Developing a product 'from concept to customer' is a constantly evolving flow of both functional and visual aspects that must be within the capabilities of current manufacturing methods. Even as the initial interaction concepts are generated, rough ideas for how to manufacture those concepts are also considered. Products such as consumer electronics require the resolution of many interrelated details, all of which a designer must have some knowledge of in order to maintain the integrity of the design concept. Understanding electromechanical components, structural features, materials and their processes, regulations and assembly procedures is understanding the complete development process, and controlling it successfully.

It is typically the designer who becomes responsible for maintaining the design intent because it is the designer who holds the vision of the concept. This vision is having the complete understanding of what experiences the user is seeking to have with the product, by being the one who researched and created the product concept. The designer then is a unique member of the development team that is able to affect all aspects of development. They can only do this however, if they understand how all the aspects relate to each other, and are able to communicate well with the people responsible for those aspects.

The variety of people involved in a product's development shows how a product is a combination of interdependent elements. These elements must all come together at a specific point in time to produce the final product, which means that all these elements must be developed simultaneously and with respect to each other. After an initial concept has been chosen, a designer contributes primarily to four areas of the development: refining the exterior visual form and graphics, resolving ergonomic issues, exploring specific internal structural and functional electromechanical layouts, and suggesting methods of manufacture.

This introduces a common debate of which area to begin designing first: form or function? Although we are likely all familiar with the 'form follows function' theory, this seems describe the final solution more than the development process itself. Relative to the process then, one might say that 'form flows with function' to acknowledge the process as a fluid one, where the two areas are concurrently mixing and splashing around one another. Most experienced professionals can tell plenty of stories about engineering changes being spilled upon them at the last minute before final production begins, and how to effectively deal with them. How effectively one reacts to these situations determines how well design intent is maintained, which then also determines the success of an individual as a designer.

Although visual and functional aspects proceed in parallel, it is commonly the functional ones that do begin the exchange. It begins at the concept ideation stage, where the most realistic ideas likely show how the product’s functional components relate to its form and interaction. Also included, there might be manufacturing suggestions for exterior materials and production assembly. For those concepts that then move forward in their refinement, these factors become more detailed by defining specific structural and electromechanical components. These elements occupy physical space, and often more than desired, so they can then become the most defining factor of a product’s visual design.

The extent to which these elements actually end up defining the visual design is generally dependent upon the particular requirements of the product, both in size and complexity (as the two are usually directly proportional to each other). This range can extend, for example, from the nearly infinite visual possibilities of a dinner plate with no moving parts ... to the highly structure dominated appearance of a 50 square meter sheet line plastic extrusion machine. The extent also must take into account the stage at which a designer enters the development process. The earlier a designer enters the process, the more flexibility they have in influencing the component layout in order to have the visual and ergonomic aspects drive the overall design. Unfortunately for some projects however, industrial design is not yet understood and respected by many manufacturers, so a designer is brought in late in the project to ’just do a skin job’ of an already solidified electromechanical assembly.

For a majority of products in the middle of the range though, like consumer electronics, the designer is able to control the development of the form beginning with the interior aspects, and move towards the exterior ones. Given dimensional estimates of known components and structural requirements, one is allowed to explore and propose a variety of volumetric and proportional solutions. In arranging these initial studies, there are several aspects to consider: internal structural integrity, how the components will be assembled and possibly disassembled for shipping, remanufacture or recycling, clearances for printed circuit board connections and moving mechanisms, allowing for service access, cable exit directions, ergonomic location of interaction components, ease of assembly by the consumer if required, electromagnetic shielding regulations, weight distribution of transformer locations, visual proportions, minimizing the product footprint, and air flow requirements for cooling ... to name a few.

Also within the topic of a product’s manufacture, and moving outward from the foundation volumetric aspects, is the subject of materials and processes that create the product’s exterior. This subject too, has its own ideation to it that began in the concept ideation stage, and later is investigated more thoroughly. As with component layouts, there are many requirements to consider. For material choices, these include: availability and cost, structural and surface durability, recyclability, ecological impact, thermal properties, internal noise reduction, liquid chemical resistance and absorption, fire resistance, elasticity, safety, weight limitations, color and clarity options, textural quality, potential degassing odor of composite resins, taste, shrinkage and warpage rates ... again, to name a few.

Inseparable from the material choice is the choice of how to then process that material. Wood, fabric, ceramics, plastic, metal, and composite materials all have a variety of forming and fabrication techniques available. Processing methods fall into three basic categories: material removal and separation (cutting), material transforming (thermal or chemical induced) and material fastening (adhesive and mechanical).

1.    Material removal and separation ... All saw blade motions, manual and CNC milling machines, lathes, drilling, laser cutting, plasma cutting, abrasive water jet cutting, electro discharge machining ( EDM ), scissors, shears, punch press, wood planers, joiners and shapers, chiseling, peeling, burning, hot wire cutting, sanding, sand blasting, chemical etching, etc.

2.    Material transforming ... Injection molding, vacuum forming, heat strip bending, slump or drape forming, blow molding, all forms of extrusion, rotational molding, all casting methods, thermoset resins and resin based composites, all open and closed cell foams, brake bending, metal spinning, metal rolling, hydraulic bladder forming, matched dye and progressive matched dye press, arc and gas welding, solvent bonding, sonic welding, etc.

3.    Material fastening ... Screws, bolts, nails, wood joints, double sided tape, all glues, Velcro hook and loop, buttons, all ties, stitching and banding, non inherent hinges, latches, snap or interference fits, friction fits, rivets, buckles, applied graphics, paints and coatings, anodizing, galvanizing, plating, etc.

How a material is processed can greatly affect the outcome of the final product. Large aluminum sheets, for example, are frequently cut by laser, plasma or abrasive water jet cutting, but because the first two methods rely on melting the material, there is often a rough edge remaining. Abrasive water jet cutting though, leaves smoother edges for the same cost, and while slower to cut, may require less labor time in post processing.

Knowledge of details like this can be the difference between having a concept come to reality, or die on the budget table. A designer must understand the complete development process, to integrate a concept’s form with its function through knowledge of its manufacture. The pace of technologies in all areas is continually increasing the possibilities for the forms that the products may have. This is why we now see explorations into ‘wearable’ electronic products, those products literally ‘woven into the fabric’ of our lives. Designers must continually educate themselves at the same pace as technology. They may soon need to understand anatomy, genetics, and biomechanics in order to design products that are literally ‘inside’ our lives.