150: Building Product Prototypes with Your Design Team

With Robert Irwin, Lead Industrial Designer

Hosted by Kevin Mako of MAKO Design + Invent

Robert Irwin is the head industrial designer at Origyn LLC, a research and development firm partnered with Haier. Previously, he served as a Senior Industrial Designer at Amazon, working on shopping cart products. Robert is also a lecturer in the design field and will share insight on how inventors, startups, and small manufacturers can manage their product design and prototyping team, create physical prototypes, and refine their products for both manufacturing and customers.

Today you will hear us talk about:

• Incorporate empathy in the design process for all stakeholders.
• Listen to customers, the design team, and other product dev stakeholders.
• Avoid isolated features and aim for hardware prototype integration.
• Use an iterative approach for hardware design, engineering, and prototyping.
• Good prototyping starts with sound design.
• Begin with rough, simple prototypes (e.g., 3D printing) after the CAD design is complete.
• Get feedback even with an incomplete functional prototype.
• Progress from simple to complex, high-quality prototypes in development.
• Minimize product risk through proper development.
• Embrace early failure for better product outcomes.

EPISODE LINKS

Robert Irwin Links:

• LinkedIn
• Past Episode

The Product Startup Podcast Links:

• Website: https://www.ProductStartup.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ProductStartup/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ProductStartup/
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ProductStartup/
• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ProductStartup/
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/ProductStartup/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/ProductStartup
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent

Mako Design Links:

• Website: https://www.makodesign.com/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/MakoInvent
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/MakoInvent/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/MakoDesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MakoInvent/
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/MakoInvent/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/MakoInvent/

Kevin Mako Links:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Entrepreneurs/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/KevMako/
• Quora: https://www.quora.com/profile/Kevin-Mako
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevMakoPage/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/KevMako/

Thanks for tuning in! See you next time.