If you want to turn a product idea into fruition, you should understand how to choose a product design agency that is reputable, extensively experienced and can work in alignment with your vision.
With numerous firms offering varying services at different rates, picking the most fitting for your demands has to be rigorous. It can make or break your brand image and how you position yourself as an industry leader in innovation.
And it comes down to your choice of design team.
We have collated the most helpful contributing factors to hiring a product design firm.
Table of Contents
Steps on How to Choose a Product Design Agency
Take these simple steps when selecting your product design company:
Preparation
Get ready to find a product design company by:
- Setting your vision and goals
- Clearly defining your requirements and expectations
- Adequately allocating your budget
- Foreseeing potential hiccups you may encounter toward achieving the most desirable results
Shortlisting
Shortlisting is an important step in finding a design firm as it allows you to narrow down your options and focus on candidates that best meet your needs and goals.
- Look for the best competing brands similar to yours.
- Identify them through TV advertisements, magazines, social media, and other sources.
- List these businesses and determine which agencies executed their product designs.
- To add, research on the internet other design firms that are most prominent in the field.
- Narrow down your list to six or eight names from the results.
Evaluation
Meet your shortlisted agencies for interviews. Lay your goals and objectives for creating a new product. Listen to what they have to say and assess if their product design processes and solutions support how you envisage your procedures to get to what you want to accomplish.
Then, it is time to trim your list further to the design companies your most closely resonate with and eliminate the rest.
What to Look for When Hiring a Product Design Firm
Pick a seasoned product design agency equipped with the following:
A Variety of Services Offered
Keep in mind that how your project is engineered will have a crucial impact on the performance, quality and costs. Hence, it is most recommended to employ an agency that can offer a wide range of services covering the different product development aspects.
Ensure your partner firm will be competent through every step of the whole process to avoid issues or mitigate them in the event that these arise.
Portfolio
Know what to expect from a design agency by reviewing their past work and checking client reviews. In your research, make sure you also examine the nature of the products they have created previously. Take into account the details behind the service company’s creations.
A critical analysis of previous work coupled with client testimonials is an excellent way of familiarizing yourself with the design consulting agency’s proficiencies.
Any reputable agency will have a work portfolio highlighting their accomplishments. Evaluate their pieces in person so that you will have first-hand information about what they can do.
Expertise and Overall Capacities
In addition to a solid portfolio, meticulously peruse through the product design company’s roster of expertise and skills necessary for every stage of product development.
Find out if they have adequate resources, such as up-to-date tools and a team of experienced design and production engineers plus analysts.
Carry out far-reaching research to veer from errors and miscalculations as these may have adverse effects on market performance.
Communication and Reputation
Communication is integral in the product development process. While you work with several specialists, your agency should provide a focal point of contact. This will help streamline communication between your in-house business team and your outsourced design company. It will guarantee efficiency for all stakeholders involved.
A firm that gives you different points of contact time and again may be deemed a red flag. This may entail the absence of good collaboration.
Moreover, your selection of agency should have straightforward and exceptional client care not only on the onset of the project but also as the project progresses.
You do not want to deal with a firm you cannot get hold of after they close a deal with you. This will keep your new product plans from any distortions of their original brand messaging without you staying in the loop for agency-suggested modifications.
They should be reputed for consistency in customer service. This is central to structured communication channels and strategies.
Changes can be inevitable in product design, and procedures can be very dynamic. In these scenarios, your consultants should have the flexibility to adapt to developmental modifications.
Guarantee
Get the guarantee of success your enterprise deserves when you sign up and hire a product design firm. They should have robust commitment to working with you and be able to catch up with shifting functionalities and scope alterations.
Tips for Picking a Product Design Company
The agency you decide to partner with should have the right skill set for design conceptualization in order to get the job done. Avoid arriving at a rushed decision.
Here are pointers to note when picking a product firm:
Explore Their Case Studies
Besides portfolio, published case studies showcase a tested and proven track record of design success.
The firm should not only sketch ideas but also stand by the quality of their products up to the production and marketing lines.
Watch out for computer studies with no tangible output and no case studies to boot. This is likely a warning before proceeding to transact with an agency.
Limit Your Product Category
While it may be a good idea to explore and expand your options, it is advisable to play your imagination around a single category. This way, your own team and your hired product design firm will not be all over the place.
Stick with a category, execute the concept, perform tests and learn about the certifications you need to acquire to market and sell.
Learn About Their Market Knowledge in Your Specific Sector
Take printing equipment, for instance. Ask your selection of firms during the interviews if they have designed, innovated and produced devices within this product type.
Knowing if they have significant years of experience with the kind of product you are looking to create will enable you to gain broader insights into the budget allocation. It will also let you have a clearer idea about the product feasibility, marketability and return on investment (ROI).
Key Takeaways on How to Choose a Product Design Agency
Take the time to go through every step of your hiring process thoroughly. Taking shortcuts is not the way to go in product design and development. Speak with as many consulting firms as you can.
You will get more clarity about what your mind envisions for your product if you perform concept assessment and project scoping. The prototyping process and materials testing are other phases to consider.
Finally, there are the manufacturing, assembly, and packaging stages to think through and a good chat with industrial design agencies is a great starting point.
