If your business is currently developing a new product or refining an existing one, concept design services may just be the perfect choice for your company.
Concept design can ensure the creation of a scalable, visually appealing, and functional product – faster and at a lower cost.
This article will be helpful to anyone looking for the simplest and easiest way to improve their company’s product and maximize the effectiveness of the design and development phases.
What is Concept Design?
Concept design, also known as conceptual design, refers to an early phase of the product design process. During this phase, those involved in the design process (designers, engineers, company managers, business owners, etc.) create vague outlines of the product’s form and function and identify elements such as interactions, processes, and strategies.
Across industries, concept design is leveraged for forming, modeling, and shaping virtually anything – a new idea, a business strategy, an approach to solving an issue, abstract concepts, real-life products, and more, with the expertise and guidance provided by a creative agency.
The product in question may be an organization’s website that requires restructuring and redesign, the software the company is developing for a client or a physical item that will be sold on store shelves to end-users.
In other words, conceptual design services can apply to digital and physical products alike, intended for use by an organization’s internal team or end clients.
Experts that participate in the concept design process take into account a myriad of factors, such as the product’s price, quality, delivery, innovation, design, and competitor differentiation, in order to come up with the best possible product that will truly disrupt the market.
Benefits of Concept Design Services
Integrating concept design into your company’s product design activities yields many benefits.
First and foremost, concept design comes at the earliest stage of a product’s development. This initial stage is the most critical one in the process of creating a new product, as decisions made at this point influence whether the project will go wonderfully well or go completely sideways.
Concept design’s benefit is that it allows everyone involved the freedom to play with different ideas, backtrack in case the project isn’t going great, or move the process in an entirely new direction.
This flexibility makes concept design one of the most important stages of product creation, as it provides the best chance at optimizing the rest of the development phases and finalizing the project with a maximum-quality product.
In addition to allowing product development to start from scratch hassle-free, conceptual design services help create an easy-to-understand product with clear functionalities and intended use.
Moreover, concept design considers end-users’ needs and wishes and reduces repetitive tasks, making production quicker and more effective on the side of the product manufacturers.
A quality concept design can yield a product that stands out from the competition, allowing an organization to build stronger relationships with customers, employees, and key stakeholders. Additionally, a well-executed concept design helps the brand overall, as it focuses the organization’s efforts, time, and allocated funds.
[Source: Freepik]
Examples of Concept Design Services
Concept design is present in virtually every type of design. Building any new product begins with an existing design and moves forward from there.
Developing a disruptive product – physical or digital – is not about making slight improvements but rather reimagining the product and creating something entirely new.
For the most part, new products are built upon their older versions; the latest phones boast a higher-quality camera or more RAM.
But concept design is there to help organizations ideate and create a product that will sweep all the existing ones off the table.
Pioneering products don’t appear every day, but innovations such as ChatGPT and faux meat companies like Beyond Burgers are examples of inventions’ power to transform industries and move the world.
Concept Design Services in Website Design
Earlier, we mentioned website design as one of the instances where concept design services make a significant difference. Business websites are an invaluable product for companies that seek to present their work, market to potential leads, and/or convert customers in the digital sphere.
The benefits of having a quality, intuitively designed, well-structured, and correctly coded business website are substantial – better search rankings, improved UX, quality brand image, increased organic traffic, boosted profits, and raised ROI, to name a few.
Integrating concept design services into the design and development of your organization’s website can ensure the final product meets your company’s needs and customer expectations.
Concept design aids website design by providing the framework of ideas for the site’s design and the strategy for executing it visually. This process takes place before the design enters the phase of defining finer details, such as the website’s fonts and colors.
Hiring a team of web designers, strategists, developers, and marketers who will all take part in the concept design process ensures you will end up with a web product customized to what your business needs.
How to Make a Concept Design Work?
Whether the product whose design you’re trying to elevate is a website, digital software, or a physical item, concept design may do wonders for your production processes if implemented correctly.
A successful concept design requires adequate, in-depth input tocreate a concept tailored specifically to your organization’s needs. Brainstorm ideas with your team, both internally and with external concept design associates.
By enabling everyone to provide feedback and suggestions, your business increases the chances of maximizing the quality of the final product. Nevertheless, be realistic about what you can expect, as project deadlines and available funds may not enable going overboard with the product’s features and functionalities.
[Source: Freepik]
Another vital piece of advice is to always have in mind the product’s target audience. Consider their needs and expectations and leverage the concept design phase to tweak the design and functionalities to perfection.
Finally, give your design concept some thought, and take the time to test it before moving the project to the next phase. Test the product’s design concept with customers or clients to get their feedback and make any required adjustments before the product is up for development.
Final Words
Today, concept design is regarded as one of the most effective ways to save money and maximize output during product-making.
For businesses, concept design is the most comfortable place to make alterations, test for issues, or start the product design from the beginning.
Ignoring concept design can lead to poor product design, which can be detrimental to the company in many ways – stalling the production and release, returning the product for several iterations, scrapping the design altogether, or disappointing customers if the product goes live.
Concept design leverages planning, analysis, and testing to pave the way for the creation of more successful products that bring true innovations to the market.
Instead of rushing through the design process and switching to a new product as soon as one flops, companies have begun to realize that less is more, and that quality has no alternative.