Electronic design and prototyping are just a part of the product development cycle, but this does not mean that they play the second fiddle. On the contrary, they can be the make or break of your final solution—determine whether users will love or hate it. In this article, we look into the paramount role of electronic design services. We invite you to read on!

Electronic Design and Prototyping for Product Development

Before we delve into the role electronic design services play in product development, we need to understand their place in the cycle. What steps of the cycle do they include?

  • Circuit design,
  • PCB development,
  • software integration,
  • design simulating,
  • prototyping,
  • testing.

Electronic design builds the cornerstone of your product, while the following steps only add the finishing touches. Yes, both are crucial but without a good electronic design, the accents won’t matter.

The Role of Electronic Design in the Product Development Cycle

We know what processes are included in the electronic design stage. But how do they impact the success of your product? Here’s an overview from our engineers.

Intuitiveness and User-Friendliness

Electronic design might seem technical, but it has a major impact on user experience. The way your electronics are built impacts where each interaction takes place. Simply sad, a bad design will have a button in a completely inconvenient place for the user, while a great design will make using the piece of electronics simple.

This step is crucial but not easy—the technical side still impacts the design. In the end, electronic design engineers have to find the golden mean and bring technical aspects together with user experience, to create a product that meets both demands.

Budget and Limitations

You have limited resources—a set budget, a deadline, or any other restriction. This determines the final outcome, but also your product’s success: if a demand for a certain one-time purchase product is now, it will be satisfied in a couple of months, and your product won’t bring as much profit as possible.

Electronics design and prototyping help you manage this aspect of your product development cycle. They give you the tools to:

  • test various designs quickly,
  • eliminate issues and launch the product faster,
  • spend as little physical resources as possible to reduce costs.

Ultimately, this stage determines whether you’ll follow your roadmap and hit all the crucial milestones on time.

In This Case, Should You Outsource?

Seeing the role of electronic design, you might be considering whether it’s worth outsourcing such services. To be frank, the answer depends on the circumstances.

Outsourcing electronic design has many benefits, from lower short-term costs, to better quality. Yet, communication issues may impact it negatively. What’s more, if you plan to manufacture and sell your products for the coming years, it might get expensive and you might struggle with lack of support (though this depends on the provider—at Conclusive Engineering, we provide ongoing support for our designs).

On the other hand, in-house development requires considerable investment and finding the right talents. It will also be more expensive for short-term projects, so the choice isn’t easy.

Conclusion

Electronic design and prototyping services play a crucial role in product development, as they shape the direction your product will follow. Therefore, you should invest in high-quality, expert engineering to ensure your product’s backbone is top-notch. Need help? Contact us at Conclusive—we can help you with any design step or carry out the whole process end-to-end!

You might also read: Emerging Trends in Electronic Design Services AI, IoT, and Beyond