build loyalty and brand advocacy, decrease long-term marketing expenditure, and successfully differentiate products from those offered by competitors. How can a brand design with the customer in mind? Be sure to take the following into consideration.

Do “deep” market research

When it comes to market research
The more in-depth research, the better. The idea is to go “deep” to understand how customers behave in their own environments, and to understand what they do, not what they say they do. For example, when Sirius was developing a satellite radio, they conducted deep research to understand satellite-radio listeners. They studied how these listeners accessorized their cars, as well as how they used satellite radio on road trips and how they used them when commuting. Although they talked with consumers extensively about music and radio, the researchers never actually mentioned that they were designing a radio. The idea was to get a full picture of consumer behavior to design the best consumer focused product.

Base decisions on “informed intuition”

Many great products started out as a single flash of creative brilliance—an intuition of what consumers want and why. That spontaneous, creative, and intuitive part of the design process is incredibly important, but intuition alone isn’t enough. You need to balance intuition with reliable information about consumers, or what product experts call “informed intuition.” Product design expert Steve McCallion explains, “Informed intuition is a systematic way of filling up your decision-making process with a deep understanding of whom you’re designing for, so you make smart decisions as opposed to guesses.”

It’s not about understanding the average user; it’s about understanding the influencer

Many companies adopt a product-centric design approach around the average consumer. The importance of extensive market research, or truly understanding how your average consumer acts and what he or she wants simply cannot be understated. However, there is more to the story. The most successful brands design with consumer influencers in mind, or the people who drive the market. This means targeting design efforts to key, influential players in your field. These influencers will typically have influence over potential buyers. If they like your product, it will bolster the reputation of your product and your brand. Remember, if you stop at understanding the average user, you will probably just get an average result.

Take customer feedback seriously

Designing with the customer in mind goes well beyond the initial development phase. Once a product has been launched, it is crucial to take customer feedback seriously and implement feedback into subsequent product updates and redesigns. Remember that product updates and redesigns are an incredibly effective way to breathe fresh life into an old product. When changes to already-existing products reflect the changes consumers want, your brand is bound to improve brand loyalty and advocacy.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with extensive experience in the medtech industry. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.