How do you know it’s a good design ?
Choosing the right design concept can be the difference between a product that excels in the market and one that fails to meet expectations. At design+product our approach to evaluating design concepts is both rigorous and experience-driven, ensuring we select the best path forward for every product development journey.
Why concept evaluation matters so much:
Evaluating design concepts is not simply about picking the most visually appealing or innovative idea. It is about determining which concept best meets user needs, technical requirements, and commercial objectives. Which ones look like they are most likely to work. But this is not always obvious or easy. A robust evaluation process reduces the risk of costly mistakes later in development and ensures that the final product delivers on performance, reliability, and customer satisfaction.
Evaluating ideas to qualify them to become concepts ( see our article on the difference )
- Defining Success Criteria before evaluating any concepts, we work closely with our clients to define what success looks like. This includes functional requirements, cost targets, manufacturing constraints, and user experience goals. Clear success criteria allow us to objectively assess each concept. With our briefs, requirements are categorised into Must haves, Should haves and Could haves. This is crucial to guide the designers priorities.
- Technical Feasibility Assessment. Each concept undergoes an initial feasibility check to identify potential engineering challenges and manufacturing limitations. Our team leverages hands-on engineering expertise to foresee issues that could arise later in development. This is something we are very good at!
- Comparative Analysis. We systematically compare each concept against the success criteria. This involves weighing up strengths and weaknesses, considering trade-offs, and identifying potential risks. We may use a scoring matrix or decision-making framework to ensure objectivity.
- Prototyping When Necessary. While we aim to identify the best concept through analysis, some ideas require physical validation. In cases of uncertainty, we create quick, low-cost prototypes to test critical assumptions before committing to a final direction. For example, recently on one design that looked very promising, we were very unsure how it would feel in the users hands due to moving parts, so we 3d printed a mock up and very quickly assessed that our concerns were unnecessary allowing us to proceed with fully developing the concept. We did this in only half a day, adding no meaningful time into the process
- Drawing on Experience. Evaluating concepts is both an art and a science. Our team’s extensive experience allows us to identify subtle design risks and opportunities that may not be obvious on paper or to some designers. This insight is often the key to selecting a concept that not only works but thrives in the real world. It also helps us to reassure the client who may not have our confidence in the design because they simply do not know.
The Outcome: Confidence in the Chosen Path Our evaluation process ensures that the concept we move forward with is not just a good idea that hasn’t been fully thought through, but the right idea that has been worked up into a fully detailed concept that meets all the essential criteria. It gives our clients confidence that their product development journey is built on solid foundations, reducing uncertainty and increasing the likelihood of success.
Partner with us if you want to ensure that your next product is built on a really strong product design concept. Contact us today to discuss your project and learn more about our approach to product design.
