DESIGNING, PROTOTYPING, & DEVELOPING
"Challenging what design is, and what it can be."
Our Designing & Prototyping Approach
Research & Analytics
You may be trying to improve an internal business process, or you may be trying to improve your customers' experience. No matter who the target users are, we start by understanding the problem you are trying to solve.
At this stage of the process, we have two teams involved in hands on research.
Our team of ethnographers and design researches interact with your target audience (employees or customers) to understand the problem at a deeper level and analyze the dependencies of the problem. Depending on the type of problem, we use tools such as ethnographic research, social media research, trends observatory, progressive user network, technology scouting, as well as sensory labs.
Our team of analysts focus on market research to understand the current market landscape, and identify opportunity areas for the project approach.
Planning Strategy
We help you define a point of view, identify prioritized goals, and the most efficient path(s) to get there.
Depending on the type of project, this may include creating go to market strategies, benchmarking competition, developing personas, identifying consumer triggers, mapping opportunity zones, developing customer experience journey, and developing an agile strategy with budget allocation.
Design & Prototype
We start with ideation, where we brainstorm potential solutions from a user-centric perspective; these concepts are introduced to the client and tested quickly on the end users to identify viable solutions. Our team of engineers also focus on high level cost estimates for every solution, to ensure adhereance to the budget identified during market research.
The next steps may differ based on the solution - hardware, software, or both.
If it is a hardware solution, we focus on surface development using AutoDesk tools to fully control our designs, run simulations, and deliver the data necessary for engineering and manufacturing. The models built at this stage are also tested on the end users; their feedback is used to further enhance structural, mechanical, aesthetic, and experiential details. At this stage, we also focus on applying brand characteristics into the solution.
Process may include: Industrial Design, Mechanical Engineering, Identity Design, Color Materials and Finishes, technical drawings, rapid prototypes, and pre-production prototyping
If it is a software solution, such as a mobile or web app design, then we use tools like InVision to bring to life our wireframes and test on end users.
Regardless of the type of solution, we design, develop, and finalize your design appropriate for market fit, while integrating engineering for manufacturability and/or production.
Test in the field
Once a solution has been designed, we develop a pre-production prototype.
Our UX/UI designers test the prototype on end users, and focus on ensuring clarity, approachability, and short learning curves. They ensure that interfaces are intuitive to operate and provide strategic differentiation for our clients.
Ready for Production
For hardware solutions, we provide manufacturing specification drawing packages, part data delivery, communication, and support for our clients as their solution moves into production tooling.
We also provide our clients with a network of domestic and international manufacturers in case the client does not have in house manufacturing capabilities.
For software solutions, we provide proper design documentation for clients that would like to develop the solution in house; for other clients, we also offer custom web and mobile app development capabilities.