A Review of the History of Industrial Design and Product Design

Industrial design emerged when physical items were first mass‑produced. While in the pre‑industrial era each craftsman could design and modify their own products, once production became centralized and standardized, there was a need for the specific role of the designer. Industrial designers were responsible for determining the characteristics of mass‑produced items and ensuring that they were suitable for the markets in which they were sold.

Industrial design is the design of mass‑produced consumer products. Its primary responsibility is to help create products that not only function well but are also aesthetically pleasing, thereby gaining a competitive advantage over similar products. The work of an industrial designer is often related to graphic design—such as advertising and packaging, imagery, and corporate branding—as well as interior design (also referred to as interior architecture or environmental design), including the arrangement of human‑made spaces.

Industrial design is largely a twentieth‑century phenomenon. The first industrial designer was the German architect, Peter Behrens. Behrens was strongly influenced by the nineteenth‑century English designer and poet William Morris and the Arts and Crafts movement with which Morris was closely associated. Behrens himself influenced many designers and architects of the next generation, including Walter Gropius, the founder of Germany’s famous Bauhaus design school. The aim of the Bauhaus was to promote and harmonize the design and production of handicrafts and industrial goods for the new post‑imperial age.

In the early decades of the twentieth century, architects and designers in different countries created products with distinctive designs. After Germany and other European countries, the United States was ready at that time for the development of the industrial design profession. During World War II (1939–1945), industrial designers became active and created design solutions and products to help win the war, such as the Walkie‑Talkie, a two‑way FM radio invented by Galvin Manufacturing (later named Motorola, Inc.) and used by the United States Army in 1943.

The Walkie-Talkie device manufactured by Galvin for use in World War II

Other countries also made significant progress in product design following World War II. In the second half of the twentieth century, Italian design was showcased to American museum audiences in exhibitions ranging from “Italy at Work” (1950) at the Art Institute of Chicago to “Italy: The New Domestic Landscape” (1972) at MoMA (Museum of Modern Art), introducing visitors to the flexibility of modular furniture. In the mid-to-late 1970s, architects worldwide began questioning the validity of minimalist modernist architecture and design as a universal solution for all environments. This individualism peaked in the late 1980s, just before the economic recession of the early 1990s forced design to adopt a lower profile and pushed architecture toward a stricter focus on value engineering—the analysis of service and product costs. Since then, two prominent trends in industrial design have been evident: one showcasing the artistic creations of a single prominent, talented designer, and the other a team-based practice among design and engineering specialists to shape the final product.

The more prevalent trend in industrial design is for the designer to be part of a larger team that creates a marketable product. One of the major companies to adopt this approach was Frog Design. Founded in 1969 by Hartmut Esslinger, the company championed the founder’s idea that “form follows emotion,” in contrast to the traditional modernist dictum “form follows function.” In the 21st century, design environments consistently present a company’s products in a way that is both aesthetically suitable for a museum and accessible to the public, while the increasing accessibility of objects has been accompanied by the growing integration of technology into design.

Hartmut-Slinger — Hartmut Esslinger, Founder of Frog Design

?What is Product Design

To understand product design, it is first necessary to clarify what we mean by a product. Products can be physical objects that you find on store shelves, such as a lamp or a bicycle, or they can be intangible, such as software, services, and even information, like a training course or workshop. A product is the final outcome of a product designer’s work; it is what is delivered to the customer at the end of the product design process.

Product design, as a verb, refers to the process of creating a new product to be sold to customers of a business. As a broad concept, it involves the generation and development of efficient and effective ideas to achieve a new product. Due to the absence of a universally accepted definition that fully encompasses all aspects of product design, answering the question of what product design is can be challenging. Two separate definitions of the concept are therefore needed: one that introduces product design directly from the perspective of the product itself, and another that defines the product design process in relation to this type of creation.

Product design is the process of analyzing, envisioning, creating new solutions, testing, iterating, and refining a product so that it becomes ready for its end users. Therefore, if we want a comprehensive definition of product design: “Product design is the process of identifying a market opportunity, clearly defining the problem, creating an appropriate solution for that problem, and evaluating and validating the solution with real users.”

What matters is how objects work, how they are controlled, and what the interaction between humans and technology looks like—whether the usage scenario of the product is easily understandable for users. Product design drives innovation and often improves the competitiveness of companies. Competition driven by companies’ pursuit of leadership opens up new pathways in design. Moreover, when an innovation successfully changes the meaning of a product, a new market will be created. We will first clarify the elements of good product design.

The noun term “product design” is often used as a polysemous word. The value of product design is divided into three elements: aesthetics, function, and symbolism. Aesthetics is defined as the set of characteristics that create the perception of beauty for the viewer. In contrast, function is described as the reflection of consumers’ expectations of a product to achieve a specific purpose. Symbolism refers to the perceived message that a product conveys—based on its visual elements—about the consumer’s self‑image to both the consumer and others.

Product design is sometimes confused with industrial design (it certainly overlaps with industrial design) and has recently become a broad term encompassing services, software, and physical product design. Industrial design, aimed at providing artistic form and usability, is typically associated with craft design and ergonomics, integrated together for the mass production of goods. The development and design (planning) of high-quality products is the key to success in the business world. To maximize these opportunities, companies must focus on only a few products. The goal of product decisions is to develop and implement product strategies that meet market demands while maintaining a competitive advantage.

The role of product designers is to combine art, science, and technology with the goal of creating products that people can use. Combining these factors with a human-centered perspective, and utilizing various design tools, cognitive methods, and continuous evaluations, leads to the creation of innovative ideas. Today, the emergence of digital tools has enabled designers to communicate, visualize, analyze, and manufacture products in extraordinary ways, completely transforming their workflow.

Industrial Design vs. Engineering Design

Product design can hardly be explained from a single-disciplinary perspective. The integrated contribution of engineering design and industrial design within a defined process is essential for bringing successful products to market. However, it is clear that engineering design and industrial design involve different design practices, and their approaches are in some ways contradictory.

The role of industrial designers includes improving the user experience of a product and developing its form and interface; they use knowledge and skills in aesthetics and ergonomics to give the product soul and character. In interaction with industrial designers during the design process, engineering designers participate in implementing the designers’ ideas. Engineering designers provide the means for the product’s functionality, reliability, and manufacturability. It is often argued that engineering designers use an “outside-in” approach, developing from function to appearance (designing the product’s internal components), while industrial designers follow an “inside-out” approach, developing from appearance to function (designing the product’s exterior). From this perspective, “product design” is a term used in various fields related to product development and is linked to the scopes of both industrial design and engineering design; in fact, product design can be considered the process that forms the intersection of industrial design and engineering design.

It is evident that product design is the result of the proper execution of the product design process. Some researchers consider the term “product design” to be equivalent to “product development.” Engineering design, industrial design, ergonomics, business design, and innovation management are fields that are closely interconnected and related to product design.

Industrial Design and Product Development

Both academics and professionals working in the market have emphasized that the role of industrial design in product development relates not only to aesthetics but also to aspects such as ergonomics, ease of use, manufacturability, efficient use of materials, and product performance. Design is a strategic tool that enables marketers to match customer needs with product functionality, quality, durability, appearance, and price. Beyond creating pleasing shapes and styles, the role of industrial design in product development can be viewed as communicating the company’s quality image and product integrity.

Empirical research indicates that, in practice, the function of industrial design may vary based on factors such as the nature of the company’s business and its design experience. Industrial design activity is part of a broader product development process that also includes other activities, such as establishing product requirements, product testing, and scaling up production.

The Importance and Impact of Product Design

The product design process is a set of strategic activities, from idea generation to commercialization, used to design a product. In a systematic approach, product designers explore and evaluate ideas and transform them into new and tangible products. The role of a product designer is to combine art, science, and technology to create new products that people can use. This process takes place in various categories such as household appliance design, medical equipment design, packaging, urban elements, and more.

Industrial design is concerned with beautiful and usable form, typically associated with craft design and ergonomics, to bring a product to the manufacturing stage. Other aspects of product design and industrial design involve engineering design, especially when issues of function or utility (e.g., problem-solving) are discussed, although such boundaries are not always clear. Industrial design is about creating value in products through rational management and development. Industrial designs are, in fact, defined to optimize the product manufacturing process and improve aspects that can lead to sales and the product’s relationship with the user.

In this way, it can be said that the presence of an industrial designer is essential in the process of creating, manufacturing, and bringing a product to market. Its impacts on brands and businesses include the following:

Budget Allocation: Every company strives to nurture a design that is industrially sound and has a high confidence level regarding its outcome. Since industrial design adds a value proposition to products, it facilitates the allocation of budgets with defined costs or helps in attracting investors for any resources required for product development.
Reliable Launch, Advanced Sales: In traditional manufacturing, a product had to prove its worth through trial and error in marketing and sales only after being manufactured and launched. In contrast, products created through the industrial design process allow for their approximate market position to be ensured from the very beginning by utilizing market and user analysis.
Optimal Use of Resources: Industrial designs are developed after a precise understanding of all resources that can be used to improve product quality without incurring additional costs. Furthermore, the design is developed after evaluating the maximum benefits of resources to ensure the product can be easily launched and remain sustainable in the market for a long period.
Product Differentiation: A product resulting from a design process distinguishes itself from other products on the market in terms of form and sometimes functionality. Even if they perform the same function, a designed product offers better and more optimized performance than others. Moreover, a product that is more beautiful and precise in its appearance and formal details garners more trust from its potential users.
Structured Production: The final and most important point is that industrial design helps you achieve the best possible result within your budget. Furthermore, it enables you to reach the ultimate goals of the manufacturing process through organized objectives. Ultimately, this leads to the structuring of the entire production and sales process to achieve maximum profit.

Industrial design not only helps you achieve a stronger market position for a product, but also improves the product’s standing in the eyes of users. Integrating the concept of industrial design with business helps add commercial value to the product, increase profits, enable entry into the market in a more competitive way, and support the company’s economic growth.

Main Areas in Product Design

The following sections introduce several key areas within the field of product design:

Packaging Design

Packaging Design involves merging form, structure, materials, color, imagery, typography, and regulatory information with ancillary design elements to create a product suitable for marketing. To put it more simply: your packaging is an element of your marketing strategy. Packaging design encompasses not only the graphics but also the physical container of the product that the consumer purchases. It is vital not just for the product itself, but for the entire company, as it becomes a memorable representation of a brand. Packaging design serves as a hallmark of quality and an introduction to the business’s product identity.

Designing boxes and packaging cartons is not merely about creating a “beautiful box,” but rather a marketing tool capable of attracting many customers and dramatically increasing product sales. Whether intentionally or not, packaging design is one of the primary factors influencing customers’ purchasing decisions. Having high‑quality, refined, and attractive packaging directly (and indirectly) encourages customers to choose your product over competing items on the store shelf. In packaging design, the structure must correspond to the product category and consider the product’s life cycle—specifically, what process the product goes through from the moment it is produced until it reaches the consumer. Well‑designed packaging helps ensure that customers will confidently prefer your product over others available in the marketplace. In designing the packaging structure, it is important to consider the product category and the product life cycle—specifically, the processes involved from the beginning of production until the product reaches the customer and the packaging is eventually recycled. Packaging graphics, alongside the form and structure of the package, shape the product’s identity for display and recognition on retail shelves. The level of creativity and attractiveness in packaging design increases the chances of the product being noticed in a marketplace filled with numerous competing products.

Overall, the packaging design process includes project definition and planning, research and information gathering, sketching the initial packaging layout, concept development and ideation, review and feedback collection, prototyping and sample making, final approval of the packaging design, printing the approved packaging, and supervising the packaging process.

Service Design

Service Design is the activity of planning and organizing people, infrastructure, communication, and the material components of a service in order to improve its quality and the interaction between the service provider and its users. Service design may function as a way to inform changes in an existing service or to create an entirely new one. Service design is a process in which designers create sustainable solutions and optimal experiences both for customers in unique contexts and for service providers. In service design, you work across a broad scope, including User Experience (UX) and Customer Experience (CX) design. Users engage with products through complex chains of interactions. For example, a car is a product, but from a service design perspective, it may be part of a larger system—such as when an elderly customer uses it to book an Uber ride in order to visit a friend at the hospital.

Many people emphasize the distinction between products and services—between intangible and tangible goods—and believe that a service cannot be treated like traditional products. While these differences may be valid in other contexts, in service design we define anything a company offers as a service, regardless of whether it is tangible or not. Whether we call it a product, a service, or physical and digital goods ultimately does not matter to customers. They pay organizations in exchange for an experience. The goal of service design is to ensure that this experience meets or even exceeds customer expectations and fulfills their needs. In general, the service design process includes: research, ideation, prototyping, testing, and implementation.

UI/UX Design

UI stands for User Interface. The user interface is the graphical layout of an application (app, website, etc.), including the buttons users click, the text they read, images, sliders, text input fields, and all other elements users interact with. It also includes page layout, transitions from one page to another, and interface animations. Every visual element, interaction, and animation must be carefully designed. UX, which stands for User Experience, focuses on the user—or more precisely, the human experience. This field involves analyzing users’ intentions when interacting with a product: how they should feel, what they should understand, and ultimately what action they should take. In most cases, UX design is addressed first, followed by the visual (UI) design.

User experience design is a process used by design teams to create products that provide meaningful and relevant experiences to users. It involves designing the entire process of acquiring and integrating a product, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and functionality. Don Norman describes UX as follows: “User experience encompasses all aspects of the end user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products.” The UI/UX design process is similar to the product design process (research, problem definition, ideation, prototyping, and testing), with the difference that the methods used in each stage vary from those used in product design. For example, ideation methods may include wireframing, while tools such as scenarios, storyboards, and personas are used during the needs analysis phase, along with similar methods in other stages.

Medical Equipment Design

Due to the technical and medical complexities involved in designing medical equipment, and the absence of industrial design in the design and production process of these products, many of them often lack aesthetic and human-centered elements, which negatively affects the user experience during use. Most of these products are initially designed in a purely engineering and functional manner, with a mechanical or electronic perspective, and therefore require the involvement of industrial designers to enhance the product in terms of usability, ergonomics, aesthetics, and other design factors. These effects become even more significant when users are in a vulnerable psychological state and surrounded by such equipment. If the integration of industrial design into medical products continues to grow, it can help improve the prevailing collective perception and reduce the sense of discomfort associated with hospital environments.

Medical equipment that was once designed and produced by physicians, technicians, and others who worked directly with them can no longer meet today’s human needs. This is because the quality of interactions with these products, users’ aesthetic expectations, and the experiences gained from them have changed. Moreover, today’s users possess diverse abilities, broader expectations, and higher levels of education. Different industries incorporate aesthetic elements into their products to varying degrees. The design of medical equipment is one of the fields where aesthetic considerations were initially less emphasized, although the extent varies among products; for example, in the design of dental units this aspect is far more developed than in the design of dialysis machines.

ekas-product — designed by ekas design studio

After the functional concept of a new medical device is defined during the problem-definition stage, the next step is the design and ideation phase. The design stage is the most critical phase in the development of medical equipment, because errors at this stage can render the device ineffective or even make its use dangerous. During the design phase, a design control process must be defined and implemented within the framework of the system’s quality requirements. In essence, design control is a logical and straightforward step that ensures the development of a product that has been properly designed and that meets customer needs and expectations. In general, the medical equipment design process includes: defining the design problem, research, ideation, evaluation of initial concepts, development of the final concept, detailed design, prototyping, and testing the final product under defined real conditions. The entire design process requires feedback cycles in which the product is tested at specific intervals and the feedback is returned to the design team for redesign.

Sports Equipment Design

Sports design is a young and evolving branch of engineering. Sports equipment must work in collaboration with the athlete to enhance performance. “The primary goal of sports technology in competitive sports is performance enhancement.” Sports designers who develop such equipment possess a wide range of skills that are not fully covered by traditional engineering disciplines, including biomechanical testing and direct collaboration with coaches and athletes. This skill set equips designers with a deeper understanding of user requirements and performance needs, and it is anticipated that this approach can be achieved through modeling the sports design process.

In general, the sports equipment design process includes research, concept design, design development, design refinement, initial production and prototyping, and final production. An important point is that the user remains involved throughout the entire process.

Home Appliance Design

In the design of home appliance products, broader research and investigation are required, along with the collection of information from a wider range of users. Given consumers’ demand for the aesthetic aspects of household products, designers effectively combine various elements in the product’s shape and form—such as color, line, and texture—to meet users’ expected sense of beauty.

The appearance design of home appliances is, to some extent, a form of artistry; throughout the design process, the designer works alongside artistic and aesthetic outcomes. Consumers tend to favor designs with appealing forms, harmonious color combinations, and more comprehensive functionality, and some designers convey targeted emotional messages through product design features. In repeated consumer experiences—whether through the appearance of home appliances, color coordination, and so on—the use of such features and the communication of emotional cues can truly create a remarkable experience. This represents an excellent combination of form and function.

The consumer must be willing to purchase the product so that it can, in turn, deliver a positive feeling during use and shape a holistic experience. In home appliance design, discovering users’ hidden needs and translating them into creative functional ideas can contribute significantly to product sales. This requires gathering information about the patterns and habits of user groups. Many innovative and disruptive ideas in the design of home and kitchen appliances emerge from directly observing and experiencing how real users interact with existing products, as well as through interviewing them and analyzing their behavior.

Retail and Ordering Equipment

First of all, a large store must have a checkout system, POS (point of sale), or retail package to process transactions. To increase sales speed, accurately record purchases, and generate end-of-day reports, retail and ordering equipment is essential.

Nowadays, having a CCTV system is necessary in stores and supermarkets to maintain control and security. Many stores—such as greengrocers and supermarkets—also require a retail scale, shelving units, and refrigerators. The store should include a checkout counter where customers can place their purchased items. Designing such elements falls under the responsibility of a product designer.

Service design, interior design, product design, and packaging design, when integrated together, can create a pleasant customer experience. Achieving this requires a comprehensive and well-managed approach to all design parameters, ensuring that the overlap of different design aspects results in a cohesive and distinctive identity for the store.

Banking and Payment Equipment

Design in this field is one of the most precise and important areas of design expertise, where details matter both in form and appearance as well as in mechanics and functionality. The design of banking equipment—including payment devices, identity verification systems, non‑cash transaction tools, and security products—must first and foremost be precise, while also being aesthetically pleasing and durable. Achieving customer satisfaction in banks requires the use of up‑to‑date equipment combined with interfaces designed according to defined scenarios within a well‑designed service framework.

Toy Design

The primary criterion for defining toy design here is that it relates to play objects created through human creativity and design skills, intended for children, adults, or pets, with the goal of generating play value through physical, digital, or hybrid objects (throughout the design process).

A toy designer develops and implements ideas for toys. They are usually inspired by imagination, by observing other toys, or by examining different types of products. A toy designer may be an independent inventor or manufacturer, or may work for a small- or large-scale toy company.

Car Design

Car design is the process of developing the appearance (and to some extent, the ergonomics) of motor vehicles—including automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, buses, vans, and more. The functional design and development of a modern motor vehicle are usually carried out by a large team from many different disciplines, including automotive engineering. However, design roles in car design are not necessarily linked to holding professional or certified engineering degrees. In this context, car design primarily focuses on the development of the vehicle’s visual appearance or aesthetics, while also contributing to the creation of product concepts.

Car design as a profession is practiced by designers who may have an artistic background and a degree in industrial design or transportation design. The responsibilities of the design team are generally divided into three main aspects: exterior design, interior design, and color and trim design. Graphic design is also one aspect of car design.

Aesthetic value must align with ergonomic performance and functional features. In particular, automotive electronics create additional challenges for car designers, who must stay updated with the latest information and knowledge related to vehicles—especially devices such as GPS navigation systems, satellite radio, HD radio, television, MP3 players, video playback systems, and smartphone interfaces. Although not all new automotive tools are intended to be standard factory features, some may be essential in shaping the future direction of a specific car model.

Urban Furniture Design

Urban furniture refers to the “furnishings” of public urban spaces—areas used by the general public, such as sidewalks, parks, public squares, and parking areas. These elements can include benches, bus shelters, streetlights, and signage. They may serve functional purposes, artistic purposes, or both.

Effective and high-quality urban furniture can enrich our overall experience of public spaces. For designers of urban environments, understanding the principles of placemaking and urban furniture design is essential. Urban furniture should be designed to incorporate all—or at least some—key characteristics such as safety, innovation, comfort, and environmental friendliness.

Elements such as bus and bicycle stations, benches, waste bins, street lighting, and other city-level installations all fall within the category of urban furniture design.

(Business to Business) Product Design in Relationships

Product designers can contribute to business and commercial activities beyond the design of physical products and influence the effective implementation of product development processes. Several studies indicate that industrial design plays different roles within companies, and these roles are connected with other functional areas such as marketing, engineering, sales, and production.

However, while companies benefit from industrial design in various ways, the roles played by industrial designers are not fixed. In fact, studies of companies show that industrial designers are engaged for different reasons. For example, while a marketing manager may be concerned with product differentiation and may hire designers to support the department in these areas, a research and development manager may pay more attention to aspects such as technical feasibility.

The management literature on design points to several important areas in the relationships between managers and designers. Communication between industrial designers and managers often involves many challenges. Managers may perceive the language and ideas used by designers as unrealistic. Companies sometimes overlook the important contribution of industrial design to their activities.

Therefore, understanding what industrial designers do—and perhaps more importantly, how different professionals perceive the contribution of industrial design—can help managers integrate industrial design more effectively with other disciplines. This can also help create new opportunities for B2B processes that aim to benefit from industrial design in a more strategic way.

The role of industrial design within companies has expanded over time. Today, designers have moved beyond their original role as commercial artists (or stylists), who primarily shaped the look and feel of products, and now contribute to many other areas, giving the profession a broader function within companies.

Design has been described as a broad term that encompasses both the object of design and the design process underlying the creation of such objects. The object of design—or “the outcome of a design process”—can be considered a product (or a product–service system) that fulfills specific consumer needs and desires.

Design as a process refers to the path followed to create the characteristics of a product, in which designers “devise courses of action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.”

From a management perspective, however, distinguishing between the object of design and design as a process leads to a primary classification for understanding the diverse :roles of industrial design in B2B processes

Product-related design roles, and1.

Design process–related roles2.

Below, we examine some of the main roles designers play within companies according to this classification.

From the perspective of product-related roles, designers have long been brought into industry to shape the appearance and usability of products. These “core” capabilities of industrial design remain central in industry today. The desire to improve product appearance is one of the primary reasons companies adopt industrial design. Similarly, achieving a higher level of product usability is a role commonly attributed to designers.

Design capabilities that enhance appearance and usability are important to companies in several ways. Both appearance and usability contribute to the perceived quality and value of products for consumers. They can also help associate products with a brand and, in doing so, increase brand awareness among consumers and differentiate the company from competitors.

These product-related design capabilities enable companies to translate consumer needs and desires into product features that may influence a product’s future market performance. Studies indicate that investment in design has a positive impact on several company performance metrics, including profit and market share.

Industrial design has expanded significantly over the past decades, as companies have sought new ways to leverage designers’ skill sets for greater profitability. Many of these newer roles are process-related.

With regard to these process-oriented roles, two frequently cited capabilities stand out:

Designers’ ability to track (and disseminate information about) trends, and1.

Designers’ ability to visualize ideas2.

Designers are trained to monitor social and technological trends, assess and understand what matters to customers, and translate these insights into concrete product ideas. In doing so, they are also trained to interpret ideas into visual representations—such as sketches, mock-ups, and 3D computer models—that can be shared among project team members to facilitate communication about product concepts.

Through this contribution, designers significantly influence team dynamics by helping to build a shared understanding of ideas, ensuring that relevant product aspects are considered and agreed upon. Designers also generate new insights for other functional areas within the company, such as marketing and engineering. In this way, they support communication and mutual understanding between end users/customers and those within the company responsible for acting on customer feedback.

Moreover, through their process-related roles, designers can contribute to companies’ innovation processes, as “their creativity stimulates innovation at both the cultural and organizational levels. It encourages companies to push boundaries in new product development.” As a result, both practitioners and academics recognize design thinking as a key resource for companies.

While the roles of industrial design in business-to-consumer (B2C) markets are more firmly established, its role in business-to-business (B2B) markets is less clearly defined. Practical reports suggest that B2B companies may rely heavily on industrial design. A notable example is Caterpillar, where industrial design has helped create a coherent visual identity across its product range and introduced features that enhance the simplicity and precision of operating its trucks.

What we emphasize here is the diversity of value that design can offer B2B organizations, as well as the varying ways in which managers across different functional areas perceive this value.

Product Design Expression

Product design expression emerges from the combination of all the elements that exist within a product. Color tones, shapes, and proportions must all be articulated in a way that encourages the customer’s mind to be attracted to purchasing the product. For this reason, one of the most important concerns of product designers is considering the product’s audience and its end user.

Understanding how the customer perceives the product has a direct impact on the product’s success in the market. The solution to this challenge is to design a product that expresses a distinct personality in its appearance and performance, or one that tells a story through its form and function.

Products that possess these characteristics will experience stronger acceptance by customers. However, it is important to note that expressing these features is not achieved solely by considering a product’s aesthetic qualities; taking the product’s functional characteristics into account is equally influential.

All stakeholders have specific expectations of the product designer and the design process. The product designer’s task is to create a suitable and valuable product by interacting with all these individuals:

The manufacturer is concerned with production costs. Ultimately, the manufacturer wants a cost-effective product.
The buyer thinks about the product’s price, appearance, and elegance.
The end user emphasizes the efficiency and performance of the final product.
The maintenance and repair department focuses on the product’s serviceability—ensuring that product components can be easily disassembled and that faults can be diagnosed and repaired with ease.

The Product Design Process

Product design is built upon a framework called Design Thinking, which is a human-centered approach to innovation that integrates people’s needs, technological possibilities, and business requirements. Good designers always apply design thinking to product design (whether physical or digital), as it is focused on the end-to-end development of the product rather than just being utilized within the “design” phase.

The product design process is a vital framework that designers use to solve problems. As we move forward, you will realize that the concepts and skills required of a product designer vary and will change depending on which stage of the process you are in. For a product designer, no two days are ever the same; they act as problem solvers, researchers, designers, product managers, analysts, and marketers.

A process is a set of actions carried out to achieve a specific outcome. The design process can be likened to a black box, into which information enters and from which refined outputs emerge.

There are various product design processes, each emphasizing different aspects of development. The process presented here as an example is the seven general stages of problem-solving proposed by Don Koberg and Jim Bagnall.

This process helps designers define product design as a structured progression that begins with an idea and evolves systematically. It is typically carried out by a diverse team of individuals, including industrial design specialists, field experts, engineers, and others.

The process focuses on gathering requirements, brainstorming possible ideas, building prototypes, and ultimately developing the final product. However, this is not truly the end of the process. After that, product designers need to implement their ideas for final production, and once initial versions are produced, they must carry out revisions and refinement processes on them.

The main product design process consists of the following three parts:

Analysis1.

Ideation (Concept Development)2.

Synthesis3.

Furthermore, when thinking about products or features, designers must understand business goals and be able to answer the following questions first:

What problem are we solving?1.

Who has this problem?2.

What do we want to achieve?3.

Answering these questions helps designers understand the overall user experience of a product, rather than focusing solely on the interaction (feel) or visual (appearance) aspects of design. Only after addressing these questions does it make sense to move toward finding a solution to the problem.

In general, finding a solution within the design process involves the following stages:

1- Empathize

Learn about the people you are designing for. Conduct research to develop a deeper understanding of your users. It is very important to assess whether there is a strong demand or need for your product before starting the design and development process. We often evaluate this product-market fit through what we call user research. To increase effectiveness, the design process should be understood within the context and environment of a company.

A. User Research

Some user research methods include:

– User Interview: This is a very common qualitative research technique that can be conducted in person or remotely. While organizing and analyzing interview findings can be time-consuming, the advantage of this method is that concepts and generalities can be discovered through direct conversation with users. This technique can help the researcher evaluate user needs and emotions before designing the product and long after its release. Interviews are typically conducted by one interviewer who speaks with one user at a time for 30 minutes to an hour. After conducting the interviews, it is important to synthesize the data to identify insights in the form of patterns. If you have a choice, in-person interviews are better than remote ones (via phone or web-based video). In-person interviews are preferred because they provide much more behavioral data than remote interviews. You will gain more insight by observing body language and listening to verbal cues (tone, inflection, etc.). When interviewing, the product designer must plan their questions; the wrong set of questions can not only negate the benefits of the interview session but also lead product development in the wrong direction. A skilled interviewer makes users feel comfortable by asking questions in a neutral manner and knowing when and how to ask for more detail.

Online Surveys and Questionnaires: Surveys and questionnaires enable you to obtain a large volume of quantitative data in a short period. While their implementation can be relatively quick and inexpensive, the downside is that they may lack the deeper insights usually gained from face-to-face interactions. Although online surveys are typically used for quantitative research, they can also be used for qualitative research. Collecting qualitative data is possible by asking open-ended questions (e.g., “What motivates you to make a purchase?” or “How do you feel when you want to return an item you purchased from us?”). Responses to such questions will be highly individual and generally cannot be used for quantitative analysis.

Contextual and Demographic Research: Contextual research is a type of field study in which the researcher observes individuals in their natural environment and studies them while they perform their daily tasks. This method helps researchers gain information about the context of use; specifically, users are first asked a set of standard questions, such as “What is the most common task you usually perform?”, and then they are observed while working in their own environment. The goal of contextual research is to collect enough observations so that you can truly become familiar with users and their perspectives and gain direct understanding. Do not just listen to users; observe their behavior, as what people say can differ from what they actually do. As much as possible, observe what users do to complete their tasks. Minimize interference and disruption. When studying the natural use of a product, the objective is to minimize interference from the study in order to understand behavior as closely to reality as possible.

Market Research: If you want to build a great product, you cannot ignore the competitors. To be competitive, you must know what products are available in the market and how they perform. This is why conducting market research is a vital component of the product design process. Your ultimate goal should be to design a solution that possesses a competitive advantage.

– Competitor Research: Competitor research is the comprehensive analysis of competing products and the presentation of analysis results in a comparable format. This research helps product teams understand industry standards and identify product opportunities within a specific market segment. A competitor is a company that shares your goals and fights for the same things your product team desires. There are two types of competitors:

Direct Competitors: Direct competitors are those whose products compete directly with your value proposition (they offer the same or very similar value proposition to your current or future users).

Indirect Competitors: Indirect competitors are those whose products target your customer base without offering the exact same value proposition. For example, the primary product or service of an indirect competitor might not address your value proposition, but their secondary product certainly does.

The product team must consider both types of competitors because they influence the overall success of the product. As a general rule, identify the top three direct competitors and an equal number of indirect competitors.

B. User Analysis

After conducting the research, the product team must make sense of the collected data. The goal of the analysis phase is to extract usable conclusions from the data gathered during the product research stage.

– Persona: Based on the results of the product research, designers can identify key user groups and create representative personas. Personas are fictional characters created to represent different types of users who might use a product in a similar way. The goal of personas is to create reliable and realistic representations of key audience segments for reference. Personas help product design teams understand users’ goals within specific contexts and use them during the ideation process.

– Empathy Map: An empathy map is a visual tool used to articulate what the product team knows about the user. This tool helps the product team develop a broader understanding of the “why” behind the user’s needs and desires. It also forces product teams to shift their focus from the product they want to build to the people who will use the product. As a team identifies what they know about the user and then maps this information onto a chart, they gain a more holistic view of the user’s world and the problem or opportunity space.

2. Define the Problem (Define)

The Define stage follows the Empathize stage, where you have gathered as much information as possible about your users through interviews, various techniques, and observation. Once you have a clear understanding of who your users are—and more importantly, their wants, needs, and pain points—you are ready to turn that empathy into actionable insight.

The relationship between the Empathize and Define stages can best be described in terms of analysis and synthesis. In the Empathize stage, we use analysis to break down everything we observe and discover about our users into smaller, more manageable parts; for example, categorizing their actions and behaviors into “what,” “why,” and “how.” In the Define stage, we put these pieces back together and synthesize our findings to create an accurate overall picture.

Without defining the problem (Problem Statement), it is difficult to know what your goal is. Your work will lack focus, and the final design will suffer. In the absence of a clear problem definition, it is also very difficult to communicate effectively with stakeholders and team members. This stage is important because it enables you to understand the objective of your design project and establish a clear goal to work toward. We often begin our problem definition with the phrase: “How might we…?”

3. Ideation

The Ideation stage is when team members brainstorm a wide range of creative ideas that address the project’s goals. During this stage, it is not only important to generate ideas but also to validate the most critical design assumptions. Product teams use many techniques for ideation, from sketching, which is very useful for visualizing aspects of the design, to storyboarding, which is used to visualize overall interactions with a product. Once your initial ideas are validated, you begin creating more detailed designs. This usually involves computer‑aided design (CAD) software, as well as producing technical specifications that define everything in the design system, from the required materials to the product’s cost.

4. Prototyping

After generating ideas, select those that best solve the problem and begin prototyping. Creating a prototype of the product (or prototyping new features to include in the product) makes it easier to thoroughly test the proposed solutions generated during the ideation phase. The goal of creating a prototype is to bring ideas to life and select the best possible solution to move forward. If you want to solve multiple problems, implement all selected solutions into one prototype to ensure they work seamlessly together. Prototypes can also be used to gauge consumer interest.

If a new product has been built and the developer wants to see if it will generate interest among those who would purchase it, they build a prototype and use it for consumer review. This allows them to make improvements that make it more appealing to the public or to move forward with the knowledge that production will be successful. It is common to assign an ID to prototypes to distinguish them from others. The original prototype is usually called the Alpha prototype. This prototype is developed with the assumption that the existing design will need changes. Prototypes created from versions modified from the original are often labeled Beta, Gamma, etc. It is expected that each prototype will be one step closer to a product that functions as designed. When creating a prototype, there are items that must be included which might not be necessary for a prototype not intended for production. For example, when a product is designed for industrial use, you might need more expensive materials to build it. Using actual materials for a prototype is not cost-effective, so engineers use a material that is cheaper but has similar properties to the actual material to create the prototype.

5. Testing

Once you have a functional prototype, you can test its usability to see if it solves the problems you identified in the problem definition phase.

A. What is a feedback loop?

Eric Ries explains in the book The Lean Startup that the fundamental activity of a startup is turning ideas into products, measuring how customers respond, and then deciding whether to pivot or persevere. This serves as the basis for a framework he calls the “Build-Measure-Learn” process.

Build the product: Turn an idea into something tangible that customers will love.
Test the product: See whether customers like it or not.
Improve the product: Learn from mistakes to build a product that customers will love.

In other words, the product feedback loop is the process of continuously collecting customer feedback and improving your product based on their input. Generating early-stage ideas can help in creating quick and efficient product feedback. There are ideas regarding cost-effective methods to do this. For example, brochures, datasheets, and user interface prototypes are tangible and can always be kept visible and accessible to users.

Idea prototypes are another effective way to do this, as they efficiently capture the future vision of your product. Prototypes are most useful when users can understand how well they address their needs. If your goal is to test functionality, you only need to build enough to provide a reliable result. If you want to test the proportions and aesthetic quality of your product, you may need to keep the prototype close to the final design. It is up to you; ultimately, the goal is to build something to put in front of users so that data collection can begin immediately.

B. Measure your product feedback

Now it’s time to see whether customers like it as much as you thought they would. Here are the best methods for collecting customer feedback and starting your feedback loop:

– Customer Interviews: Contrary to popular belief, customer interviews are not obsolete. Regarding learning user needs, problems, pain points, desired solutions, and other feedback, the information obtained from this method is invaluable for product teams. There are various types of customer interviews, such as customer validation interviews, persona development interviews, usability studies, and more. The real value of these interviews lies in the complexity of the feedback you will receive. This step is more important than any other type of customer feedback.

– Customer Surveys: Customer surveys are an important part of any product feedback loop, especially because most of them are conducted either within the product or immediately after use. The biggest advantage of surveys is that they are connected to the user experience. In other words, after users interact with the latest feature in your product, you can immediately request feedback. While the simplicity of surveys may increase response rates, it can be limiting because you are not present to clarify the answers.

– Customer Support: Customer support representatives provide useful feedback because they are always talking directly to customers. You will gain a better understanding of customer problems, bugs, feature suggestions, comments, and more.

– Product Usage Metrics: Product usage metrics are a great way to discover customer feedback. Look for patterns in software analytics—they will help you gain a proper understanding of how different features are being used.

– Sales: Your sales department is in contact with your potential customers. Sales representatives can find out what motivates them and also what the most important pain points of your product are.

– Employee Feedback: Diverse perspectives within your organization can provide useful and sometimes surprising insights. Important feedback can be obtained this way because employees are somewhat aware of the details of the product design and manufacturing stages, while at the same time, they can act in the role of a user.

– Social Media: Customers usually provide feedback online or comment through various channels. Be sure to check these sources and continuously improve how you gather product feedback.

C. Decide which feedback to prioritize.

Anyone can collect customer opinions. But what comes after that is also important. What is your primary source of feedback? Is it in-app user surveys, email surveys, customer interviews, support requests, or something else? Will you have a lot of feedback?

D. Create a storage space for your feedback.

You can use web pages, forums, or another dedicated tool. A product management system provides a central repository for all product ideas, feedback, and requests collected by teams across the company.

E. Define processes and workflows.

To build the best possible product for your customers, you need to determine different solutions based on feedback. This brings you back into the feedback loop. In fact, it is an ongoing, never-ending process that you use to keep improving your product.

Design Process Models

In order to understand the differences among various design process models from a graphical and conceptual perspective, an analysis has been conducted. In the section above, we discussed the overall design process; in other words, the process described above is the Design Thinking process, from which most other processes originate. Over the years, different models of this process have been developed by researchers and designers in more open, clearer, and more detailed forms. Below we review some of the most important ones.

Basic Design Cycle (BDC): The image below shows a linear design process model with several iterative loops. This simple design process model proposes a linear design process consisting of different phases and stages. Iterative stages exist, but they result from emphasizing the stages of the process and their sequence. The duration, scope, or certainty of the stages is not specified. All of these may vary depending on the subject, design style, the number and type of feedback, and the number of cycles.

V Design Process: The image below shows an example of the newer V and U models. This model has components similar to the linear model mentioned earlier. However, the different graphical concept shifts the emphasis toward feedback or iteration loops. This process does not appear to be very simple; there is a kind of exploration within the process and an emergence of solutions. It is clear that the requirements and solutions are explicitly available, while the central process that connects them may remain inaccessible. Visually, the V or U models can even be bent further to form a closed circle.

Human-Centered Design Process for Interactive Systems: The figure below illustrates the Human-Centered Design (UCD) model for interactive systems, representing various types of circular design process models. These models generally place a very strong emphasis on the iterative nature of the stages within design processes.

Human-centered-design-process for interactive systems

General Design Process Model: Hugentobler et al. presented a model that makes the iterative nature of design processes even more visible. They emphasize the repetition of the design process as a macro-cycle, as well as repetition within the stages as micro-cycles.

The Munich Procedural Model: As shown in the figure below, the Munich Procedural Model seemingly does not suggest a preferred sequence for the seven stages of the design process. However, upon closer inspection, a preferred order is revealed, indicated by a thicker (red) line. While this model allows for the representation of various types of design processes, it does not propose a direct sequence of steps and lacks emphasis on the inherent iterative nature of the design process. Consequently, non-designers and novices may find it more difficult to understand or navigate design processes using this model.

The Double Diamond Process: The figure below shows the Double Diamond model, a more recent design process model that essentially consists of four stages and three milestones in a linear sequence. Although, at first glance, both the Munich Procedural Model and the Double Diamond appear as double-diamond shapes, the Double Diamond approach divides the process into four stages—Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver. This model is probably the most widely known and popular design process model. Its main feature is the emphasis on divergent thinking and convergent thinking. In the divergent phase, a large number of ideas are generated for the intended design, while in the convergent phase, the ideas are narrowed down and evaluated to arrive at the best ones. These stages occur twice in this model: once to confirm the definition of the problem (research and problem definition), and once to create the solution (ideation and selection of the best idea).

Examples of Product Design in Different Fields

In this section, we examine several examples in each of the product design fields introduced in this article:

Trident Gum Packaging Design

The Trident gum packaging was designed to attract consumers’ attention to the product by using images of different smiling mouths in contrasting colors. Since the creative design and imagery rely on two primary colors to reflect both genders—black-colored designs for men and red-colored designs for women—there are many mouth shapes for each gender. Consumers can easily identify the product through its transparent section, which displays the gum as if it were an actual tooth in the mouth. This design conveys a clear message to consumers that the gum is healthy and will not negatively affect the healthy appearance of their teeth.

This packaging delivers a joyful experience to consumers through its imagery; consumers can place the package over their mouths to create a healthy-looking smile thanks to the whiteness of the gums inside. In addition, the packaging can act as a stimulus that transforms their emotions into actions through purchasing behavior.

UI/UX Design for the Cuteen Photo Editing App

Photos are one of the ways to preserve memories of life events. With a smartphone, people can take thousands of pictures anywhere and never miss special moments. Mobile applications support people’s interest in photography by offering various features such as image editing. Today, photo editing products face high demand, which is why designers regularly engage in projects of this kind.

The product designer was responsible for developing the UI and UX for an integrated selfie camera and photo‑editing mobile application for teenage girls and young women aged 15 to 35. The slogan of this application is “Meet your most beautiful self!” The main task was to create a smart UX that highlights the six core features of the app and to design a modern, youthful, feminine, and playful user interface. In addition, the design team created a custom set of icons and applied a bright color palette in the user interface.

The task of the previous designer was to organize and present all the features in a way that allowed users to perform editing directly. To improve the efficiency of this process, the designer created a wireframe, which presented the information architecture of the future design. A wireframe is a simple and fast way to create a schematic visual representation of screens and transitions, helping developers and clients gain a clear understanding of the structure of the design.

The Cuteen app had six core features that needed to be presented in the most effective way. The designer proposed two layout options. The first included a circular banner and brand name at the top of the screen. The designer explored several ways to place the icons of the main features as well as the CTA photo button. It was important that the CTA button had enough contrast so that users would recognize it as the main interactive element of the interface. This design included three alternatives for positioning the UI components in different parts of the app screen. The first showed the camera CTA button separated from the features, while the others presented different ways of visually connecting them within a single interactive area.

The second layout focused on presenting the features. The banners were removed, with the icons placed at the top of the screen and the CTA positioned in the center. Such a structure helps focus users’ attention and reduces potential distractions.

The designer also created a main feed displaying recent and popular effects so users could easily apply the best features without extra effort. Both layouts had their own strengths and advantages, so the designer decided to compare the two possible options during the UI design stage.

The main approach to the UI design involved a combination of fashion and entertainment visual styles. Considering that the application was designed for young female users, the designer decided to create the interface elements using a bright color palette with dark‑to‑light effects. The central color used for the CTA button and several other interface elements was pink. This color is strongly associated with beauty, sensitivity, and youthful femininity, making it a suitable choice when the target audience consists mainly of girls and young women.

The six feature icons were displayed in six contrasting colors. In this way, each color becomes associated with a specific feature, allowing users to quickly interact with the app even without reading the label of each icon. To ensure the interface appears soft and pleasant, the designer also used a white background, creating balance within the visual composition.

Nike Golf Club Design (Covert Driver)

Golfers have long benefited from cavity‑back golf clubs with distributed weight. Building on this knowledge, Nike and Priority Designs explored ways to iterate this technology in a new golf club concept. Numerous renderings and physical models, developed in the studio’s prototype lab, generated feedback that ultimately led to retaining the traditional shape of the club head’s upper section.

The collaboration between the two brands resulted in the world’s first high‑speed cavity‑back driver. The cavity‑back technology provides greater stability at impact, transfers more energy to the ball, and consequently delivers increased distance and control. The additional weight placed at the rear and perimeter of the club head increases the moment of inertia, adding more distance to off‑center shots.

Nike engineers and Priority Designs worked together on the Flex-Loft system, which gives consumers greater control over their golf clubs. Previously, golfers could adjust the loft of their club, but the launch angle remained fixed. If they wanted a different launch angle, they had to buy a new club. The dual-axis system adjusts both the loft of the golf club and the launch angle, allowing completely independent control over the ball’s launch angle and the adjustment of its left-to-right trajectory.

The development process involved the difficult task of separating two variables: the launch angle and the loft angle of the golf club. In addition, the system needed to be easily adjustable by golfers. The solution was to create two independently controlled adjustment axes that communicate their functions clearly to the golfer. One section adjusts the launch angle, while the other adjusts the face angle. Months of calculations, prototyping, and testing resulted in unprecedented control and created 15 unique positions for the golfer.

Zino Ultrasound Machine Design

Zino is an ultrasound machine designed by order of the Med Fanavaran Plus company. The core idea was to build a lower-priced device that, while offering cost savings, could still be used by professionals. In other words, this device is accessible to target groups with less financial power. The design team carried out the project with the goal of creating added value through a clever combination with aesthetic innovation.

Since the height-adjustment mechanism was removed to save costs, the dimensions of the ultrasound machine were designed according to the 50th percentile of users. The probe transducers were moved to the back of the device. This relocation made process management easier while giving the machine a tidier appearance. While Zino’s aesthetic design stands out from other examples on the market, it follows the principle of form follows function. Different viewing angles for the monitor are possible thanks to its arm mechanism, a feature that resulted from the efforts of the mechanical design team.

Achieving dimensions appropriate to the product’s location and usage scenario, full compliance with medical equipment design standards, a new and innovative form, alignment between form and function, proper proportioning of components in terms of assembly and disassembly scenarios, and reduction of manufacturing costs were among the challenges of this project.

Considering these challenges and the capabilities of the design team, a distinctive product was developed.

Among the notable features of the proposed design are changes in the layout of components and access points, a new form that distinguishes it from existing products on the market, ease of component maintenance considering the assembly and disassembly process, a body reinforced with a metal structure to increase strength and durability, and the alignment between the form of components and their functions.

Final Remarks

Product designers need to consider every detail: the ways people correctly or incorrectly use products, the products that fail, the errors that arise during the design process, and the intended ways in which people should use the product. Many new designs fail, and many never even reach the market. Some designs eventually become obsolete.

The product design process can be very long and exhausting, and the designer may have to make multiple attempts to achieve the desired outcome. Many new ideas fail. All products are, in some way, tied to the economic realities of production.

Creativity is also one of the key factors in product design. The use of new technologies can be highly influential as a competitive advantage. Furthermore, incorporating new technologies will always require new design approaches as well.

Today, products and product design are involved in almost every aspect of human life and encompass many fields, including packaging design, service design, home appliance design, and more. Product designers apply various design processes throughout their projects in an effort to create products that match customers’ preferences in terms of function and form, while also being compatible with available manufacturing capabilities and common production methods such as plastic injection molding, machining, sheet metal forming, vacuum forming, and others.

Throughout this article, we have attempted to address the concept of product design, design processes, and the various fields of product design as much as possible. However, this field continues to evolve and expand, and its definitions and processes are constantly changing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Product Design

In this section, answers to frequently asked questions about product design are provided. If you did not find the answer to your question, please write to us in the comments section.

What is the difference between industrial design and product design?

There is significant overlap between industrial design and product design; however, product design encompasses everything related to a physical product. In other words, it is a collection of strategic and tactical activities—from the initial idea to commercialization—performed to create a product. In contrast, industrial design is defined as the art or process of designing manufactured products, which leads to the mass production of identical items, ranging from cars to clothing. Of course, in recent years, product design has become a relatively broad term that also includes items such as software and non-physical products.

What are the stages of the overall product design process?

There are various processes depending on the design subject, and the designer selects one based on the project requirements. However, the following stages are common in almost all product design processes:

– Definition and Research

– Ideation

– Idea Development

– Prototyping

– Evaluation

How can a product design be evaluated?

There are various methods for evaluating a design that help ensure the reliability of both the design process and its outcome. Each method is chosen based on the product domain; among the most important are user interviews, customer feedback, questionnaires, and the use of social media.

What are the important aspects of a product in design?

The noun term “product design” is often used as a polysemous word. The value of product design is divided into three elements: aesthetics, function, and symbolism.

What is the product design standard?

Every product that enters the market must comply with relevant standards. The standards for each product differ across fields such as medical equipment, urban furniture, automobiles, packaging, and others, and they are determined by the respective regulatory organizations.

What does product function mean?

The term “function” in product design refers to the primary purpose of a product. For example, the main function of a telephone is to send and receive voice messages across geographically dispersed locations. Successful products must work well, and the sense of quality they convey to the user makes owning and using them enjoyable. The perfect alignment of a product’s form with its function, user characteristics, and place of use ensures the best possible performance for the product. The design and testing time can take months and, naturally, be costly; however, the result can be extraordinary.

What Is Product Design and What Is It Used For? A Comprehensive Guide