So, you’ve had a great idea – Tick
You know how the electronics should work – Tick
You’ve put together a prototype and… BANG!
…you’ve suddenly hit a wall.
Does this sound familiar?
If so, don’t worry you are not alone, prototyping is tough. Whether you’re struggling to get a consistent outcome or getting your design to work within a specific space – or even making all the desired functionality to operate at the same time. Prototypes can be a pretty frustrating affair.
If you feel you’re banging your head relentlessly against a brick wall, here are a few things to consider.
Sometimes you have to just chuck it in the bin…
It’s probably not what you’re going to want to hear, however the reality of making the jump from proof of concept to prototype has many paths. Sometimes the one you’ve chosen has lead you to a dead end – and you need to start over.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, in the exact same way, and expecting a different outcome. As painful as it might be to hear, in the long run, a fresh pair of eyes and a new perspective will unblock what’s been holding you back.
Getting the prototype right might be important for a plethora of reasons, such as fundraising or creating a stepping stone ahead of manufacturing… So, if a design is creating headaches at this stage, it will be less painful in the long run to reconsider it sooner rather than later.
Is it time to re-evaluate the risks?
Risks are a part of any product development journey, but a trap we often see businesses make is seeing the delay to market as their biggest risk – when it is far from it.
The pressure to get your product out ahead of competition, to cut corners in development, for the sake of time and budget is understandable. It makes sense, be the first to launch and not break the bank getting there. Win-win right?
Wrong. Getting to market with an inferior product is only going to be beneficial while there is nothing comparable around. As soon as there is, you’ll find you’ve only opened the door for your competitors (or new chancers) to come in and sweep up the market with a superior offering.
If that happens you could then face the very real risk of lasting damage to your brand’s reputation, loss of market share and then a very likely (and costly) update that could have been done under the radar and more economically during prelaunch.
Your way might not be ‘the’ way…
You’ve got a methodology in place, a tried and test development schedule, your team know what’s required and yet, this time it’s just not clicking.
It happens a lot.
One of the main reasons organisations with existing inhouse engineering talent come to us, isn’t just for more manpower, it’s for new perspectives.
With Ignys, you don’t just get an engineer (or two) for a few days a week, you’ll get input from all 17 engineers. We’re a collaborative team who chat shop, because every individual in our little tribe knows they’re much stronger when they run ideas past the other specialists in the room.
We’re an extremely diverse group and between us, there’s not a lot of problems we’ve not overcome or new tech we don’t love getting excited about.
If your current process is falling short, reach out (by clicking right here) today, let’s see what we can do to help you.