Products that are shipped out after development don’t necessarily succeed on the first try. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Of the 30,000 products that get introduced yearly, around 95% of them fail, according to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen.
Whether the product doesn’t quite capture its target market’s attention or fails to deliver value that customers are looking for, the fact remains that a failed product can cause businesses tremendous loss. To lessen the risk of failure and ensure the resources put into manufacturing a product won’t go to waste, prototyping is then a must in any product design process.
Prototyping is the process of creating a sample of a product to test and validate its design, functionality, and usability before full-scale production. Companies either produce them in-house or partner up with a trustworthy product design services provider to help them further test and refine the prototype until it’s deemed ready for mass production.
To better understand the vital role that prototyping plays when designing a product, here are some of its key functions in the process.
1. Idea Visualization and Conceptualization
During the early stages of product design, ideas often exist only as sketches or descriptions. Prototyping transforms these abstract ideas into tangible models, making it easier for the product design team to inspect, enhance, and refine their concepts.
Imagine a team designing an ergonomic office chair. While its components can all be mapped out through a series of sketches and explanations, it’s only when a prototype of the chair is produced will designers be able to explore those parts in detail. Perhaps they notice that the neck rest they envisioned isn’t at the right height when compared to the rest of the chair. In which case, adjustments can then be made accordingly.
2. User-Centric Design Validation
Products are made with the goal of providing convenience and added value to the consumer. Through prototyping, designers can better confirm whether or not a product meets the needs and expectations of the end users. This involves bringing in select users to test out the prototype and gathering feedback from their experience to smooth out any pain points.
Having prototypes be part of the design process also ensures that designers will always remain focused on user experience. Prototyping underscores that it’s not enough for the product’s features to look good on paper since they also have to be intuitive and effective as well.
3. Functional Testing and Iteration
Prototyping allows designers and engineers to simulate the product’s real-world application, testing key elements such as structural integrity, performance, and durability. Product features that don’t measure up to standards and expectations can then be refined through iterative design improvements.
For example, engineers working on a camera drone can use a prototype of their design to test flight stability, responsiveness, photo quality, and battery life. By being able to send out a prototype outdoors—meaning that it actually faces conditions drones will typically encounter such as strong winds—it becomes much easier to discover and address any shortcomings to improve the product’s overall performance.
4. Cost and Risk Reduction
Because prototyping enables designers to spot any flaws or manufacturing challenges early on, costs associated with redesigning or recalling a product are also significantly reduced. Any issues can be resolved while the product is still in the prototype phase, thus avoiding scenarios where problems are only discovered later in the production or after the product has already been released.
In addition, prototypes allow teams to evaluate alternative materials and methods to be used in manufacturing. This can help businesses find more cost-effective and efficient solutions, further lowering their production costs.
5. Innovation and Experimentation
The prototyping stage encourages designers to explore new ideas and pushes the boundaries of conventional design while enabling innovation. Prototypes give design teams freedom to try out different materials, swap part placements around, or come up with new features, to name a few. This exploratory phase is essential for discovering unconventional solutions that teams wouldn’t have arrived at otherwise if they feel pressured that their design should be ready for final production straight away.
6. Building Stakeholder Confidence
Being able to turn ideas into a prototype demonstrates the feasibility and potential of a product, which then instills confidence in stakeholders, investors, and clients. It can be difficult to fully convey the product’s progress through sketches and documents alone. Hence, by presenting a prototype that can be interacted with, stakeholders are further assured that the project is on the right track and that it’s viable for production. After all, a prototype serves as a tangible proof of concept that shows the actual product in action.
This stage can also be especially helpful for businesses seeking out investors for their product. For instance, a tech startup pitching a new smart home device can showcase a working prototype to potential investors to better highlight their device’s capabilities.
Prototyping is a crucial part of any robust product design process as it ensures every aspect of the product is tested, validated, and refined. In turn, this helps businesses deliver products that meet the needs of their users effectively, all while keeping production efficiency high and costs low.
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