PROTOTYPE #5: 4 ESSENTIALS SECRETS OF DESIGNING A PRODUCT

What makes one product different from another? The color, material, size and shape? How can you combine all these together to create a stylish product suitable for manufacturing?

Yes, you have to find an industrial designer.
 

Every product is designed by an industrial designer who can combine your requirements with his vision of the product. Even when you see a squared black box, you can be sure that the shape, color and materials have their own purpose. We don’t think and ask ourselves why it has been made in this particular way and how was it made? When a product is useful and looks gorgeous we just say that it’s beautiful or that we love it...or some products we just don’t like and don’t want.

I always thought about Glance Clock as a clock, as a great timepiece on a wall, as a perfect gift, and not just as about a high-tech device with a bunch of functions. The functionality is the heart of our clock and the value it will bring to millions of people is priceless. BUT, this functionality has to look STUNNING to attract people. Here we come to the hard thing: to combine gorgeous product with seamless user experience. To achieve this, I’ve been working with four industrial designers, and finally, got the result I’m proud of.

 

1. “Friend of my friend is an industrial designer..he can do it.”

You have to find a designer who will love your product and will have a passion for it. He has to understand the value for the customer and be enough experienced to deliver it. There are many great designers out there and your friend is probably a great designer too, but not everyone is suitable for your product. You have to search for the right one.

Our story: We started with a freelance industrial designer who designed some of my previous products. He’s done an excellent job for those products but he was just not the right one for Glance Clock. Glance clock is a modern interior design accessory and not just a smart device.  ..we needed someone else...

 

 

2. Well-known agencies can be good and move you further, but...

You see great agencies and start to expect miracles and they deliver “just” a product. The product is great, AWESOME, but sometimes it isn’t exactly your vision. It’s just missing “something”. Let me tell you more about what happened to us.

Our Story: We switched to a very well-known design agency in Singapore with headquarter in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. I love Dutch design, so I thought, Glance Clock is in the right hands. Perhaps, because of my too high expectations, we haven't achieved the result I wanted. BUT, we got closer to our goal!

 

 

3. Talent and motivation is important, but experiences are MUST

The world is full of people who want to help, want to do something but they are not ready for it. These people are on the great way to became successful but if they are not enough experienced the speed of delivery can be a big problem. In the later stage of your company you can work with them or hire them, but in the beginning you need a real expert.

Our story: I met a talented industrial designer who agreed to help us and improve the current design. She was creative and young and was ready to help everybody around her...and that was the problem. We took one step and then nothing...I was waiting...then another step, and again. The delivery was slow for us. We made all done right before CES’16 in Las Vegas where we were going to present Glance Clock for the first time.

 

 

We built three prototypes and successfully presented Glance Clock to thousands of visitors at our booth and the TechCrunch Hardware Battlefield stage. The reactions on the product were tremendous! You can check it Glance Clock CES’16 testimonials video . After CES we did a great video that shows how Glance Clock works and looks. 

I was completely for a while but then I realized - we were done a good job, but GOOD IS NOT GREAT! Good is not what people are expect from our product and me neither. I still felt a lack material finishing, on/off button, charging cable, hands shape design, and more. Let’s redesign it again!

 

4. As Steve Jobs said:  If you haven’t found it yet keep looking. Don’t settle.

The road to that great feeling of satisfaction is not straight but has many ups and downs...That’s why you have to be humble and love what you do.  

Our Story: We went step back and started to search for a world class industrial designer, who can fulfill our vision. The designer who created awesome products that are available and successful on the global market. Yes! We found him!  Arthur Kenzo shared our passion for Glance Clock and agreed to improve the design. And not only that, he helped us with UX development.

I met Arthur in San Francisco and showed him the prototype. After our long brainstorming, he went much beyond and proposed way different ideas. I remember THAT MOMENT when he presented his ideas and talked passionately about fabric clock face, cold aluminum frame and soft-touch back side. I finally got that feeling of “this is what we were searching for” ! The result of Arthur's work is the unique and charming modern clock.