Briefing
Why? For the very simple reason that without an accurate and detailed specification to guide your process, you will probably spend a lot of time and money going in the wrong direction.
The design brief needs to consider everything that the product will do – from who will use it to how it will be disposed of at the end of its life. It also needs to define the product development responsibilities of the team that will develop it and technical standards it will have to meet. Above all, it needs to consider the market position and competitive advantage that your new design will have over other similar products.
In order to achieve this level of detail, it is essential that the completion of your product design brief and specification is seen as a team activity, involving staff from marketing; sales; technical; production and after sales/maintenance. All of these commercial functions have requirements that will affect the design of your product, from what colour it is to how easy it is to repair, and they all need to be involved in the preparation of the specification.
However, their involvement will go beyond their own area of work. Someone from production may have useful insights into how the product is used, and a colleague from marketing may have vital information on critical launch dates, so make sure you make the most of your team.
If you would like some help with the process, please get a copy of our free design brief and specification check list. You can download a copy from the ‘Guides’ page or send an email to info@crucibledesign.co.uk. We will listen carefully to what you are hoping to achieve and then ask a few questions of our own.
We will then prepare a detailed proposal that sets out exactly how we can help you, how the work will be structured and how much it will cost. Like the briefing process, our design proposal will be free of charge and without obligation.