The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development

25.8. Industrial Design Through the Development Process

NOTE

Model early, model often.

As the development process progresses from initial concepts to detailed design, industrial designers continue to support the creation of the product in many ways. Through the development of concepts using sketches, models, and/or CAD, the preferred concept begins to emerge. Refinement of the concept(s) evolves through reviews with engineering and marketing team members. Concepts may also be validated through individual user interviews and focus groups as well as user testing of functional models (see Figure 25.5). Industrial designers provide inputs to product requirements that represent the voice of the customers.

In the detail design phase of product development, industrial design works iteratively with mechanical designers and engineers to establish not only the "skin" of the product but also the size and layout of components. Years ago, the industrial design direction would be established for a new product and then passed on to engineering. This "over-the-wall" process would often result in the design changing radically from the original intent. In other cases, the layout would be established and the industrial designer contracted to put a skin over it—the "make-it-pretty" method. This resulted in industrial designers only being able to make surface alterations to the product, with limited impact on the product's manufacturability, usability, and market success.

Figure 25-5. APPEARANCE ...