7 Things to Remember When Designing Your Product

A product is like a flag you plant to mark your territory, and everybody wants their flag to stick, but 95% of new products fail in the market after their initial launch (that’s a lot of fallen flags), shocking isn’t it? This happens when the product design is compromised.

What exactly is product design? What are the product design processes? These are some of the many things that riddle our minds when we think about design.

Here are some solutions to those riddles.

Let’s dive right in.

1. Vision for the Product

Every product offers  a solution to a problem in the market. When you first create your product it is necessary to have a definite aim to where it is going to be in the future.

Will it scale? Scalability is a major issue to be addressed. Even if it scales rapidly, would you be able to handle it?

That’s why you need a plan on the go!

To stress the importance of vision, let’s take an example like McDonald’s. Initially, it was a burger stand set up by two brothers who were happy with what they were making and had few franchising ideas.

Then came Ray Kroc with a vision and action that made McDonald’s what it is now. The brothers created a successful product that solved a problem but didn’t know what to do with it.

You need to have a definite plan of action and act on it. Let’s face it in real life – The longer you stall, the higher the chance of someone swooping in to steal your final product.

Read more about How to Scale Your Startup – 4 Important Tips to Grow Your Business.

2. Product, in the Shoes of the Customer

Ultimately every product is aimed at the customers’ hearts. The product should be designed to blow the mind of people using it.

A simple and aesthetic design always attracts more people. But if you make the product confusing and complex, people will move away from your product.

The product-customer relationship is like a loving couple. First, you have to assess the market for the problem your product can solve, and then it’s time for the design job. The product should learn from the mistakes and be adaptive.

Product development should occur along with the feedback from customers to improve the user experiences. Product design and development always go hand in hand, and they can be tweaked to suit the customer needs.

3. Creating a Unique Identity

Design is the process of creating a solution for the potential customers as aesthetically as possible. Design developers fry their brains on designing a product because creativity changes a simple product into a successful one.

Designing something to make the world a better place always has an impact on potential customers. A great example of this is the Tesla cars aiming to reduce the Carbon footprint and using reusable resources like electricity and sunlight.

When launching a product, creativity is essential, but compromising quality always has its repercussions. If you don’t give much importance to quality, the product in your hands is just aesthetic garbage. When creativity meets ingenuity, that’s the real win for the product design.

For example, Apple holds a special place in consumers’ hearts because of the quality it maintains ( sure, they are ripping off customers with their high prices with fewer features, for now, let’s not go into that). Quality puts your product on a whole different level, and with proper product design, your product will be a home run.

4. Investments to be Made

Capital investment is always there. You need to give money to make money, even for digital products. Executing your ideas in the most feasible way possible is the key.

Always take time to know the people you are playing with. If you sell your product at a higher price than the area’s average income, you will crash and burn. We need to calculate how much we can spend on designing the product and how much return it will give us.

Time is an essential investment you have to make. The more time and effort you put into your design job, the outcome will always be fruitful.

5. Assessing the Competition

There will always be a high level of competition in the market, and that is when your product design should be one step ahead of your competitors. The industrial design for a particular product may be the same, but the interface design’s slight change might put you ahead of the curve.

For example, there are a lot of burger joints, the industrial design is the same, but some places have unique sauces to give them a variety of flavours, and that my friends are the slight change they made for the customer interface. Designs created by understanding the consumer will always be welcomed.

There are a lot of product design examples that have always been a step ahead of their competition. Like Google, there are a lot of browsers, but we will always “Google” it.

Check out the 15 Different Business Model Ideas for Your Startup.

6. Power of Branding

The product defines your brand, and your brand is the signature to the world. When your product helps you create a brand, you will know that you have succeeded in creating something beautiful and unique.

The real power in branding occurs when you can influence behaviour. A brand with a good reputation can always see a significant change in sales and user experiences.

When they see the brand can provide them with products they can look up to, it helps build a reputation. Everything is related to the product design—the better the design, the better the user experience and the higher the traction.

Take a look at the 13 App Marketing Strategies That Startups Must Know.

7. Always be Willing to Change

You have to be prepared because time will come for you and turn your new product into an old one. Though this is a hurdle for many, it is an opportunity for those who dare to dream. Your product design should accommodate new features while rejecting the old, less used ones.

Your ability to adapt to the changing trends while staying rooted in your core product will always give you an edge over your competitors.

Even in this situation, you have to remember to say “NO” to anything that compromises the product quality.

Here is a guide for you to understand How to Develop a Growth Strategy for Your Startup Business.

Conclusion

A product design should always address these factors. The product should be designed in such a way that it grows with the needs of the customers and they can be whole lot needy.

Step away from that cozy cushion and design something that inspires the world. Good luck!

Now, Read: 8 Foolproof Ways to Determine Your Product Success