Creating the Perfect Product Design Brief – Part 1

Welcome back to our blog series which aims to guide you step by step on your journey to creating your product. Our first article in this series focused on Sourcing a Product Design Consultancy, so congratulations if you’ve found your dream product design partners; that’s the first step taken in bringing your concept to life! Next up – let’s talk about the product design brief!

Preparing Your Product Design Brief

It’s now critical to ensure you communicate your product concept to your product design consultancy with clarity. There’s a lot to consider, so how about a checklist to ensure you are providing the best brief that you can, for best success? We thought you’d never ask.

For ease, we’ve broken this down into two parts, the latter of which will follow in next week’s blog. So let’s get started with the first half of our essential checklist:

Project Design Brief Checklist – Part 1

What is the desired end product?

You’ll need to provide a full and thorough explanation of what it is you are trying to create. The description should include items such as any technology you would like to adopt, visual styling, sketches, thoughts and ideas.

Are you expecting the full and final product, or is your consultancy building a part of it?

Some clients only need a part of the product creating. If this is the case, it will be important for the team you use to be able to understand what the component should connect to or interact with.

What should the product do in the end?

The product designers will need to understand what the product will need to actually do in terms of functionality once built. If it’s a sports watch for example, should it tell the time? Or should it tell the time, track your distance, monitor your health statistics and answer your phone?

How will the product be used?

It’s important to understand how your product will be used; will the item need to be mass produced or will it be a limited edition run? This will affect not only how your costs surrounding the feasibility study and design works are absorbed, but critically, what the final outcome should look like.

What are the USP’s of your product?

What really sets your idea apart from the competition? If indeed there is any competition! What does your product aim to do, that your rivals doesn’t?

How will you finance your project?

Do you have the funding to proceed with the project, or are you waiting for a crowdfunding campaign to deliver the budget? This will be important for the team to be able to schedule the work accordingly and understand the best way to manage the commercial aspect of your project.

Who is the product aimed at market-wise?

Have you identified your target market? Are you targeting millennials based only in the UK? Or will this be a product designed for anybody, anywhere in the world? The product will likely be designed differently for a consumer audience, versus a commercial client. These factors will affect how the product will be used and even how it should be designed.

These questions are designed to help your design partner to fully understand your concept, in order that the end result is as true to your vision as possible. Once you’ve taken the time to answer these questions as fully as possible, click on to part two of this blog, launching next week, where we look at competition in the market, patenting and deadlines.

Meanwhile, for any questions on how to create the perfect product design brief, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team. Email us here, or give us a call on 01962 454474.