The Design 1st team and our clients met the challenges of 2021 head-on. Over the course of 365 days, we worked on 77 unique projects, oversaw six products move to volume manufacturing, and received award recognition for several innovative projects. See all our highlights below: Projects Launched From Idea to Volume Manufacturing Exciting New Client Projects Awards and Recognition Projects by Industry Breakdown Design 1st Business Highlights

Building a hardware product prototype is a critical element in any product design lifecycle.  Prototypes provide early market feedback as to whether a product has the potential to lead a market segment, gives you early insight into necessary design changes, and helps teams minimize risk at every stage of the product development lifecycle.  Done right, prototyping helps remove design risks and leads to successful product outcomes.  Here are the 6 types of prototypes every successful physical product design goes through: Concept Sketch Prototype Bench Model Prototype Fully Functional Rapid Prototype […]

The COVID-19 pandemic is driving demand for wearable products across multiple industries. As an example, in the healthcare industry, more patients struggle to access traditional face-to-face medical care and wearable healthcare devices are bridging the gap between patients, families, and medical professionals. To meet wearable device demand, companies are rushing to develop new wearable devices and modify existing device designs. Product design companies like Design 1st are on the receiving end, helping clients scale their capabilities and navigate the new challenges of bringing wearable devices to market. During a recent […]

Having worked with thousands of inventors, hardware startups, and large corporations over the course of 30 years, you can say at Design 1st that we’ve seen it all. We love to see our customers succeed but we have also witnessed many disappointments due to manufacturing missteps. The reasons differ from company to company, but certain themes always come up. Below is a list of common reasons we see new hardware products fail. Creating a design that cannot be manufactured Making the wrong type of prototype Failing to control the Product […]

Building a prototypes is critical to successful product development. To do it right, you need a process to build, test, and iterate with multiple prototypes. At Design 1st, we have three major stages of prototyping new products including: Looks-Like Prototype Works-Like Prototype Tests-Like Prototype By understanding each of these major prototype stages you will be able to set realistic goals for your product development and discover cost-savings along the way.

Prototype costs can range from a $100 to upwards of $30,000 for high fidelity connected devices.   Video: Reasons why we prototype One of the most common questions we get is how much does a prototype cost to make? This is a tricky question, as prototypes can be free or cost upwards of $100,000. It all depends on why you want a prototype.   So, why do YOU want a prototype?   If you ask any of the recent people we talk to, many will have a different answer. Some […]