Validating New Product Design Ideas: 5 Questions Every CAD and 3D Modeling Firm Should Ask 

The products do not just pop out somewhere. Instead, it is rather the culmination of a long, tedious series of trial and error coupled with experimentation. Just because you have this one ever-so-brilliant idea doesn’t necessarily mean that you can bring it to the market at your will.

Product design requires a strong core, and it all starts with idea validation. That is, the idea you have in your mind will first need to be validated. Is it feasible? Does it have a good market potential? This will help you make the most out of your resources, cut down possible risks, and increase or, better yet, guarantee success for the product.

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Today’s post zeroes in on validating ideas in new product design and the five questions that every CAD and 3D modeling firm should be asking during the process.

🚀 Table of contents

What is idea validation, and why is it crucial?

Ideation validation is one of the most critical early go/no-go decisions in the product development process. It ensures the possibility and potential profitability of a concept way before investing even a single important resource in it.

The process is for the purpose of evaluating the idea, which helps weigh upon the crucial criteria of manufacturing feasibility, technical feasibility, market size, and return on investment or ROI.

Idea validation is important for the clear reason that it makes sure that whether or not a particular idea works as a viable solution to a market gap or concern. It also makes sure that the idea isn’t only some project of a person’s result from someone’s intense passion for something.

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The proper validation of the idea at the preliminary level would avoid expensive, unnecessary investments on products that are not even viable in the first place for the businesses.

The ideas can then be appropriately focused on concepts that will have better potential in the market and align with the specific goals of the business.

That has been a strategic approach since it not only conserves limited resources, mainly time, but also increases the chances for profitability and product success.

Thus, while validating ideas, it could be confirmed that if the idea suits the marketplace where it is intended for and satisfies a specific need, then it helps not to misallocate resources and hence save the product from failure.

Idea validation also tests if the product actually resonates with its target users. Then, it can eventually lead to pivots that will further enhance market fit based on the insights and feedback from customers.

In simple terms, idea validation kills the risks associated with the process of developing a product. It shows that the idea will solve a problem well articulated and previously defined and enhance the possibility of the investment, resulting in the development of a relevant profitable product.

Below are the five important questions to ask first of 3D modeling and CAD design firms to help them focus on the new invention idea entrusted to them. The answers to these questions will help guide them in the right direction everyone involved should take.

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What makes your product idea different from the products of your competitors?

Given the behemoth size of the global economy today, there has to be some special quality or function in your product idea that will help it to somehow compete with millions of others worldwide.
You must consider how you are going to differentiate your product from those of your competition as one critical aspect of your overall strategy for product validation.

This will help you understand the specific market to compete with your new idea if you know what makes it different from all the rest. It is important because idea validation is important in securing the success of the product in the long term as well.

Now, don’t get it wrong. It doesn’t mean that the functionality of your new product should only be unique to it and not found on other products. Don’t forget that there are now plenty of items in the market that have the same performance and similar or the same functions.

That means your new idea can still be similar to other existing products from other consumer design firms. Instead, you are to see how you would make your product idea stand out from others through variables involving aesthetics, materials, and costs. What counts the most here is seeing how those variables can give your customers the value they deserve and are looking for.

The things that make your product different will be your weapons in leveraging your product and leading it to market success.

What kind of environment do you see using your product idea?

Make sure that you see the environment as real-time using your potential customers with the product. This is the stage in the idea validation plan that you really have to consider where the product will be used by target customers. Will it be used in social situations? Is it something intended for a physical setting?

In referring to physical settings, it means that the new product shall be utilized in either a contained indoor or outdoor purpose. Or, it could also mean that the product shall be in a cold, hot environment. In such instances, the product may require proper and sufficient insulation to endure extreme temperatures or water-tight seals when exposed in wet conditions.

When it comes to social contexts, it is essential to determine if your product should be used during formal events or if it’s better suited for a unique contemporary style.

This second question of context will also allow you to determine the right approach to test your product further and discover how and where it would be applied once your concept is finally developed into a prototype.

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What is the product made of?

While there’s no doubt that you must think of the specific materials that you will be using to turn your product into a tangible item, this third question does not refer only to the materials alone.

Yes, you have to decide if you are going to use plastic, wood, metal, or something else. But this validation process also obliges the inventors, designers, and engineers to brainstorm regarding the specific mechanisms and components that the product will be built with.

Do you need custom-designed parts? Are you okay with using off-the-shelf parts to save on costs? Does your design need electrical design? Do you need a full microcontroller, or is a microprocessor adequate? Do you require software? How robust and long will the hinge of the product be, if there is one?

Don’t get too overwhelmed, though, as not every single one of these questions can be answered or needs to be answered at the idea stage immediately. Just make sure you are prepared to implement all relevant updates as you work through your validation plan.

But if you allow that concept to marinate in your mind at this early stage, you can hone it down and give yourself and those working with you a much clearer direction at such an early time.

What specific problem does your product idea solve?

Every good product validation engineer and businessperson is a problem solver, but the best ones can actually define the problem itself, too.

Sounds odd, but if you spend much more time defining the particular product that your product idea intends to solve, you basically make it less complex so you can identify the specific areas of focus that matter the most.

Based on this narrowed focus, you can establish testing units or those units with an akin likeness to the finished product in the development’s product prototyping stage. You can use nearly all the final units in the validation process.

You can give the units away for free or sell them off with the basic intent that you will get some kind of excellent critical feedback regarding the product. It will decide if the product really solves some issue in such a manner that is liked by the customers.

This will make it much easier to save your precious resources if you have this feedback in your hands. From there, you can refine your product before spending a dime on manufacturing services and tooling. This very focus will also help you succeed when it is time to manufacture and sell your product.

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Where will you sell your product?

Unless it is intended to be for the academe, there is a high probability that your prototype is designed to have your product commercialized in the market.

Regardless of whether you want a retailer to choose your product or you are planning to sell it on your business website, identifying what you intend from the beginning will help you concentrate better on your idea. It also gives you a step up once you reach the sales stage. Steps in product validation

The process of product validation is the first step in building a new product. Big companies would usually hire big firms to research and validate their ideas about products. On the other hand, entrepreneurs whose start-up budgets are lean or limited would often resort to a lean process of product validation. When you speak of lean, it refers to identifying the kind of product you can develop with a constrained budget.

The validation of the product follows these steps:

1. Identify the need
   
   Did people know they needed a smartphone before Apple introduced it in 2007? Definitely no. But the moment the tech giant rolled out their first smartphones, the whole world went gaga over it and learned that hey, they actually need one!
   
   Within no time, mobile phones became an integral part of the lives of men and women, children, and the elderly of all nationalities across the globe. They enable them to keep in touch with family and friends, track their health, buy products, and many more. Mobile phones also help people save money and time. It then became even easier for them to carry out their everyday affairs and satisfy their demands and requirements.
   
   Most of the time, products are based on judgment calls or information that is wrong. Bad products never solve actual needs or people’s problems. This is why asking the fourth question above is important when strategizing the product.
2. Determine your audience
   
   Knowing the needs of people, your target market should be taken into consideration, also. Validating your target customers will enable you to identify the best customer segments most likely to buy and spot early adopters.
   
   To identify your target market, monitor your competition, survey your existing customers, and run focus groups.
3. Do your market analysis
   
   Market analysis is the process of determining the industry, niche, or market segment. Better insight into the target market, a competitor, and the place your product and brand will hold in the market will be gained if proper market research is conducted.
   
   Market analysis identifies the size of the target market, how much your product will be, and the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors.
4. Check if your product is something that people want
   
   Do people really want your product at all? Would they buy and use it after trying it out? You should know if they do or not, as this helps you understand the psyche of your target market after viewing your product.
   
   It is at this stage that a minimum viable product or prototype is usually designed. Also, it is the time that you might do user testing. You can allow some samples to be assessed by a particular group of customers so they would take an appraisal on the MVP.
   
   The benefits of using an MVP include the following: It provides you with much knowledge on the perception of value by your potential customers. There is also the possibility of reviewing the entire product or reviewing each feature at one time.
   
   An MVP also saves hours that are spent on the costly development of the product. This will also bring out the features that your customers require in a product. It also allows you to communicate with your niche customers.

How Cad Crowd can help

The whole product development cycle is not complete without validating a new product design idea. Validating a product allows you to put your customers first before everything else. You will, therefore, come up with a product that will really offer them the value they yearn for. Contact Cad Crowd today and request a quote.