Creating the Perfect Design Brief – Part 2

Hello and welcome to part two of our guide to creating the perfect design brief. In our previous blog we addressed the questions you will need to answer earlier on in the design process, including things like identifying your product’s USP’s, the level of build you are looking to achieve and who will be using your product on completion. If you haven’t already addressed these points, pop back and take a look at the previous blog.

If you’ve already mastered the first section, then read on for the next level of your effective product design brief, where we look at addressing patents, competition and launch dates – take a look:

Design Brief Checklist – Part 2

Who is your competition in the market?

If your idea is all shiny and new, there may well be no competition to speak of. Who is your closest competitor and what are they well known for? What do they do well and why should your product outperform theirs? Any great design consultancy will be really excited to work on something brand spanking new. Remember, your success in the market, will also be their success and could get your consultancy recognized in a market which is new to them – win win!

Do you intend to patent your design?

It’s really sensible if you have something brand new and game changing up your sleeve, to protect your idea with a patent. We’ll be coming back to this topic in the coming weeks, so keep checking back. Meanwhile let your design team know if you want to patent your idea as they will need to assist you in this process. It’s also important at this stage to check your concept doesn’t infringe anyone else’s copyright or IP from competitors. A good design consultancy will be able to help you with this process.

Do you have a launch date in mind and what is driving that deadline?

When are you aiming to launch your product? Will you be launching a prototype product which will demonstrate how it all works; will this be the item you take to your board for approval to take this to manufacture? Or will this be a minimum viable product (MVP) to go to market, designed with the early adopters in mind, so you can crack on with evolving your brainchild?

How do you plan to take your product to market?

What is your ultimate marketing strategy? Will you utilise resellers or partners to get your product moving, or will you be running it through an ecommerce solution online direct from your own warehouse?

Take a moment to explore the answers to these questions, in order to really help build a comprehensive understanding of your concept, your objectives and your market strategy. This should really help you to communicate effectively with your design team.

It’s important to come to this discussion with a really open mind. Remember, your product design consultants will want to ensure they are creating the best product for you, because your success is their success! There will be many questions, in order to reach the nirvana that is your ultimate concept brought to life, but this guide should give you a great start!

If you have any questions on next steps, why not get in touch with our team? You can email them here or give them a call on 01962 454474.

Check back with us next time when we talk budgeting for your project!