Your company has a much higher chance of success for your products if you get some industrial design services from the experts. With that in mind, let’s discuss some areas that you should look into when you talk to the agencies out there. Probably no two companies go about their business in the same way, but here are some of the services that any agency should be able to provide for you.
Total Focus on Your Product
The individuals who are going to be focusing on your product shouldn’t have a lot of other projects on which they are working at the same time. They should be able to understand if your project is time sensitive and try to complete each phase accordingly.
You should have an opportunity to meet with them and find out what their backgrounds are. You can find out what each one of them brings to the table and get an idea of their personalities. You should also have unfettered access to them if you ever feel like you need some feedback. An industrial design company should have no issue with any of that.
Multiple Design Options
There are probably limited packages that you can get from companies that provide industrial design services. In them, you get one option of a prototype for your product. If you’re able to pay a bit more, though, then you can get a few different options. The goal for your product or the use of it will be the same, but the appearance and the features will be slightly different.
You can look over the various options and see which one you feel most adequately matches the idea for the product that you had in your head. If none of them is a perfect match, then you can give some feedback that should hopefully allow your agency to get it right the next time.
Deadlines
You might have promised a financial backer that you were going to have a prototype by a specific date, or you might have told them a date that mass production was going to occur. Because of that, deadlines should be just as crucial for your industrial design company as they are for you.
You should speak to an agency that you are considering hiring very seriously about whether they can meet a tight deadline or not. Sometimes delays happen that are beyond anyone’s control, but for the most part, you’re going to want to hire an agency that has a known reputation for finishing projects when they say that they are going to. Work ethic matters when it comes to you choosing an agency.
Last-Minute Glitches
Maybe your product is very close to heading to market, but you’ve detected a last-minute flaw that needs to be corrected. Will the company you hired that offers industrial design services be able to fix whatever is wrong? Will they try to charge you extra for it?
Before you hire them, you should run through a few of these hypothetical scenarios, so you’ll know how they’re likely to react to them. Product creation is not an exact science, and you need to know that they’ll be willing to work with you if things go awry.
Step-by-Step Process
Your agency should also be able to lay down a step-by-step process of what it is that they’re going to be doing. You’re looking for a lot of detail here. You don’t want generalities, because that leaves room for interpretation and your project might go in a direction that you didn’t want or weren’t anticipating.
You should be explicit in telling your agency what you want from them, and they, in return, should be able to provide a lot of detail about what they’re going to be doing for each phase of your project.
Excellent Client-Service
Ask if the agency has an individual who is dedicated to client-service that can answer any questions you have as the process moves along. You should have ready access to someone, and you should be able to put a face to the name. If an industrial design company values you as a client, then they should have no problem with that.
There should be multiple ways for you to check on the status of your project. An app or a website is going to be just as useful as the contact information of whoever working on your product, so be sure that you have all of that information.
A Trial Run
Your agency should also be able to help you with a trial run of your product when you’re getting close to market-ready. They should be able to test every aspect of the product, looking at issues like shelf life, durability, and stress testing to make sure that the item doesn’t break easily once it’s in the hands of the consumer. They should have testing facilities that are up to any task in this area.
Customer Feedback
Finally, you’ll want to ask your industrial design agency if they can make changes to the product after it has already hit store shelves. This is critical because if the company assumes that they’re done with you once the contract is ostensibly complete, then that might not be satisfactory.
The agency should be able to help you at any time that you need, and that includes once the product is already for sale. A design flaw that somehow snuck through every phase of the testing is not impossible. They should be ready to help you if that situation materializes.
If this seems like a lot to remember, you might be surprised that this is just a tiny bit of what an industrial design company can do for you. The services that are on offer can help you, but only if you have the budget and can find the agency that seems like the best fit for you. It’s worth your time to locate one. Without it, you’re not likely to see the success for your product and your business that you desire, and that would be unfortunate. Many brilliant projects don’t come to fruition because the proper support system is not there to facilitate them.