Full Case Study Showing Step-By-Step Process

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 […]

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 […]

Ok, brace yourself...We just came across a desktop CNC Milling machine for $2000 on Kickstarter! The machine is called the Nomad Mill and we believe it's ready to take the Maker, Inventor and Hobbyist market by storm. And we're not the only ones either, since launching on Kickstarter 4 Days ago the Nomad has already blown past it's $30K goal and is currently sitting at $146K with 26 Days left. Check-it out for yourself:

3D printing is not new. In fact it been around for 30 years but now the technology has gone mainstream. 3D printers are now affordable to everyday people are their growth, use and features are growing exponentially. When we came across this infographic on the Revolution of 3D printing  created by Newark it got us thinking about the changing nature of prototyping and what this means for design and entrepreneurs. We think it will do the same for you!