Physical product design
Industrial design is the thoughtful mix of business strategy, technological capability and consumer desirability that finally reflects in positive revenue for the company. A major part of industrial design revolves around user research, human factor engineering and manufacturability. As a designer I remain as an advocate of user throughout the process.
Simplified process will look something like this
Empathise
Define
research phase
data synthesis and focus
Ideate
Prototype
exploration of solutions
cheap mockup of solution
Test
testing the outcome with the end-user
Deliver
handing over the agreed deliverables/ manufacturing supervision
Though the primary intent of design can vary from project to project, it is always best to start from the context of the end-user. Some common intents for a design project could be to :
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- Emergence of new technology that could potentially solve existing problem of a target group
- Generate a unique form/feature to make your product stand-out from competition
- To elicit a certain behavior from the user, as a part of business vision.
- Find new ways to tackle an existing problem
- Targeting a new customer segment
- Redesign a product with existing technological/business/environmental/policy constrains
- Or even building aesthetically pleasing objects that move off the shelf faster.
