Design Process:

The best way to understand my design process is an in-depth look into a project as it is being designed. Since this is currently an unreleased product I will be unable to post pictures or provided details deemed too sensitive. When this product is public knowlege I will update accordingly. In the mean time I hope you can still gain some knowledge into my process from the censored discriptions.

(Unreleased product name)

Project Background:

Goal: Design a (unreleased product description) that utilizes a (unreleased product description) which is currently not available in this product market. This will require the development of an entirely new User Interface this is similar to (unreleased product description) U.I. but tailored to the needs of an RC user.

Context & Contraints: Thankfully the timeframe and manufacturing cost of this radio are currently very generous. We are working with a new vendor for this product which can be an area of concern but the samples the vendor provided show a level of quality and manufacturing experience that is encouraging.

My role and my team: I am the design manager on this product as well as the lead product designer. I am primarily responsible for the creation and execution of the industrial design of this (unreleased product description). This will include working with the vendor to assure all 3D files and the first production samples meet our specifications. I will also be responsible for creating and providing all icons and the User Experience framework to our software engineers. That being said I do have access to two other internal designers to aid me when and where I need assistance and collaberation.

Featured

Pic 1

Instead of starting this project like I normally do, by diving head first into sketching concepts myself, I requested a fellow designer to do some very loose conceptual exploration. I intentionally gave him very few guidelines in order to have an unrestrained set of ideas to consider. I firmly believe designers should be constantly cautious of falling into design traps. This includes falling in love with an idea to quickly and not considering other options or purhaps starting over entirely.

Pic 2

After considering some of these sketches I started to refine my own concept using SketckBook Pro. Following numerous layers of shape exploration I zeroed-in on a profile that seemed to resonate with the group.

Pic 3

At this point I started constructing a profile render for internal approval. Due to scheduling conflicts it was necessary for me to pass this render onto a fellow designer to finish up some of the final details.

Pic 4

Next I provided some rough cut-away guides to assist one of my colleges in the creation of a perspective render, also intended for the internal approval presentation. After this was received a few final details were added and the final proof-of-concept presentation was made.

Pic 5

We received internal approval and I moved onto developing the technical orthographic views. At this stage all the ideal proportions start to collide with the true components we have to work with.

For instance, after reviewing screen components our vendor provided, it was necessary to make some considerable adjustments to allow for proper clearance. Near this time I also recieved more information on the final dials and switched needed. This (unreleased product description) will also feature the ability to convert from a standard (unreleased product description) to a drop down (unreleased product description). Both variations were created for the orthographic guides.

Pic 6

Numerous design note pages were created to explain the various call outs and details of this (unreleased product description) in order to prevent vendor misinterpretation. One area I revised from a previous (unreleased product description) was the battery hatch. In any earlier (unreleased product description) I designed a battery hatch that completely concealed the door seam. This was visually appealing but created considerable friction and caused it to be needlessly difficult to remove and replace. In retrospect I would have designed this hatch differently. Not wanting to repeat the same mistake I decided to go with a more traditional hatch design on this new (unreleased product description).

More to come

I will update this section as the product moves further into development. Thank you for your patience.