The design process of any given product is the transformation of a need, idea or a want by the consumers into a product that satisfies these needs. This process is therefore taken by adventurous people ready to take it on. Engineers of product design companies may also be involved at some levels of the project. Before committing the resources and full-scale manufacture, the development process may require a prototype that helps to prove that the framework at hand or the technologies being used work. Designers will require help from other experts and use specific design stages in order to prevent any potential problems. To prevent iteration in the design process, the designer should also consider factors such as manufacture, sales, purchasing, transport, cost and disposal. Having gone through the design brief and the product design specification (PDS), the design of a new product will consist of the following concepts. 

Concept Design 

Using the product design specification basis, the designer will attempt to produce a clear outline of the solution. Usually, a conceptual design involves an outline of key components, their arrangement and details of the design left for a later stage. This degree of detail will, however, vary depending on the product being designed. When designing a product, it is recommended that you consider activities downstream of the design stage other than the product design specification. By considering these stages which may typically include manufacture, sales, transport and more, you eliminate the problems that may arise during these stages. Concept design involves coming up with a number of different usable designs to fulfil the requirements of that given product as outlined in the product design specification (PDS) and then evaluating them to draw up the most suitable to develop further. This makes concept design seen as a two-stage process of concept evaluation and generation.

Concept Generation

To capture their ideas, designers normally sketch them on paper. By using Annotation to help identify the key points, it is easier to communicate their ideas to other members of product design companies. There are various techniques available for use by the designer in aid of the development of new concepts and brainstorming is one of the most popular. This technique involves small groups to generate ideas by giving out any idea that comes into your mind no matter how odd it may look, sparkling ideas from fellow team members. By the end of each session, you will have a list of ideas and some may have the potential to be developed into a new concept. This technique normally works if the members of the team have different areas of expertise.

Concept Evaluation

Matrix evaluation is one of the most useful concepts used to decide which the best concept is. With this evaluation technique, a table that lists the most vital features required from a product is produced. Normally, this list is drawn from the vital features described in the product design specification. The products are then listed on the table and the benchmark concept is the first concept. This benchmark concept is then used to compare the quality of other concepts for the required features.