prototyping
Prototyping and validation is the third step in the product creation process. Good product design always comes with testing concepts with prototypes and models.
samples and models
Prototyping is a crucial step in the development of any new product. It involves creating early samples or models of a product to test its functionality and design before production.
Think of it as the first draft of your product, allowing you to see, touch, and evaluate your product in a tangible form.
why is it important
Prototyping helps validate the concepts and assumptions about the product. It provides a concrete way to test whether the concept works as intended.
By creating a prototype, we can identify design flaws or functional issues early in the process. This saves time and money by avoiding costly mistakes in the later stages.
Feedback from prototypes can lead to improvements in the design, making the final product more user-friendly and effective.
Prototypes serve as excellent tools for communicating your vision to stakeholders, team members, and potential investors.
functional models
Very early in the design process we create the first rough solutions, evaluate them on functionality and performance. Creating functional models is a crucial part to see if proposed solutions work well.
We test the functional models and develop the idea’s into potential concepts, or drop the solution if it appears to be unstable, non reliable or just inferior compared to other solutions.
ergonomic models
Another type of models that we create are ergonomic models. These are very early mockups, mainly from easy materials like foam, to test interaction and ergonomics.
After we tested potential solutions with these ergonomic models we take the design a step further. For this we create early 3D CAD models and print the parts on 3D printers. This helps so further test functionality and ergonomics.
prototypes
During the engineering phase of a project we build multiple prototypes. In the earlier stages of the CAD engineering we 3D print models or only some parts of the total product. This is also a great way to evaluate final shapes.
More towards the end of the 3D engineering stage we build a fully functional prototype.
These prototypes are very high quality, often CNC machined, coated, with graphics, motors and fully usable.
Building prototypes is cheaper then mould making and production, therefore we normally do extensive testing with prototypes. And after evaluation do some cycles of optimization engineering, prototyping and testing again.
This helps to make the step to production more predictable and less risky.
conclusion
Product prototyping is an essential part of the product development process. It allows us to bring your ideas to life, identify and fix problems early, and refine the design based on real-world feedback.
By investing time and resources into effective prototyping, you increase the chances of your product’s success in the market. Prototyping is the bridge between concept and production.
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