The 10 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make in Product Development
by Mike Elliott and Sally Slevin of E-M Designs emdesigns.com

Introduction
Whether your product is the next gen Internet device, an exciting new game console or a toothbrush, you want to get it designed right the first time. If you’ve gone through this process before you know that mistakes can be costly, both in budget overruns and time delays. Over the past 20 years developing products, we’ve made a few mistakes and seen many others. As Historian Martin Vanbee said “Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.” Whether you are the engineering director, inventor, product manager, CEO or manufacturing engineer you need to know what the mistakes are to be able to avoid them.

Here’s what we concluded are the 10 biggest mistakes you can make in product development (not in any particular order).

Figure out what skills/resources are needed: program management, Industrial design, mechanical or electrical engineering, graphic design? What data is available: sketches, CAD files and competitive information or focus studies? What about existing products? What are the engineering and production requirements? Agency compliance? Packaging needs? And what about scheduling? There will always be some feature-creep, so plan for that too.

In addition to meeting all the engineering requirements don’t forget to include buy-in from senior management or the marketing guys. Don’t wait until you’re ready to go into mass production to have Marketing say, “It would look better if it had four holes instead of three” or “Square blue knobs will sell better than round yellow ones”. Obviously, this causes time delays and costs in redesign budget overruns.

Be sure that the team you’re working with clearly understands what you want.

Solution: Hire a design firm for a conceptual development session. Then use a Product Scope Checklist to build your product roadmap. This will help your design firm understand your needs and give you a broad overview of the product to help envision future iterations.

2. It looks totally cool, but I can’t get it to work.
A cool-looking design can give a product a cutting-edge appearance, look desirable and/or meet those basic human factors to give your customers the all-important warm and fuzzes. But will it actually work? Industrial design and product design are two distinct yet intrinsically linked parts of product development.

If you’re working with a competent industrial designer, you should know that everything is done for a reason. Form follows function, so the features you see are there for a reason. Taking some features from one ID and putting them with another can often comprise the design.

The product design mission is to create product solutions relative to usability, appearance and mechanical structure. Couple that with product development as the comprehensive process of creating a manufacturable product to market.

Going through the prototype phase will help ensure your product works and can be easily manufactured. Your product design firm should be able to determine a) which prototype method should be used: Appearance model, SLA, SLA casting, soft tooled sheet metal, or machined model, b) how many prototypes need to be made and c) what will they be used for, e.g., testing, thermal analysis, structural analysis. Don’t skimp on this phase—nothing’s worse than seeing a mistake in 1000’s of parts.

Solution: Each discipline working synergistically can avoid impractical design and cause delays. Look for a product development firm that can integrate both fun and function seamlessly.

3. Engineering is engineering; I can get the same thing done cheaper offshore.
“Same thing” is a relative term. Not selecting the correct resource to do the project can create an endless stream of problems. Look at your needs and priorities. In selecting resources, you obviously have three options: working offshore, utilizing internal staff or outsourcing to a local design firm.

If you have a restrictive budget and simple needs, then it might make sense to work offshore. The cost of labor is cheaper so more people can be poured onto the project to get it done sooner. The disadvantages include boring vanilla design, the need for closer management, and language barriers; even the time zone difference can work against you.

Internal resources are great if you have them. And they’re not working on 12 other things that someone else deems more important than your project. Don’t get me started on the politics, vested interests and corporate speed bumps. You could hire more people, but keep in mind that the hourly wage is only a part of your cost of labor. Add to that the cost of benefits, the commitment of facilities, training time, and experience issues. Someone has to manage them. And what happens when the work flow slows?

The hourly rate from a product design firm is higher but it’s inclusive. You only pay for actual hours worked on your project. Design firms have to be efficient and Darwinism eliminates the ones that aren’t. If you need or want an innovative or creative design you can look at several firms and select the one that best suits your style. You’ll still need at least one person internally to liaison and outsourcing the design can ideally make internal resources more productive.

Solution: Look at your priorities. If you’re looking for unique or creative design solutions, then work with a design firm with experienced engineers that you can meet face-to-face or feel comfortable dealing with online or by phone. Local can be comforting even if you don’t have to get together. It’s a little peace of mind in the otherwise stressful product launch frenzy. How much is that worth?

4. How can I be so over budget if I had a fixed price bid?
The debate over “fixed price vs. time and material” question is almost as old as the “paper or plastic” question.

A fixed price doesn’t mean that the client asks for a bid on a small, red Mini Cooper and can then change it to a large, blue SUV with four flood lamps, three horns and 16 whistles without incurring any additional costs. A product design firm that does this is stuck with underwriting development costs, having to absorb the additional hours, and won’t be in business for long.

What it is does mean is that if you ask for a fixed price bid on a widget 2” x 2” x 2” with 4 bosses and 3 ribs, then that’s what you’ll get—if the specifications don’t change. The same is true of getting a time and material bid. It’s a best estimate of how long the project, as-is, will take. But let’s not beat around the bush, there will always be some feature-creep, so plan for it. Budget for it. The advantage of having work done on a time and materials basis is you only pay for work done.

Solution: Be sure to provide sufficient budget to get the project done correctly. If you work with a company that can provide work in a phased process you can monitor costs more closely. If working on a time and material basis, get a weekly status report of hours spent and hours remaining so that there are no unwelcome surprises.

5. I’m not going to worry about the manufacturing process until I get into production.
Design with the manufacturing in mind. If you look at how it will be built, you can avoid problems down the road. Your product design team can work with the appropriate manufacturer to identify the most efficient method for production.

Here's a recent example that saved the client $20,000:
The client wanted to quickly prove the design before going tinto full production with an expensive steel tool. But what the client asked for would require the molding tool to be entirely EDM-burned (electrical discharge machine) and take three to four weeks to complete. Some changes were suggested that included eliminating ane xtremely complex rib design. These suggestions also eliminated the need to prove the design so that the client could go for immediate machining of the entire production tool. Not only did the client save $20,000, the improvements cut weeks out of the production plan, was easier to manufacture and the part actually functions much better.

How familiar is your product design team with the various manufacturing processes? For example, do they have experience with insert molding, in-mold decoration, sheet metall stamping or pierce & form? DFMA (design for manufacturing and assembly) can save you money on the assembly and cost of goods.

Solution: It won’t occur in the first meeting, but in some early phase, you and your product design firm should determine how your product would be manufactured. Get references on two or three vendor resources, then review their capabilities and pricing.

6. Who knew that FCC, UL and NEBS approvals would be so complicated?
Either you have to understand the myriad of compliance requirements from the regulatory agencies or your product development firm does. Do you need NEBS? What level? Then there’s FCC or UL. Will you need a torch test, drop test, shock and vibration test or ESD (electro static discharge) measurements?

Designing with the intention of meeting agency standards/requirements will make it easier for you to gain the compliance approvals your product demands. Otherwise you may find yourself having to compromise the design to have to get it to meet compliance or go back to the drawing board for a full redesign.

Solution: Determine up-front which approvals you will need/want for your product. Then work with a product development firm that has experience with these agencies’ requirements.

7. I wasn't watching the process—how did we get so far off schedule?
Having a process is helpful in any endeavor—knowing what to expect at every step along the way. This is especially important in product design and development because there are so many variables. The Pert or Gantt chart has so many “what ifs” that branch out into all kinds of other “what ifs” that it’s easy to sprout into an unmanageable monster.

But, here's the first requisite: provide a realistic schedule. Allow enough time to get a quality design done. You want to have enough time but conversely, don’t allow so much time that new changes are continuously entered into the mix randomly. Commonly known as scope-creep or feature-creep, this practice is probably the #1 cause of projects being off schedule (and therefore over budget).

Secondly, it’s important to get the right people involved early in the process. How much buy-in do you need from senior management? Get input from marketing.

Still, someone has to manage the project and outside resources. It's best to have an engineer on staff to coordinate and keep the consultants and contractors well informed and always participating. You'll get the best work from them and avoid errors that eat up hours. But, good consultants are like good employees, they should be able to manage their work without constant supervision. Do they work within a phased process and do they provide weekly status reports?

Many components make up the project so it’s usually best to work with a single vendor who understands the whole process—Industrial Design, mechanical and electrical engineering, prototypes. Having them manage the entire process from beginning to end or step in at any phase can help cut through corporate bureaucracy and reduce requisitions and duplicated efforts. This is especially helpful when your deadline isn't moveable.

Solution: Work with a product design firm that provides a phased process and has a track record of managing product development. Establish a method of tracking deliverables and measuring milestones.

8. We'll have the manufacturer do the engineering.
Product design is not the focus of a manufacturer. What they really want is just a good design file to work with. They may reluctantly accept the job because they don't want to loose the production work by sending the client away with the hopes that they will come back with a CAD file. But few, if any, manufacturers have mechanical engineers in-house dedicated to product design, so they have to outsource the work themselves. Your design needs and objectives get filtered through the manufacturer to the design firm. But you don’t get this service for free; it’s often calculated into the cost of the product or tooling. Working directly with a design firm gives the client objectivity in production and freedom from being tied to a particular manufacturer. An independent design firm will have the client’s interests in mind and look at the best/least expensive ways to design the product.

There is also an important advantage of working directly with a design firm that surfaces after the production release. Often times a manufacturer will not document, in any transferable form, the work they do. As a product ages and tweaks are made on the fly, the problem in amplified. The client wants to take the file to a new manufacturer but by this time, the original files bear only a faint family resemblance to what the manufactured product has become. Through its various iterations no knowledge transfer has occurred; no documentation. This is where sustaining engineering becomes critical.

Solution: Get the necessary documentation with any manufacturing revisions completed after production. If you don’t have internal resources, this process can be outsourced and will pay for itself. If you’ve got a product that is expensive to produce, look at making modifications or at the possibility of reverse engineering it to reduce costs. Given this task, good product design firm will look at the challenge objectively and provide the best solution.

9. Our product looks like everyone else’s product !?^$@*+
You spent all the money on just getting the box design—it’s beige, it’s clean, it’s simple is the good news. The bad news is that it’s beige, it’s boring, and it looks like all the other products out there. You know it’s a competitive marketplace. You know your product has more features, is faster and more robust. But how is yours going to stand out?

Whoever said looks don’t matter didn’t understand the fickle customer. Adding customization / branding to your product is an important part of the process. As much as some may hate to admit it, this is one case where marketing may be right. This is where a unique design is important. You should be able to work with an experienced Industrial Designer that can deliver exceptional solutions through flexible, innovative branding.

Solution: Work with an innovative product design firm that has experience with a variety of Industrial Designers that can match your product needs and enhance your corporate image. If you know branding is critical to your success, be sure to include it in your budget and schedule. Sometimes you can work with a product design firm that has specific experience and can leverage the process, for example changing “off the shelf” into custom designs. This would leave budget dollars for branding, e.g. plastic bezels or covers.

10. Our biggest competitor got their new product out first.
The sooner you get your product out to market, the sooner you start to build market share. People remember the first one. Think about how strong the Palm Pilot is in the handheld device market. In January 2002, it was reported that the sale of Palm devices exceeded 20 million worldwide. Market research firm NPD Intellect reports “Palm Powered handhelds made up about 82 percent of all handhelds sold at retail in the United States.” The number was higher before the Visor, Casiopia and HP Jornada were introduced and are only now slowly nibbling away at Palm’s huge marketshare.

The product development cycle can take anywhere from 6 to 12 to 18 months. To get your product designed and ready for production you need to start now. It’s harder to sell an idea or concept. Software companies may get away with vaporware, but with hardware, customers want to kick the tires and know you can deliver product as soon as it’s ordered.

Solution: Economic conditions have been looking pretty grim. But you know they’ll change, they always do. If you wait until the market recovers, you’re already behind. Start the development of your next product. Do it now.

Conclusion
Learn from the mistakes of others and develop a better product while making the process easier. Working with a knowledgeable product development firm will help you avoid all of the above mistakes and more. Hey, why regret mistakes when you can bask in the glow of success?

About the authors:
Mike Elliott is the president of E-M Designs, an innovative product design and development firm offering mechanical and electrical engineering services. He has nearly 20 years of product design experience having worked on everything from industrial and consumer products to medical laboratory equipment to toys and games. A portfolio of E-M Designs work can be viewed at emdesigns.com. Mike can be reached at mike@emdesigns.com.

Sally Slevin has more than 20 years of marketing experience in such areas as software, telecommunications, financial services, interactive TV and product development. Sally is director of marketing and business development at E-M Designs. Sally's articles on technology have been published in Database Trends, AS/400 Technology, CiscoWorld and AS/400 Systems Management. She can be reached at sally@emdesigns.com.

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