u/Frequent-Log1243

Next time you receive your prototype, give it to someone who has never seen it before. Don't explain anything. Just watch.

You will notice that most prototypes don't actually work. Don't fall for this. I wouldn't scam, but some inexperienced product development companies do this.

They create a prototype and, on paper, it works. You're given it to test, and it actually works. The problem is, it only works under perfect conditions.

When they give it to you, they tell you exactly how to use it, so you blindly think it works. But it only works when you use it the right way, but you don't realize it.

This is a controller holder/charger we are building for a client. It looks like it works right now, but when we did this test with 4 people, only one of the four were able to charge the controller. Our engineers were all able to do it the first time.

When you build something for weeks, you unconsciously learn how to use it perfectly. Customers won't have that advantage. They'll put the controller down in whatever way feels natural to them. If it doesn't charge, they're going to say, This doesn't work. But they're kinda right, though.

If your product requires the customer to learn its little quirks for it to work, it feels broken, and that's how you end up with one-star reviews without knowing. If you are not a first-time founder, this probably seems like an impossible scenario, but it actually isn't; we are in the product development world, and this happens a lot. It's similar to the curse of knowledge or the expert-novice gap.

When we're developing a product, one of the tests we do with a new prototype is hand it to someone who's never seen it before and give them no explanation or manual.

Then we watch for which button they press first, where they put their hands, and most importantly, how long it takes them to figure out the product. We do this to figure out how easy the product is to use without instructions and how people will naturally try to use it.

If the person can't quickly figure out the product, we redesign it based on how they tried to use it because people don't read instructions.

Sounds silly, but 15–35% of people don't read the instructions, with another sizeable group only consuming certain portions of it. Also 30%-60% of product returns were not faulty, and a large portion of those are people not being able to figure out the product and having buyer's remorse.

It might also sound silly, but ever since we implemented this with the client products we build, they've reported fewer returns than with the products we built before this.

If you ever have the opportunity, try this test yourself. The fewer instructions your product needs, the easier it is to use. If you're developing a product, try this test. It will tell you a lot about your product.

We were recently working on a client's product, and after the prototype was completed, they wanted to reduce the production cost per unit. They went straight to the BOM and pointed at a $12 component. They wanted to replace it with a cheaper option that would save around $0.40 per unit. At 200,000 units, that would have saved them about $80,000.

But when we looked at the design and assembly process, that was not where most of the money was being lost. The main culprit was a small part that cost around $0.20. It needed to be positioned by hand, and fixed using four screws. The whole process took around 30 seconds per unit. We changed the design so the part snapped into place and only needed two screws. That brought the assembly time down from around 30 seconds to 8 seconds.

Across 200,000 units, that removed more than 1,200 hours of assembly work. After including the two screws we removed, the change saved them roughly $95,000 over the production run. This is going to sound like a water-is-wet analogy, but If you want to save cost on your product, check the design first. Usually, the biggest savings you can make are in the design. A part that takes 0.20c and takes 30 seconds to install will cost you more over time than a $2 part that snaps into place. Next time, ask your manufacturer which part is taking the longest to assemble.

We recently had a client come in to get a prototype made for their product. We built the prototype, and the mechanism jammed. The enclosure also needed to be redesigned.

We called the client to let him know what had happened, only for this dude to flip out on us for not doing our job. Apparently, he was also upset that the prototype didn't look good or anything like the product he had designed. Even though we clearly outlined our process to him and his team.

He came to us with a design, and we built a prototype based on that design. It failed. We were simply calling him to let him know what had happened. The next step for us was to redesign what had failed and build a better prototype until we had a final version that worked. That's the version that would actually look polished.

I thought that was what prototyping was: testing a product and finding flaws before production.

He should've been thankful we found the issue during prototyping. Imagine if we had found it after tooling.

This made me wonder: are there people who don't make prototypes for their product?. They're just skipping straight to production. If that's you, wait until your product burns people.

My point here is to be careful treating a design as if it's ready for manufacturing. Some factories won't care enough to tell you that something needs to be changed. Always test your product before moving to manufacturing. You can even do the testing yourself if you want.

How often does this problem actually happen? Some people are building products for a problem that only happens once a year. The frequency of the problem influences how valuable your product will be. If a problem happens once or twice a year, best believe people will find another way or will at least tolerate the problem rather than spending money on a gadget. The only exception is if the problem is unbearable the two times a year it happens. We have made products for different people for a living, and the products that solve a more frequent problem tend to do well from what we have seen. It might sound like a water is wet analogy, but this simple question could have avoided a lot of useless products.

Here's one project we made for a client a while ago at prototyperlab. It's an invisibility shield; the guys had fun making and playing with this at the shop. Client is selling these on Amazon, not sure what the use case for this is. What would you use this for?

We are a team of engineers and designers, and we develop products from design to small batch manufacturing.

Our capabilities include mechanical, electronic, and industrial engineering, firmware development, rapid prototyping, and small-batch manufacturing. We work with CNC machining, 3D printing, urethane casting, injection molding, resin finishing, wood, metal, plastic, and multi-material products.

We offer relatively low prices because we base our engineering in Vietnam, and we also do small batch manufacturing from 20 units. Our website is prototyperlab.com, and these are some projects we made.

I don't know who needs to hear this, but being delusional is needed in this game.

We have made a lot of prototypes for people, and the majority of them sound stupid. Our company usually appeals to non-technical people because of the price and low barrier to entry, so like 3 out of every 5 projects we get are simple or stupid ideas from people with no technical background.

We usually follow up with our customers after their product has launched. This is one of the products we thought had no potential. They launched around last year in December and already have 8k reviews and 10k+bought items bought in the past week. l attached that screenshot because that's the only thing I can share without breaching our NDA agreement.

One thing we've learned is that most of the time, only you can see the vision.

I see a lot of posts on here asking for validation for their idea, and I honestly don't recommend it. The only validation you need is the response from your customers.

I'm pretty sure there are a lot of ideas that died on here that would have been successful because the creator listened to people who weren't the target market.

I'm not implying you do not need to validate your idea, but just that most of the time, only you and your target audience understand the value of your product

If you have validation from your target audience, go for it. That's all that's needed.

Okay here me out, we charge $25/hr + materials for product development, and that gets you a DFM version of your product. Yes, it can actually be manufactured because we handle manufacturing in-house. I know this sounds like a promo, but it's important to the story.

We're a rapid prototyping company, and what frustrates me is that people don't realize there are many different ways to develop a product.

When we tell people our pricing, they often say, How can you possibly get a good product for that? I spent $50k and waited 8 months just to get a prototype back.

That's great if you went the traditional route, but rapid prototyping is supposed to be faster and cheaper.

People need to understand that most consumer products can be developed for under $15k and in less than 3 months, unless you're building something truly revolutionary.

Of course, highly regulated products, complex electronics, medical devices, aerospace products, or novel technologies are a different story.

My point is that not everyone needs a high-end engineering firm charging $300/hr. If your product isn't pushing the boundaries of technology, there are often much more cost-effective ways to get it developed.

Most consumer products are being designed and engineered in places like India, Vietnam, and China at rates that are a fraction of what you'd pay in the US or Europe.

I'm not even saying work with us. If anything, India is often even cheaper. I'm just saying choose wisely and make sure you're paying for the level of expertise your project actually requires.

So we built a singing bowl that plays itself at random or fixed intervals to help bring your mind back to the present moment. Basically, when your mind starts to wander, whether you’re meditating, working, or just going through daily life, the bowl rings as a reminder to come back, be present, and refocus on what you were doing.

A lot of people asked, Why not just use your phone? So here’s the science behind it:

Listening to a singing bowl on your phone is not the same as hearing a real one. It’s like watching a fire on a screen versus sitting next to a real fire. Both look similar, but only one feels warm.

A real singing bowl doesn’t just make sound, it vibrates. That vibration moves through the air, the room, and even your body. Your ears hear it, and your body feels it.

A phone speaker can only play a flat version of the sound.

Research in sound-based meditation and mindfulness shows that steady, low-frequency tones can help slow breathing, reduce mental chatter, and encourage the body to shift out of a stressed, alert state and into a calmer, more relaxed one. Which helps to bring back attention 10x better than Pomodoro timers on the phone.

It’s also designed to work as a Pomodoro timer. The goal of the Pomodoro method is focus, but using your phone as a timer often creates more distractions; the temptation to check something quickly can break your concentration. That’s why we made this completely screenless.

More info on the project https://ohmdaily.com/auto-gong-2-0/

So we’re a rapid prototyping company, and we bought one of these when they first started popping off. People scared us into thinking it was the future and that we’d be left behind if we didn’t get one, so we bought it thinking more customers would start asking for it.

Now it mostly just sits there collecting dust.

People overhype this technology. Yes, it’s faster in some cases, but the main benefit I see is printing without supports. For rapid prototyping companies or the average inventor, it’s not that useful because the materials most of us use for prototypes don’t work that well with it.

Feel free to ask any questions about the ring or the projects. These are not for sale by the way. They were just done for clients

We made a singing bowl that plays itself at random or fixed intervals, to help bring your mind back to the present moment. This is for those who need a daily reminder to be present or those who have wandering minds when meditating.

More details about the bowl

https://ohmdaily.com/auto-gong-2-0/

We made a singing bowl that plays itself at random or fixed intervals, to help bring your mind back to the present moment. This is for those who need a daily reminder to be present or those who have wandering minds when meditating.