A lot of questions have been asked about our process. Since we work with everyone from laboratories to big public companies, our process and engagement model has been very fluid.
We've written about our engagement models. If there is something else you have in mind, contact us or start a chat on the bottom right.
What is our process?
First contact
Most of our clients contact us through recommendations. So most will already know how we can help them. And their first point of contact may already be a designer or engineer.
A small percentage contact us directly through our website. After sending us a request via the contact form or email, we'll get back to you with some questions. We are seeking to understand your problem, your needs and how we can continue working together. This may involve questions about the problem, the proposed solution, users, budget and timeline.
Some clients will require an NDA be signed at this point. We will do so in select cases. Our business is built on trust, so it is in our own interests to keep any communication confidential.
It is at this point we also start to figure out the engagement model.
If everything is in order and we find that we will be able to help you, we'll set up a second meeting on Google Meet.
If we are not able to help you, we will try our best to point you in the right direction. There has been some cases where the client's proposed solution was already in the market and it was only necessary to make the right introductions and get client and manufacturer working together directly.
Second meeting
The second meeting will involve us trying to better understand the problem, the proposed solution and potential users. The main aim of this meeting is to understand your needs further and come up with a better estimate of the budget (our fees and other costs) and timeline. An engineer and a designer will also be involved in this meeting. They will be able to provide you with different inputs based on their knowledge and experience.
After this meeting, we will send a proposal that provides the ground work for our continued engagement. In this proposal, we will be sharing a lot of details about the proposed work.
Once accepted, we will get to work signing contracts and making sure all our actions and expectations are aligned.
Start of work
We always start with a big kickoff meeting involving engineers and designers.
The major phases of any project are:
- Ideation
- Design & Engineering
- Prototyping
- Manufacturing
These processes vary according to the project. We keep our process and engagement flexible so as to enable the best outcomes for our clients.
It's not always a straight line. Sometimes, we may have to go back and revisit certain areas. In the most extreme cases, we have had to go back to ideation after completion of prototyping. Hardware product development is inherently hard and we do our best to make the process easier.
After prototyping, there may be small scale testing and improvements done to make sure we have the best possible product for manufacture.
We work with a host of manufacturers and assembly houses from around the world to ensure quick turnaround and high-quality work. Most of our partners have been working with us for more than 3 years and we have a very healthy relationship.
A note on our fee structure:
Our fees are broken into two main parts:
1. Design and Engineering Fees
2. Component and outsourcing costs.
This structure helps to ensure we are able to do our best work and be compensated for it. It's a transparent model where work done and costs incurred are well separated.