Everyone knows that product design is paramount in the creation of great products. Good product design helps you not only exceed your customer's expectations but also create financially successful business. To make your product standout in a competitive market, you need to approach product design thoughtfully.
There are 5 vital elements of product design that will help make sure your product is the solution to your customers' problems. These elements include aesthetics, usability, functionality, user experience (UX), and engineering.
In this post, you will learn how to implement these key product design elements to create the best possible product.
Contents
Why is product design important?
Product design helps you create products that are customer centric. The most important thing when creating a product is whether the customer is happy with it. In product design, we call this customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction measures how well your product meets customer needs or expectations. A high level of satisfaction is beneficial for many reasons, including repeat business, customer loyalty, and good word-of-mouth.
Customers' sense of satisfaction is developed throughout various interactions with your product. Customers consciously and subconsciously start to like (or dislike) your product as soon as they first lay eyes on it.
The elements of product design provide steps you can take to ensure a great experience for the customer, increasing customer satisfaction.
Let’s go through the 5 vital elements now.
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a key element of product design that significantly impacts overall success when creating a product. A successful product cannot rely solely on functionality to achieve success within the market. Consumers will form opinions based on the look and feel of your product, making visual appeal important.
All elements related to the appearance of your product should be considered carefully in your product design process. This includes considering your brand’s identity, values and mission when you design products.
An example of brand identity within a product can be seen from LEGO. LEGO’s brand identity simply revolves around the power of imagination, with fun and creativity prioritised as well.
The aesthetics within their product can be seen in the example above as they use primary colours and a bold LEGO logo. To help achieve this, the LEGO product uses primary colour and bold iconography to help customers feel playful and creative.
In addition, it is not uncommon for aesthetics to improve the usability of your product. If your product is appealing it creates a positive first impression, subsequently, enhancing a user's overall experience. Design principles including balance, and contrast play an important role in the unity and appeal of your product.
Functionality
Obviously, one important element of product design is functionality, which is tested throughout all stages of product development. This is to make sure your product should meet expectations and work as intended.
Market research will ensure customer needs are met by helping align your product with consumer preferences.
For example, think of all the functions developed over the years with the iPhone. Consumer preference has shaped the functionality of modern phones, not only can customers make calls and text, but your phone also doubles as a camera, flashlight, gaming device, and so much more. This extra functionality costs more for Apple to implement so they must carefully consider what functionality customers want (and what will increase their sales).
Market research also helps you achieve a final product that not only functions correctly but also increases satisfaction and brand loyalty. Your product should be inviting with a seamless experience, minimising unnecessary complexities. Ultimately, your product's functionality is what makes it useful and valuable to users.
Before finalising the functions of your product, it's critical to gather feedback. Designing and testing will help refine your user experience, eliminating potential pain points. Pain points account for issues encountered by customers, pain points may be existing or potential.
Think about the usefulness of your product for customers. By taking their perspective you can answer questions including:
Q: Does it solve a pain point for them?
Q: What features can we incorporate to create a point of difference?
Q: Does it serve a specific function for the target audience?
This sleeve on the Starbucks coffee cup is more than just a logo. It serves a clear function so customers are not burnt when drinking their coffee.
Usability
While functionality refers to being suited to serve one purpose well, usability refers to how easily and intuitively a user can understand how to use a product. Usability is a crucial element of product design as it directly impacts the effectiveness of your product.
Good usability can be achieved by ensuring that your product is easy to use. This process will involve considering how your audience will interact with your product. For customers each interaction should feel seamless and straightforward.
Defining your target audience will help gain an understanding of your product's requirements. With an established target audience you can tailor design elements to meet users needs and preferences. Using certain characteristics that your target audience are familiar with will make your product more user friendly and enhance the user’s experience of the product.
Consider how the image below strikes a sense of familiarity for customers. Keyboards have changed minimally since the time of typewriters, even though functionality has changed drastically.
Your product should have clear and concise communication across functions. Too much guidance will reduce user satisfaction, while too little will increase confusion. Consumers most-commonly prefer things to be simple and intuitive. Generally, your product should not require a high level of technical expertise to use it.
Engineering
Engineering is another vital element of product design. Engineering accounts for numerous creative processes during product development.
Material selection is key within the engineering process. Material selection impacts elements of product design, including aesthetics, and functionality. The material your product is designed with should be cost-effective, reducing unnecessary product costs. Meanwhile, being cost-effective should not compromise your product's quality.
Engineers must plan how a product's components align together seamlessly, ensuring that it functions effectively and as intended. Components associated with any product must withstand the test of time and repetitive use. Prototypes are an effective way to conduct tests which help identify potential issues before the start of production.
At Idea to Life our team takes you through all stages of product design and development, working with you to create the best product possible. Our team of engineers and industrial designers know how to create products that customers love, both for industrial and consumer use-cases.
User Experience (UX)
User experience (UX) is a crucial element of product design. Your product must portray a seamless and enjoyable experience for the user. When developing your product you should pay attention to feedback, this will allow you to improve the UX. If you prioritise UX design as well as functionality, you can stand out from competitors and drive customer loyalty.
The following example of the Google search engine, highlights their value for simplicity within their UX.
Google's priority for a UX that was less overwhelming and frustrating for users was achieved through minimal text. Minimal text in their UX eliminates the time it takes to figure out what to do as well as making their interface more streamlined.
Research is important in your UX design process. By conducting research you understand different aspects about your intended users. Goals, motivations and feelings are areas that research helps define about your target audience. Research will mean you are using data instead of relying on assumptions for your product design.
Three types of research methods you may want to consider include:
Interviews
Valuable insights can be derived from interviews. By conducting effective interviews you can derive users' needs, desires, and expectations surrounding your product.
Thorough preparation will ensure your interviews have clear objectives, including a prior selection of suitable participants.
Online Surveys
To gauge customer interest before you consider investing, surveys can provide viability to your product idea. Surveys are great for providing direct feedback on your product and previous steps taken during phases of product design. These insights will help you align your product design with users preferences.
Focus groups
Typically a focus group will consist of a moderator and a group of participants. The moderator will guide the conversation/discussion, relating the conversation to key areas of your product design process.
Conclusion
To conclude, the five vital key elements of product design are aesthetics, usability, functionality, user experience (UX), and engineering. These elements are fundamental in the product design process. They allow you to create a user oriented product, with consumer satisfaction in mind.
At Idea to Life, we bring a wealth of industry expertise to the table. If you're looking to bring your breakthrough product to fruition, we are here to help you every step of the way.
Contact our team to get started.
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