6 traps for young players

As consulting designers, we are constantly looking for the best possible outcomes for our  clients. We always aim to provide a comprehensive and thorough development process,typically starting with a series of loose ideas and concepts, and gradually and iteratively progressing towards the final solution.

We use a range of tools and techniques to identify, investigate and resolve problems – including sketches, illustrations, 3D computer-aided design, physical mockups and prototypes. These approaches help us to devise, revise and decide on the best solutions as well as communicate them to our clients.

For those of you who may be new to product development, and more specifically industrial design projects, you may in for a wild ride – so you will need to be ready to navigate a myriad of activities, challenges and tough decisions.

With this in mind, I’ve attempted to outline six traps that you might keep in mind whilst your design project progresses:

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The one page NPD plan

I discussed some tips in the previous post to help you in the development of your New Product Development plans for the coming financial year.

I thought it might also be a good idea to give you a practical way of refining and summarising the output for your NPD planning, brainstorming and research activities.

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What are your NPD plans for FY2010-11?

As we move well into the final quarter of this 2009-10 financial year, the business community begins to ramp up it’s planning, strategizing and forecasting activities.

So it got me thinking: how about developing a formal New Product Development (NPD) plan just as you would a cashflow, marketing and overall business plan?

To develop a decent NPD plan, you would need to consider the following goals as essential:

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