6 TED Talks to Inspire Inventors and Product Designers

TED Talk videos have to be one of the best things to come out of the internet, period. You could spend hours browsing the TED site, watching videos on everything from printing organs with a 3D printer to the power of introverts.

For anyone who somehow hasn’t heard about these groundbreaking talks, the idea behind them is this: TED began as a conference on technology, entertainment, and design, where people shared ideas in the form of powerful talks of 18 minutes or less. The organization’s mission today is to use the power of ideas to change our behavior, our thinking, and the world at large.

Today, the TED talks cover almost every topic you can think of, but there are still a great number that are focused on design, innovation, and invention of all types. Here’s our pick of six (we just couldn’t stop at five) great TED Talks to inspire inventors and product designers.

Tom Uglow: An Internet Without Screens Might Look Like This

Google Creative Lab’s creative director Tom Uglow discusses how designers are working on moving toward an internet that’s more natural and richer than the one we currently experience through screens. By creating tangible objects that can integrate with digital data, he says humans can move toward “happy place” where we can access information as easily and naturally as flipping on a light switch.

Neri Oxman: Design at the Intersection of Technology and Biology

Oxman is a designer and architect who pulls from computational design, synthetic biology, and other forward-looking fields. In this talk, she discusses how she and her team are creating the next stage of symbiosis between our organic bodies and the products and buildings we create.

Vijay Kumar: The Future of Flying Robots

Imagine a tiny, aerial robot that can create high-resolution maps of the areas it flies over. Well, roboticist Vijay Kumar did, and then he and his team at the University of Pennsylvania built them. One of the things these robots are doing currently is called Precision Farming: mapping and analyzing every plant and fruit in an orchard, giving farmers the information they need to manage water better and produce higher yields.

Elizabeth Gilbert: Your Elusive Creative Genius

It’s true that this talk, by the bestselling author of the memoir Eat, Pray, Love, is not about science or invention. However, it’s a wonderful talk for anyone who works in a creative field to watch. Gilbert discusses the fear that comes with creativity—the fear that once you’ve succeeded with something, everything else you do will fall short—and how she’s kept that fear at bay.

Matt Mills: Image Recognition that Triggers Augmented Reality

Mills is a technologist working with the tech company Aurasma, which is creating an augmented reality app for mobile phones. The way it works is this: point the phone at whatever it is you’re seeing, like a movie poster. Seamlessly, the phone recognizes the image and launches the movie trailer for the film, almost as if the poster has come to life. Watch the talk to see what Aurasma can do with a painting of a famous poet.

Rachel Armstrong: Architecture That Repairs Itself?

Using the example of the city of Venice, which is sinking into the sea, sustainability innovator Rachel Armstrong proposes a new kind of architecture. She’s working with a team of architects and scientists on creating building materials that can grow, repair themselves, and even sequester carbon. These almost-living protocells could become the next stage of architecture: buildings that make it difficult to tell whether they were created by man or grown by nature.

We hope this dose of inspiration helps you jump-start your own creative process, whether you’re a product designer, engineer, or innovator. If Pivot can help you during any part of your product creation—we offer design services, prototyping, manufacturing services, and even business development services—let us know. Contact us here.

Five Tips for Developing a Software Product

It used to be that developing a product meant working with tangible materials—metal, wood, plastic—to create a 3D object people could touch, or hold in their hands.

But nowadays, a huge percentage of products developed each year are intangible. Software systems and apps are being developed in great numbers every day, changing the face of the product development industry.

Of course, those intangible systems need tangible component if they’re going to be usable, and that’s where we at Pivot have made our mark. As a product development firm, we at Pivot have made sure to stay on the cutting edge of software and electronic component design and development, just like we do with fitness, biometric, consumer, and other industry design and development.

Along the way, we’ve picked up some tips on developing software products, which have a bit of a different lifecycle than other products. Here are a few of our favorites.

  1. Simple is better. With software products, it’s easy to get complicated really, really quickly. And while a certain amount of complication is inherent in any product that uses adaptor boards, LCD screens, and other electronic components, you want to make sure not to overcomplicate. Decide what your product needs to do, and focus on making it do that.
  2. Listen to the crowd. Crowdsourcing, both for ideas and for fundraising, is a useful strategy in many product industries, but it can be especially helpful when you’re working on something that has to be intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to understand in order to succeed.
  3. With software products, like the electronic ballot box we created, these are all important criteria to consider—even if your product is intended for use only by specially trained people. Talk to your friends and family about your product as you’re working on it, and if possible, let them try out the prototype. They’ll let you know pretty quickly whether your product is as user-friendly as you think it is.

  4. Make sure you have a project developer—or at least, someone who’s in charge of keeping the project on budget and on deadline. Because of the inherent complication we mentioned earlier, plus the huge range of options that designing a software product opens up, it can be harder to keep this kind of project on track.
  5. Maybe you acted as your own project manager with a former, non-software product—but if you haven’t managed a software product launch before, chances are it will be in your best interest to hire an experienced project manager (Pivot can help with this through our Project Management services).

  6. Prototype, prototype, prototype. We’ve emphasized the importance of this step before, but it’s especially helpful when developing software. A good approach is to prototype separate parts of the software at once, so you can test different program components while still working in the development phase. This will also make it easier to make changes to the program should you need to.
  7. Put just as much time into developing your product launch as you did into development. With software, developers and testers can often get tunnel-vision. They’ve spent weeks and months working on this new product, and they understand it perfectly—why wouldn’t everyone else?

But software products need strong, engaging launches if they’re going to be successful. If users will need training, make sure that’s available. If possible, set up a launch system that allows people to learn about your product, then try it out before they buy it. Have clear goals for what you want to accomplish as far as awareness, sales, and more.

Developing and launching a software product can be a daunting task, but help is available. At Pivot, we have years of experience helping to move software products into the market. If we can help you with software development or electronic component development, contact us today!

3 Tips for Developing Consumer Products

At Pivot, we work with lots of inventors who have great ideas for consumer products. We love working with all kinds of inventors, but there’s something extra enjoyable about developing a product for everyday use—probably because the sky is the limit. Consumer products can serve innumerable purposes and do innumerable things.

Take our portfolio, for example. We helped develop the BonzaPack, a combination sports gear bag and portable seat designed for young athletes and their parents. Another product we worked on is a handheld, electronic golf ball finder, which locates golf balls with a proprietary digital imaging system. And then there’s the solar powered battery pack, a portable battery that can charge a laptop, cell phone, car battery, and more.

Each product has vastly different uses and target audiences, but they have one thing in common: they’re all designed for the general public, with intuitive functions that require no special training. That’s one of the most important elements of developing consumer products, but there are other things to keep in mind, as well. We’ve shared a few of the lessons we’ve learned over our years of working on consumer products below.

  1. Make sure the need you’re fulfilling is real. With industry-specific products, needs are often very specific. A voting commission needs a secure and reliable ballot box. A natural gas company needs a way to monitor their engines and prevent turbocharger failure. And any developer knows that the first step to developing your product is defining the need your product can fulfill.
  2. But with consumer products, the need can often be harder to define. Our solar battery pack, for example, is a great product for use in a power outage, but it also works for camping. It was important, therefore, to design it so that it could meet not just the need for a portable battery, but the need for a portable battery in a variety of situations. And first, we had to make sure that the need for a solar portable battery was a true need that people would pay to fulfill.

    The best way to make sure you’re fulfilling a real need for many people, and not one that applies only to you and a few of your friends, is to float the idea to as many people as you can. If you can afford to do some market research or host a focus group, do it—these can give you important insights into whether people will actually pay for the thing you’re creating.

  3. Pay very close attention to price. This is another important difference between developing a consumer product and developing an industry-specific product. While everyone prefers lower-cost products to higher-cost ones, given similar quality, consumers don’t have to buy anything you make. A hospital can’t function without certain pieces of equipment. Nor can an energy company. But it’s a rare invention indeed that your average person literally cannot live her life without.
  4. Because of this, the price of your product becomes very important. You may have an excellent idea that will make a consumer’s daily life way more convenient—but if he has to shell out $50 when he thinks it’s worth more like $25, then he’s simply not going to buy your product.

    On the other hand, if you price that same product at $10 when this consumer would willingly pay $25, you’re undercutting both your profit margins and your product’s perceived value.

    McKinsey and Company advises that, when you’re developing a pricing strategy for your new product, you should look carefully at those of competing products as well as at how much you need to charge to make an acceptable profit. Then define a price range for your product, starting with the high end. Once that’s done, you can focus on pinpointing the optimum price for what you have to sell.

  5. Don’t skip the prototyping stage. Prototypes are important in all industries, not just consumer—but there are specific reasons you want to make sure to prototype your consumer product.
  6. For one thing, consumer products must be user-friendly if they are to succeed. Remember, as we mentioned earlier: it’s extremely rare that a consumer will actually have to purchase what you’re selling. Therefore, you need your product to be easy to use and, if not attractive to look at, at least not off-putting. With the booming availability of 3D printing and computer aided design (CAD), both of which make prototyping faster and more affordable, there are rarely good reasons to skip making a prototype.

We hope these three tips on making a successful consumer product are helpful. If you could use more help, contact Pivot International. We offer product design services, manufacturing services, prototyping, even business development services, and we’d love to help you get your product to market.

Three Tips to Help You Reinvent Innovative Products

Rarely today are inventions that have a completely new function created. Rather, most of today’s inventions are the offspring of something that already exists but reimagined to tackle a bigger or more complex issue. While pure innovation is possible and new ideas are constantly being pondered, “new” is not always completely necessary. When staring at your blank piece of paper, you might find yourself intimidated by the large amount of startups that are seemingly doing the exact same thing as you. Maybe, there is a product that was never reimagined because it worked just fine the way it was. Just remember, it’s not who creates the invention first, but who creates the invention best. That’s why we created our guide to reinvention: 3 simple tips to reinvent the wheel.

1. Be Disruptive

First things first; let’s tackle your idea. With this new age of consumerism, the traditional methods of inventing won’t do. Instead, you need to employ a disruptive way of thinking. In order to be disruptive, you need to follow one of two guidelines for your product:

  1. Design your product or service to match the demand of an existing market
  2. Re-imagine an existing product or service to meet the demand of customers unsatisfied by the current offerings.

By following one of these guidelines, you will be able to focus your efforts on what the consumer needs, rather than what you think will fit a need in the market. By doing this, your product will address needs that have not been singled out, immediately giving you an audience to test your results on.

2. Design with Your Consumers in Mind

Designing with your consumers in mind is one of the strongest ways to stay ahead of the game. It’s so strong that we wrote an entire e-Book about it! By looking at how each change will affect your consumers’ mindset about your product, you can be sure that you’re tackling something that the older model would not have addressed. Remember not to let your consumers determine each aspect of your product but let them determine what need the product needs to fill. Examine what issues the older products are not able to solve and go from there. Ultimately, your product will generate an audience of users just by virtue of its purpose.

3. Embrace Your Failures

It’s ok to fail. Really, it is. Failure simply means that you have exhausted one route to the fullest and now it’s time to pivot towards something else. That doesn’t mean that you have to throw away your entire idea or company – just learn from the past and reinvent what you have done. Find the crux of where you failed and reimagine your idea with that in mind. You will end up with an idea that is stronger than the one before, ultimately giving you a more solid platform to launch your reinvention.

Whether you’re reinventing a product or creating something brand new, we want to help make your product a success. Contact us here at Pivot today to discuss your needs!

A Guide to Product Market Research

When you come up with a new product idea, it can be tempting to want to jump right in to the design process. After all, figuring out how your product will look and function is more fun than digging through demographic research or putting together a focus group.

However, if you want a chance at success, this kind of research is important. This is what will tell you about what some people call the “opportunity gap”—in other words, the gap in the market that your product will fill. If you skip this part, you risk spending time, money, and mental energy inventing something that nobody wants, or—perhaps worse—inventing something that another guy invented and brought to market six months ago.

Here are some ways to go about your initial product research.

  1. Identify your target market. This is the simple part. If you’ve got a clear idea of what it is you want to invent, you probably have a general idea of your target market already. If you’re inventing a fish skinner like one of our clients did, your general market is fisherman. If you’re inventing a portable solar battery, your general market is people who care about the environment enough to choose solar power.

  2. But that’s just the beginning—you want to get detailed with this, so that eventually you get profiles of the type of people who are likely to buy your product. Take the solar battery, for example. Another group of people who’d probably be interested in that product is survivalists; another possibility could be people who live in areas prone to power outages, like hurricane- or tornado-prone regions.

    You can do a lot of this first part just using your brain and a piece of paper and pencil, but you should also search for industry and business publications that pertain to your product. They may have articles or studies that can give you valuable information.

  3. Go deeper with data. Now that you’ve gotten a good idea of who your audience is, it’s time to start looking at actual numbers. Is your target market women in their 30s? Midwestern men over 50? You can find lots of data about these and other groups by searching through Census.gov, and through Google—but there comes a point when you really need to start gathering data on your own.

  4. You can do this through surveys, interviews, or focus groups, all of which you can set up yourself. There’s also always the option of hiring an independent market analyst or even a dedicated market research firm. The costs could be substantial, but then, so could the gains that come from hiring them.

  5. Scope out the competition. This is just as important as figuring out who your target market is. You’ve also got to know who and what you’re competing with, and whether your product has that special something that will make it competitive in the market. That could be any number of things: a better price point, better functionality, higher quality, even a more attractive aesthetic.

In addition to basic things like Google searches and visiting your competition’s websites, it’s a good idea to check your competition’s social media profiles. This way, you can see not just what the company or inventor is saying, but what users are saying too. Is there a design flaw or functionality issue that people bring up? Is there a feature in particular that they really love?

Granted, social media comments are no replacement for real, in-person research (see #2), but they can certainly give you a feel for what your competition is doing well and what they’re not.

Once you’ve finished your research, you should have a clear blueprint of what your product is, what it will do, and who will want it. And when you’re ready to move to the next step, product design and development, contact Pivot! We’d love to help you make your great idea into a successful product.

The Impact of 3D Printing in New Product Development

3D printing, sometimes called additive manufacturing, is an umbrella term for a number of processes used to create a three-dimensional object. A machine, guided by a computer, lays down layers of material into a particular shape.

A CAD (computer-aided design) program is generally used to create the template for a 3D print job, creating the virtual design and all the necessary dimensions needed to create a physical object. If there is already an existing object, a 3D scanner can also be used to create the template for printing.

3D scanners are seeing a surge in use, along with 3D printers. Companies like Microsoft and Google use them in devices such as the Xbox’s Kinect to track movement or in smartphones that use scanners to capture hand movements as command functions. It won’t be long before creating a 3D object will be as simple as taking a picture and downloading it into a 3D printing device. While some models of 3D printers costs thousands of dollars, there are already some cheap enough for home use.

However the image gets into the computer, it is divided into a great many horizontal layers, then sent to the 3D printer. The printer lays down layers of material until a perfect replica of the 3D image is built. Needless to say, this technology has become a big deal in the world of product development.

3D Printed Medicine?

CNN reports the first 3D printed drug to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Called Spritam levetiracetam, this prescription pill helps to alleviate seizures in those suffering from epilepsy.

The pills are made by using a 3D printer to put down precise layers of the component chemicals in the drug until the precise dosages are achieved. Since the layers are so thin, more medication can be placed into each pill without making the pill too big to swallow or too dense to easily dissolve. For patients who have a difficult time swallowing medication, this is a great innovation.

Printed Transportation

The plummeting cost of 3D printers is a big factor in its widespread growth. These devices can be used with various material types, utilizing already popular CAD software and computer hardware, making it feasible for just about any industry or business to get some use out of the ability to create physical components basically at will.

With a 3D printer, one does not have to be an engineer or have access to a manufacturing plant to get new items — they can just print them in house or contract a facility with a 3D printer of its own. Often, these printed objects are lighter and easier to work with than objects made through more traditional means. Thanks to another rapidly growing technology — cloud storage, templates and images for printing can be easily disseminated, allowing for the rapid development of the best possible techniques to use for any given printable object.

An object like a bicycle no longer has to be built to integrate with all its components, like chains, pedals, and gears. Each part of the bike can be printed and downloaded to exact specification, allowing anyone to put together custom equipment to a degree never before possible. Such processes can be scaled up, as well. A USA Today article even details the creation of a new hybrid transmission. A functional prototype was made from aluminum powder after a day or two of printing.

3d Printing and Product Development

An important step in product development has always been the prototype. Depending on the product in question, the creation of the prototype could take a great deal of time. 3D printing cuts the time involved considerably. Whether creating a functional or merely cosmetic prototype, a printed item makes the product development process a great deal faster.

Imagine being able to take a model of your proposed product to any investors or potential customers long before your product is ready to go to market. That’s the power of 3D printing. The ability to hold something in your hands and actually see it apart from a computer screen or a 2D image on a piece of paper goes a long way toward making a good impression.

Not only does 3D printing save time and money, but it can create products in a way that would have been impossible just a decade ago. Items can be created for an individual customer, ranging from protective gear to prosthetics. Products in development can go through multiple iterations in rapid succession, so all the flaws can be worked out before mass production.

3D printing is undeniably the wave of the future and product developers would do well to take advantage of it. The technology is becoming so commonplace that even inventors who don’t own one themselves can gain access to them — so there’s no excuse not to utilize it to its fullest.

If you’ve got a new product in the works, we’d love to help! We can work with you to create a prototype and then bring your product to market. Request your free consultation with Pivot today.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing
https://3dprinting.com/what-is-3d-printing/

Benefits of Outsourcing New Product Development for Large Companies

The benefits of outsourcing new product development are very clear for start-ups, or small businesses without the facilities or personnel to carry a new product from conception to the market. But what about bigger companies that have grown over the years and now include their own specialists or even manufacturing facilities? Why would they ever go to someone else when they have a new product? As it turns out, outsourcing can be beneficial for anyone, no matter how big or small.

Even More Special

One of the great things about companies, whatever the size, is that they’re all unique. Even when they exist in the same field, offering to a similar clientele, there is something about a successful business that makes it successful. In fact, that unique quality, whatever it may be, is the key to its success. Over time, a business can start to lose sight of that unique quality, thereby losing its edge. Outsourcing is a great way to get fresh eyes on a project, whether starting right at the very beginning, or when creating prototypes, or when finally ready to put together a finished product.

Any major product, and even some of the minor ones, require more than one kind of specialist. A software engineer’s job is very different from an electrical engineer. Each job requires a different way of thinking. No matter how talented your teams may be, a different perspective is often just the thing needed to kick things up a notch. When creating a new product, you may well find there are aspects involved that your company has never encountered before — outsourcing it to an expert product development firm can fill in those gaps in your knowledge, and allow you to create the best possible product you can.

Rapid Scaling

Success is great, but sometimes it can be its own problem. If you’re churning out large amounts of your usual product, then come up with the idea for a new product, you may not have the capacity to fill all the orders you’ll be getting. You could expand your facilities and hire more people, but that’s not always possible, or that may just take too long. Outsourcing aspects of your product development allows you to keep running your company at capacity even as you pursue something new, without having to expand your business.

A new product requires an extra surge of activity. Many times, a company will hire new staff and specialists, only to let them go when the item is finally in production. Outsourcing makes this unnecessary. No more taking chances with temporary workers, or hiring people only to fire them months later. You can get just what you need, at the time you need it — no more, no less.

Time Management

How many times has a company assigned a timeline for a project, outlining all the steps from start to finish, only to see it miss deadline after deadline? It’s happened to virtually anyone who’s ever engaged in product development on any level, no matter what the product. A large company generally has a large daily task already to serve existing costumers and manufacture existing products. Often, a new product means assigning people new tasks, aside from the ones they already have. No wonder timelines fall apart so often.

When a company outsources new product development, the outsource firm takes on the responsibility of adhering to project deadlines. Because it’s their business to do so, the firm works closely with its client to ensure every aspect of the work is done to specification. Their focus allows them to complete each stage in a timely manner and allows your people to continue their own work without being sidetracked by something new.

The Bottom Line

Every business wants more business. One of the reasons for starting a company is to serve a growing clientele. But budgets can be tight, even in a big company, and new product development costs money. It’s possible to keep it in house, but this usually involves many hours of expensive and exhausting overtime for your staff, causing both productivity and profits to suffer in the duration, until the project is finished.

Outsourcing product development lets you hire, in essence, extra hands that can be paid at a regular price (often for less than your usual staff is paid) without paying for overtime. Your staff remains focused on their usual duties, keeping your established product line running. Plus, they don’t have to work late hours to focus on the new product, allowing your company to maintain its level of service to your existing customers.

Outsourcing Is Good For Everyone

The above reasons are just the beginning. From more secure intellectual property rights, to getting a leg up on the competition, outsourcing product development has a great many advantages that serve companies of all sizes. An experienced firm like Pivot International can increase your productivity and enhance your brand, making small companies into large companies and making the large companies even larger. Request your free consultation today.

Sources:
https://blog.udemy.com/pros-and-cons-of-outsourcing/
https://www.techopedia.com/definition/146/outsourced-product-development-opd

How to Patent Your New Product Idea

It all begins with an idea. If you think you’ve got a good one, one that a lot of people will benefit from, you’ll probably want to patent it, so the world knows this new thing truly belongs to you. Most people, however, have no idea where to start when it comes to getting a patent for a new product. It can be a long, often complex, process, but it is by no means impossible.

Start by writing down your idea. To get a patent, you’re going to need a detailed description of your product. Detail everything you can think of, no matter how minor. Consider why you created the invention in the first place. It likely solves some kind of problem or removes some kind of inconvenience. What problem does it solve? Who will benefit from it? How does it work? You’ll also need to consider how you’re going to get the money to get started or who you’ll find to manufacture your creation in sufficient quantities.

You’re going to have to learn some patent basics. For instance, if you create something new, you are the only person who can apply for a patent. It absolutely has to be in your name. You can apply for a patent jointly, if you have co-inventors, or as part of a joint research group, but you can’t have someone else do it for you. It’s also going to cost money in various fees, costing about $1,500, so make sure you’ve got the money available before filing.

Not everything can be patented. You can patent machines, or processes, or some kind of manufactured item, including drugs. Whatever it is, it has to provide some kind of use to people in general. If the invention is somehow offensive to public standards of morality, it cannot be patented. Above all, it has to be something new and the inventor needs to detail what makes it new. Ideas that do not have a physical product cannot be patented, nor can anything not created by human ingenuity. Things like literature, music, or art require a copyright, not a patent.

There are basically three types of patent. A utility patent is for a product that has a clearly defined, beneficial use (or uses). This is probably where your invention goes. A utility patent lasts for 20 years, once granted. A design patent is for any innovations regarding a product or process that already exists. These last 14 years from the date of issue. Finally, a plant patent is for securing the rights to a new asexually-reproductive plant. As with utility patents, a plant patent lasts for 20 years.

Once you have the details, the next step is to do a patent search. You can hire experts specifically to help for this task, if you’ve got the money for it, because the patent databases are immense, stretching back all the way to the late 18th century. Depending on your invention, you might even have to look for international patents as well.

While some of the searching can be done on the internet, your best bet is to visit a Patent and Trademark Depository, if you have one in your area. The librarians found there are able to help you search through older patents and ascertain your creation is indeed something new. It’s highly likely you’ll find something similar to whatever you’ve created. The details you’ve established earlier should define the new or enhanced qualities your invention possesses.

Next, it’s time to file an application with the USPTO (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office). You can apply for either a regular patent application (RPA) or a provisional patent application (PPA). The PPA is cheaper, but it only serves as kind of a placeholder for a year. It lets you keep your spot in the line of patent applications, but you’ll have to file a non-provisional application before the year is up, or you lose rights to your provisional application. Provisional applications cannot be filed for design patents.

If you start with a PPA, then file for an RPA, your patent date starts from the time you filed the provisional application. Keep in mind this application is not an application to file an actual patent. At this point, you’ll be able to claim “patent pending” on your creation. The RPA begins the process toward an official patent. You’re going to need to prepare all necessary materials for review by the USPTO for the actual filing. If you get a patent attorney or agent to help you, make sure that person is registered with the USPTO.

Now, you’ll have to wait for the USPTO. Just as you had to search to make sure your patent was unique, the USPTO has to do the same thing. The examiner is going to want details about your product, just as outlined in the first step, so be prepared to offer them.

While your product is going through the review process, you can manufacture and sell it under the “patent pending” label and still have the rights to your invention protected.

No patent is guaranteed, but should it pass examination, you’ll have to pay the approval fees before the actual patent can be granted. After that, you’ll receive your patent and be able to claim exclusive rights to your invention as long as you pay the maintenance fees. These are assessed 3 1/2, 7 1/2, and 11 1/2 years from the date the patent was received. Failure to pay means the patent is no longer valid.

A new invention needs a means to be produced and sold. An idea has to take concrete shape before it can benefit other people. Pivot International can provide what you need to bring your product to life, even if you start with a few scrawled notes on a piece of paper. Request your free consultation today.

Sources:
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/getting-patent-yourself-29493.html
https://www.wikihow.com/Patent-an-Invention

4 Common Product Development Mistakes

Developing your big idea into an actual, functioning product can take time and some mess-ups to get the final result. However, there are some mistakes you can avoid when working your way through the product development process. Take time to consider everything about your product from what your customers want and like to the features and benefits your product provides.

Boost your chances of success in developing a new product by avoiding these four common product development mistakes:

1. Confusing customer requirements with product requirements

Product development teams will often seek input from customers throughout the product development process, asking the customer to help define the product that will be built. That is a good thing, as you want to have a thorough understanding of customers’ wants, needs, and preferences when designing a new product. However, what customers say they require in a product should always be taken with a grain of salt.

To be blunt, customers very often don’t know what they actually want in a product and don’t understand what is possible. Therefore, you never want to confuse your customer requirements with product requirements. It is your job as a product developer to understand the needs of your market and how your product will help meet those needs, a.k.a. your product requirements.

2. Confusing innovation with value

It is critical to have a clear understanding of the difference between innovation and value. What is innovation? Innovation is about using technology to solve a problem. What is value? Value is about producing something that makes a consumer’s life better, easier, or more efficient by solving a problem. The bottom line is not all problems are worth solving. You need to identify a valuable opportunity for product development.

3. Confusing your preferences with customer preferences

Product development teams are often tempted to design with their own preferences in mind, projecting their own wants and needs onto the consumer, which is a mistake. Your preferences are irrelevant and if you want to sell your product, the preferences of the target consumer are what matters. Because you love the color blue isn’t a reason solely to manufacture your product in the color blue, especially if your target market is teenage girls. Remember, you need to be able to differentiate between you as a developer and your target market.

4. Confusing features with benefits

Oftentimes, the developers become so engrossed in the development process that they are constantly adding features to improve the product, without a clear idea of how these features actually add tangible benefits to the product. The takeaway? Never add a feature to your product without a clear idea of how it will benefit the overall product, adding value and improving functionality.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

3 Most Surprising Product Development Statistics

The product development process is full of challenges, and to boost your chances of success, it is critical to have an excellent plan in place. Don’t believe us? Take a look at these three surprising product development statistics.

1. Of 7 product ideas, only 1 idea will yield a successful product

According to data from the McKinsey Global Institute, for every 7 product ideas, only 1.5 launch, and only 1 succeeds. Of course, not every idea will yield a successful product. That is why effective brainstorming is so critical — you need to come up with a variety of ideas and approaches to the same consumer problem in order to up your chances of finding that golden idea that could actually turn into a viable, profitable product.

2. For every 7 new product ideas, only 4 enter the product development stage

Not all product ideas are good enough to make it to the development stage, and that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Before you move to the development stage of things, you need to make sure that the idea is profitable. How can you do that? Well, you will need to rigorously validate your product and conduct a comprehensive economic analysis.

3. New products have a failure rate of 25 percent to 45 percent

You may have heard that 80 percent of all new products fail. Well, put simply, that is an exaggeration. It is difficult to pinpoint a precise, across-the-board product fail rate, but the McKinsey Global Institute puts the number somewhere between 25 percent and 45 percent. The rate does tend to vary by industry. While the rate is lowest in the capital goods industry (35 percent), it is highest in the consumer goods category (45 percent).

According to a survey conducted by Copernicus Marketing Consulting and Research, the most commonly cited reasons for product failure include a failure to assess market conditions accurately, targeting the wrong group, a poor configuration of product attributes and benefits, poor pricing strategy, lack of consumer awareness, unrealistic forecast of the revenue, and poor marketing plan implementation.

Pivot International is a product design, development, and manufacturing firm with strengths in software development, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and industrial design. If you are interested in engineering a new product or updating an existing product, contact us at 1-877-206-5001 or request your free consultation today.

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