Which Elements are the Foundation of a Good Product Design?

In the last blog (insert link of the Benefits blog), we discussed the advantages of a good product design that your firm can enjoy.

But that's one step of the journey.

The next step is to figure out what makes a product design great.

What are the elements it should have?

Let's find answers to these questions in the blog and learn how your firm can set the base for a good product design.

Why is Good Product Design Important for Companies?

1. Innovation

"87% of consumers said that a firm's innovation capability was important when deciding whether to buy from that company."

How can a firm achieve all these things at once:

• filling a gap in the market,
• fulfilling the unmet needs of consumers
• enhancing the experience
• stand out from the competition?

The answer is "by bringing innovation in their product design."

The next question is where you can innovate in your product design.
It can be:

• The usage of raw materials or manufacturing techniques
• The introduction of new features to boost performance
• The user experience through design, interfaces, and interaction tools
• The integration of new technologies.

Let's dig deep to look at the disruptor in the home appliance industry: Dyson.

They centre their efforts on using cutting-edge tech and sleek designs to fulfil a consumer's household needs in a new and better way.

Dyson's bagless vacuum cleaners, bladeless fans, and air purifiers stood out in their category due to innovation in their product design.

2. User Experience

"Companies that prioritize the user experience (UX) see a 400% increase in their ROI." ~ Forrester Research.

That's a logical outcome.
Would you stay with a brand that puts no effort into guiding you to use the product and get results? Would you buy from a brand that doesn't invest in enhancing your experience with them?

We guess not.
As a consumer, you want to have smooth transitions and an easy journey towards the goal (of it fulfilling its intended purpose).

That is why user experience is a critical element in your product design.

It boosts your firm's reputation and wins your customer's loyalty.

Now, how do you incorporate it into your product design?
Through the following factors:

• Intuitiveness and Ease of Use: To enable everyone to use it, regardless of age and abilities.
• Consistency in Design Language: To simplify navigating and understanding the product.
• Feedback on the User's Actions: To inform them about the progress and outcome of their actions.

Here's the example of Duolingo - an app that aces the user experience aspect of a product design.

It's a learning app with a colourful and engaging interface that guides users and makes navigation easy.

It adopts a gamified approach to hook its users, let them set goals and customize their learning journey, and enjoy multimedia content.

In short, Duolingo has kept its consumers in mind and built an experience through its engaging design, multimedia content, and gamified approach.

3. Functionality

“63% of consumers said they would be willing to pay more for a product or service that delivers better performance and functionality.”

Right?
You would also do the same for a product that easily lets you perform its intended tasks and delivers more than your expectations.

Functionality is the core feature of a product design - upon which your firm can build on other elements like user experience and innovation.

It's the first thing that consumers expect, and its absence leads to the failure of your product in the market.

So what you need to know next is -

How do you incorporate functionality in your product design?

Let's take note of the below factors:

• Reliability and Performance Consistency: It requires the use of high-quality materials and rigorous testing and quality control processes.
• Ease of Maintenance: It must have upgrade possibilities, repair options, and readily available replacement parts.
• Compatibility: It should be compatible with software, hardware, and with any other tools and tech.

We all have heard of this brand whose functionality has brought it fame: Sony.

Their design philosophy revolves around building high-performance products by identifying user needs and using advanced tech to fulfil them.

Sony's cameras are a top choice in their category and among their target audience due to their stand-out features.

They offer new features such as fast autofocus, an intuitive interface, and high-resolution pictures to enhance the user experience.

4.Adaptability

"86% of senior executives agreed that adaptability is crucial for business success - including product design."

That's true.

Today, everything is evolving at an unimaginable pace -

the consumer's needs, the market's nature, and your competitors.

As such, your firm needs to be able to adapt to these changes and incorporate them into its product design to stay ahead and relevant.

Here's how these design elements can enable your firm to bring adaptability to its product design:

• Modularity: It should let the users add, remove, or replace components and customize the design to their needs.
• Scalability: It has to scale to meet the changing consumer and market needs and continue fulfilling them through new features or improved performance.
• Sustainability: It should consider its impact on the future and adapt its design accordingly.

Let's hear about the firm whose A stands for Adaptability: Amazon.

Amazon started as an online bookstore and carved its way forward by evolving into an e-commerce platform.

It didn't stop there and grew further to become a top choice in various categories such as Cloud (AWS), Voice Assistants (Alexa), Streaming apps (Amazon Prime), and the original one - Online Bookstore (Kindle).

It adapted its service model to fulfil the consumers' demands through features such as Same Day Delivery and Subscription-based Services.

By now, you know what elements your product design should have and how to incorporate them.

It’s time for you to get started and help your firm focus on product design.

You can either invest in building an in-house team or work with product design and development studios.

Baari Labs is a product design and development studio that enables firms to go from idea to product design and prototype to product stage.