Managing the design process

Being aware of the potential pitfalls in the product development process can make for a smoother journey to product launch. Here you will find some of the challenges you might encounter.

Managing and planning

The design and development of new products is rarely straightforward, and is hard to foresee and fraught with the unexpected. Within the client company, it is best managed by someone with a solid understanding of the broad issues which will influence it - most crucially a high level of technical and marketing knowledge, coupled with experience of working with designers. Planning the process should identify anticipated problem areas and allow time for their resolution. The best results flow from close collaboration between departments, and especially between internal and external resources.

Selecting a designer or design team

It is worth devoting time to this, because nothing will influence the project's outcome more, for better or worse, than this choice. The key factors are:

• Personality - Working relationships are crucial to the process of design. Trust and respect need to be built quickly.
• Experience - A wide experience is preferable to experience in your sector, even though the latter may seem more reassuring.
• Track-record - Demonstrable examples of similar size projects give reassurance.
• Budget - The best and most experienced designers usually cost more, although this can often be mitigated. However, passion and enthusiasm, tempered by diligence, can often compensate for inexperience.  

Creating a climate for innovation

'A brief is a collection of client prejudice' remains a truism. However, a good design team will question and probe the brief to see if it can be undermined. In the early stages of a project, the scope and creative freedom afforded by the brief should, alongside meeting its exact requirements, be stretched to the limit. The design team should be encouraged to push expectations in search of the 'unexpected but relevant solution'.

It is currently very fashionable among management gurus to try and distil 'innovation' as something separable from design and other creative activities. This is counter-productive and tends to produce as many problems as it solves. Innovation is a natural part of the design process.

Avoiding development drift

It is rare indeed for a design concept to reach the market in exactly the same form as originally proposed. Change and compromise are almost always necessary. That process of iteration frequently causes the objective to lose focus and the project to drift off in a slightly different direction. The designer is usually the standard bearer for the design intent, and should be closely consulted over each and every change. Where necessary, the designer should be engaged to create solutions which best mitigate the effects of change.

Learning the art of compromise

Design decisions are never easy. Competing requirements tend to subvert design intent, requiring deft handling in the selection of the best compromise. As soon as possible, build trust in the design team and allow them to make informed recommendations.