Managing Industrial Design

Before beginning a product design project, thought should be given to the potential role of industrial design. What are the potential benefits to be gained and how do we begin to plan the engagement. Activities during this stage include:

Value the benefits of ID involvement
- What are the stakeholders' requirements?
- What elements of the design mix are important for success?
- What skills do we have and what do we need?
- What are the financial benefits?
- What are the non-financial benefits?
- How do we compare to our competition?

Identify the type of ID required
- How important are human factors or user interface issues?
- How important is creativity and innovation?
- Is the work primarily styling?

Plan engagement
- What is the scope of the potential project?
- Establish the selection criteria
- Draft an initial brief

Barriers to involving ID
Not aware of the benefits
Design ignorance
Fear of perceived costs
Politics
Previous bad experiences

Potential pitfalls & problems
No design champion at a senior level
Not considering what can go wrong
Not enough time to plan,
just rush straight into it

Finding and selecting a designer
Before beginning the search, it is crucial to identify the selection criteria which can later be used when evaluating the pros and cons of different possible suppliers. These criteria will differ from company to company, but will include elements such as location, price, specific skills, IT and communication, track record and personality or rapport.

Often, designers are chosen based on word of mouth or previous experience. However, it can be difficult to locate the right designer with the right skills. Alternative approaches include design directories, web links and the local Business Links design councillor. If all else fails, seek out examples of products that you like and contact the manufacturer to identify the industrial designers involved.

As a rule of thumb, between 5 and 10 candidates should be identified and 3 of these asked to respond to a draft brief. It is essential that all team members support and agree the final choice, especially those who will be working closely on a day to day basis.

During this stage, there will be an iterative development of the brief and the proposal from the selected industrial designer. Ideally, the final brief should be co-developed to ensure that the content and deliverables are appropriate and agreeable to both parties. Make sure that the final proposal satisfies the requirements of the project and has clear, measurable deliverables at the end of each phase.

An effective brief:

Formalises what is required from the industrial designer
Identifies the critical aspects of the design mix
- Usability issues
- Form and feel
- Technical and quality aspects
Summarises any critical constraints
- Timescales
- Budget
- Resources
- Manufacturing / process
- Scope of project
- Specific technical constraints
Provides contextual information
- Company background
- Market information
- User requirements (if known)
- Expected sales volumes

Managing the relationship
As the project progresses, the relationship between the engineers and industrial designers becomes increasingly important. It is vital that all concepts are jointly supported and are feasible and producible. Managing the relationship demands a joint appreciation of the following issues:

Project responsibilities & plan
- Knowing who is responsible to deliver which aspects and when
- Breaking the project into discrete phases

Product interface management
- Having an agreed approach to change management
- Identifying the system architect
- Task partitioning based on an understanding of the interfaces between components, modules and sub-systems

Risk / problem management
- Identifying and managing the technical, commercial and market risks
- Being aware that difficulties inevitably happen and that a shared solution maybe even renegotiation is always more effective than blame and 'finger pointing'

Communication
- Identifying the modes of informal and formal communication between internal and external team members, including scheduled meetings and design reviews

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Ultimately, the winning criteria were a mix of location (close) and personal rapport. The selection process involved people from across the business, to ensure that everyone's needs were considered. As an independent 'sense check', they called some of the consultants previous clients for references. The structured approach was more successful than previous attempts, where the designer was selected by 'gut feel'.