Product Design Agencies
If you’re a product-centred business or have a great idea that you want to put out into the world, you need to ensure you have a quality product that has a competitive edge and fulfils your target consumers’ needs.
Bringing a new product to market involves a lot of work. You need to factor in things like concept design, supplier sourcing, prototyping, usability, manufacturing requirements and engineering problems. This is where the expert knowledge, skills and experience of a product design agency comes in.
What are the different types of product design?
Before we go any further, it’s good to understand the two main types of product design:
- Software product design: Software design involves creating an application or system software such as a mobile app or computer operating system. Software design involves planning, feasibility analysis, design and prototyping, testing, integration and maintenance.
- Hardware product design: Unlike software, hardware products are physical items such as lamps, boxes, tools. etc.
Some agencies may specialise in designing and manufacturing a specific type of product, so bear this in mind when you begin your search.
What is a product design agency?
A product design agency is a team of professionals that work with you to design, develop, test and deliver a product to market. They see a product through the entire lifecycle from initial conception right through to the manufacturing process. Product design agencies are at the forefront of technology, industry best practices and user-centred insights to ensure your product serves as a creative solution to a real-life problem.
What are the benefits of hiring a product design agency?
Turning a concept into a product that solves user needs involves much more work than you might anticipate. If you’re a startup with a great idea for an innovative product, a product design agency can help you refine your idea and brainstorm as many potential solutions as possible.
Even if you have subject matter expertise or are comfortable with producing a design with relevant specifications, prototyping and manufacturing is a completely different story. Some products require specialised machinery or materials that only a product design agency has access to.
In any case, all businesses can benefit from gaining another perspective to assess whether your product is viable and how it can be improved further. Additional benefits of hiring a product design agency include:
- Cost-savings: It might initially seem like hiring a product designer is a big investment, but an investment is exactly the right way to look at it. The value you’ll gain from having a team that is trained specifically in designing and bringing a product to market can offer a much greater return than what you could achieve on your own.
- User insights: Product designers have a deep understanding of different markets and user needs, and know how to optimise your product optimal possible user experience.
- Unbiased perspective: It’s easy to lose sight of what’s best in terms of usability and design when you’re emotionally invested in an idea. Product design agencies can give you fresh ideas to improve your idea further.
- Cutting-edge trends: Product designers are at the forefront of innovation and have access to the latest tools, technology and design practices.
What services do product design agencies offer?
The end-to-end services offered by product design agencies vary as they align their services with your project objectives and the scope of work involved. Popular services include:
- Market, customer and product research: Assess the current landscape and projections for your industry and target marketing to evaluate whether your product is viable.
- Concept design: Map out the general concept of your product and consider different options for style, functionality and usability. This stage also involves considering the materials and processes you may need.
- Usability engineering: Use a range of tools and mockup software to explore potential challenges users may experience and find solutions.
- Prototyping and testing: Create, test and polish your design to optimise your product’s functionality and aesthetic.
- Supplier sourcing: Product design agencies do all of the heavy lifting to find the right suppliers for your project. They also liaise with suppliers on your behalf to streamline the production process.
- Manufacturing and production management: Agencies manage the production process and deal with any roadblocks and challenges.
What makes a good product design agency?
A good product agency will have a combination of hard (knowledge and technical) skills that enable them to produce and deliver great work and results, as well as soft (non-technical but complementary) skills that affect how they work and manage projects and interact with clients.
Hard skills include to look out for include:
- User research
- Conception
- Prototyping and mockups
- Visual and user-centred design
Soft skills to look for include:
- Creativity and innovative thinking - has a flair for coming up with ideas and is always looking for new ways of doing things or ways to improve
- Excellent communication skills - being able to communicate ideas, progress and challenges clearly
- Collaborative - knows that two minds are stronger than one and seeks advice and support when necessary
- Teamwork - can work autonomously but also thrives within all teams involved in the project
How do I hire a product design agency?
Taking time to find the right product design agency that understands your vision, goals and requirements is vital. It’s important to find a team that aligns can offer their expertise and can confidently lead the design process. Product design can be a bumpy road, so ensure they are resilient, accountable and can solve problems as they arise. Here are some key considerations to help you:
- Experience level: What type of clients and projects have they worked on previously? Make sure they have the skills to fulfil your requirement and deliver quality results.
- Review their portfolio: A portfolio is often the make or break of a partnership as it showcases previous work. Don’t be afraid to dissect certain pieces of work and ask questions. Trust your gut if you feel like their work doesn’t match your requirements or vision you’re probably right.
- Values and company and cultural fit: What type of culture and working environment does your business have? How does your teamwork, collaborate and communicate? It’s just as important to ensure this ripples through any outsourced work as well as in-house work.
What questions should you ask when hiring a product design agency?
To help you with the hiring process, below are some questions to ask a prospective product designer:
- How do you approach the product design process?
- How will you communicate with me across the project?
- What are your strengths and weaknesses as a product designer?
- How do you get inspired?
- Do you have a team supporting you or do you handle all aspects of product design?
How much does it cost to hire a product designer?
The cost to hire a product designer largely depends on the type of product, scale of the project, product specialisations and other factors. Product designers usually provide a quote based on the type of services required and the hourly rate may vary considerably depending on the service.
Full-service product design usually starts from around $20,000+ but this figure could exceed $100,000 depending on your project requirements.
If you’re ready to take the next steps and get your project underway, we can introduce you to product design agencies here on SavvySME. Simply answer a few questions about your business and project to get started. You can also browse through our product design articles and resources or join the community discussions with other small business owners.
