Creating a functional prototype is always a necessary step in product development. Prototyping services give designers the essential step to test their ideas, collect feedback, and make necessary adjustments before launching into mass production. However, making a functional prototype is not easy: it takes a “village” to create a prototype that works perfectly. In this article, we will offer some amazing pieces of advice on how to improve your prototype design.
1. Start with clear design guidelines
A guideline is a very important step in designing a prototype. Before moving forward to prototype development, having a clear design guideline is crucial. The brief should contain the purpose, the goals, and the target audience of your part. With a clear guideline for the prototype, you can ensure that your prototype can fit perfectly with the desired features and functionality.
2. Carry out in-depth market research
The research includes research on existing products and competitors in your market and on your potential customers. Market research on your competitors can help you detect valuable lessons in what works and what doesn’t—dissecting similar products, revealing their strengths, and weaknesses, and finding merits that stand over your competitors. It is a necessary step in product development, otherwise, you will probably waste a lot of effort and money without reaping the rewards during the process. The same goes for market research on your target customers. You have to get into the heads of your customers before starting your drawing. Or all your efforts will become a journey of wild goose chase.
3. Draft and repeat
Drafting a sketch starts making your ideas into reality. It helps visualize concepts and search for different design possibilities. Begin by creating rough sketches of your prototype, integrating all necessary geometries. Go over your initial drafts, refine and improve the roughness and sharp edges of the design at a leisurely pace. By this process, you can carry out numerous experiments and ideas before ushering into the next step of the product development stage.
4. Leverage digital tools
Unlike the old times, the tools are only your imagination and your pencil. As technology advances, today there are many digital tools available for you to enhance the prototyping process. Tools such as 3D modeling, CAD software, and virtual reality (VR) can help you generate precise virtual representations of your design. These digital tools facilitate quick changes, improved visualization, and better communication with your team.
5. Think about user experience and ergonomics
You should consider your prototype design’s user experience (UX) and ergonomics during the process. It is very important that you conduct user testing to collect feedback and make necessary modifications to fit with customer’s overall needs and requirements. Ergonomics is the science of designing parts that are comfortable, efficient, and safe to use. When designing, you should guarantee that your prototype is user-friendly: the controls should be intuitive, interfaces should be easy to access, and dimensions should be suitable.
6. Divide a prototype into interchangeable modules
More often than not, a prototype needs a lot of repeated modifications and adjustments to test the aesthetics and functions before it is finally ready for market. Therefore, it is a top-notch approach to tear apart a prototype into interchangeable modules or components. With the switchable modules, it becomes easy to change, replace, and refine certain parts without starting from the beginning.
7. Make the right material selection
Material choice is extremely important in the development process of your prototype. You need to carefully consider the physical properties, manufacturing process, and cost of the materials you select. There are so many materials in the market, that it will not be easy to choose the right material for your prototype. However, after careful evaluation of these material’s durability, weight, flexibility, and overall aesthetics, it should be clear what material is a perfect fit for your prototype. To add value to your prototype, you can also opt for sustainable and eco-friendly materials.
8. Test, gather feedback, and iterate
It is essential to build a functional prototype and test it repeatedly and rigorously so that you can collect data and feedback from potential users, industry experts, and stakeholders to figure out areas that need improvement and modifications. The performance, functionality, safety, and durability of your prototype are needed to be evaluated. After gathering feedback, the next step for you will be iterating on the prototype design until the desired design is refined to perfection.
9. Team up with professionals
Working with a team is always better than working only by yourself. Cooperating with various field experts can improve your prototype design immensely, engaging with experienced designers, engineers, and manufacturers who can offer valuable perspective and insight. Collaborative work can help optimize your design, streamline the production process, and avoid costly mistakes
Conclusion
Building a functional prototype is an essential step in the product development process. With the aforementioned tips as your references, you can improve your prototype design, fit with your objectives, and increase its chances of success. You need to keep an open mind to new ideas, be acceptive of suggestions, and refine your design until it has reached perfection. With careful planning, thorough research, and attention to detail, your prototype design can reach its full potential and become a popular product.
