Product Development Specialists
One of North America’s Largest, Award-Winning Product Design Firms
- Our team of 35 professionals design product for the real world, integrating the latest in sensor tech, power and wireless connectivity.
- Experienced: 25+ years designing, developing and engineering 'manufacture-ready' products for clients in many markets.
- Proven: innovators come to us for technically-challenging product designs. We have transformed 1000+ ideas into working products, and we help coordinate the manufacturing setup stage.
- Cost Effective: We apply our expertise to your design, de-risking, prototyping and optimizing manufacturing costs so your product is designed to meet requirements – the first time.
Trusted to Design, Develop, and Engineer Manufacture-Ready Products by the World’s Most Innovative Brands
4.8
Why Companies Choose Design 1st
Richard Mineo
CEO, Swabbot Solutions LLC
Design 1st Exceeds Expectations in Responsiveness
Design 1st took our Cobot from initial concept through final product testing, handling electrical, mechanical, software, and manufacturing needs all in one team. They efficiently developed our tank access system, finalized our swabbing robot, and created a benchtop version, keeping us updated and responding quickly to every change request.
George Tsintzouras
Director of Product, Christie Digital
Immediately understood what was needed
When we wanted to transition our older generation projector models to a more modern look and feel, Design 1st was a valuable asset. Given the depth of their design and engineering experience, Design 1st immediately understood what was needed. They worked with our internal engineering team through the process to provide us with compatible solutions to meet our needs.
Stephen Rayment
VP Engineering, Ericsson
Our trusted engineering partner for six years
Design 1st has been our trusted industrial design and mechanical engineering partner for over six years and they have proven themselves to be valuable, competent and committed to our success. They add value because they understand the tradeoffs between user value and cost, the need to balance both the business and product objectives, along with excellent knowledge of materials and manufacturing / tooling options.
Mike Tettenborn
VP Engineering, Caframo
Right balance of art and engineering
We selected Design 1st because their designers and engineers demonstrated the right creativity and technical understanding. With their CAD and modelling tools they were able to address the numerous design challenges encountered with this type of product. The end result was an easy-to-install, powerful marine hatch fan – unlike any on the market.
Kurt Francis
Co-Founder, CTO, Molecule
Deepest bench of technical talent
I did a lot of due diligence on product development companies and Design 1st had the deepest bench for technical capability. They worked on such a broad range of products with successful commercialization. Design 1st’s early efforts in prototype development helped us move from a powder substrate into a commercial product for testing.
John Lupton
Director of Engineering, GeoSight
Got up and running fast
The whole design was my idea and I had patents on them. The team’s main work was to solve the functionality issue of a piece of my design. On top of that, they helped identify one of our manufacturers.
Didi Horn
CTO, SkyX
Exceeded Our Expectations
The Design 1st team exceeded our expectations and helped us deliver an exceptional product to the market. As a startup, we were working within a budget but expected the highest quality product. Design 1st identified the risks up front, had the vast network of partners to find the right components, and customized it to meet our unique needs.
End-to-End Product Development Services
Our skilled team works collaboratively across eight specialized areas of expertise. From start to finish, we find the right solutions to transform your initial idea into a reliable and useful product.
Research your category and lay solid project plans. Our cost-effective up-front analysis and user value testing provide a clearer picture of your competition, price/cost options, patent strategy, customer-valued features, market specific requirements, and more.
Transform your vision into a useful engaging product.
Whether in the same room or collaborating from a distance with our state-of-the-art conferencing tools, we work closely with you and your team to brainstorm, develop concepts, and iteratively refine these ideas into a business-oriented product solution.
Engineer products that perform on every level.
Our engineering team has the analysis tools and technical expertise to help you reduce risk and solve tough problems. Tricky assembly; sophisticated materials selection; novel manufacturing processes; complex stress, thermal, or vibration concerns – whatever your technical hurdles, we can help.
Add intelligence and connectivity to your product.
From industrial instruments and medical devices to Internet-connected consumer products and everything between, we have the electronics design experience to reliably navigate power, high speed circuitry, battery power and radios to deliver our piece of the market-ready product.
Seamless integration of electronics into new products.
Embedded software plays a critical role with custom code to integrate all functions of a new product. Our expert team of software developers works with the development team to design and code compact efficient software with a small memory footprint and low power requirements.
Show and validate your design early to reduce your risk. Prototypes are essential when developing physical products. With our in-house prototype shop and established network of reliable suppliers, we build thousands of prototypes yearly, including demonstration units.
Finding unique and critical parts and a reliable supplier is challenging. Ensuring quality during volume production is critical to your product’s success. Obtaining low defect rates for dozens of critical components is challenging. We help you find, assess and specify requirements for key and critical challenging parts in a new product design.
Transfer to Manufacturing . We leverage our manufacturing supplier network and find suppliers for challenging new parts required, integrating supplier selection and manufacturing realities into the early stage development process.
Is your product development project stuck?
Design 1st integrates our knowledge and expertise with yours to bring your product idea to life
Portfolio of Product Design Projects
Across every industry, our team excels at developing technically complex projects.
lūp – Magnetic USB Cable
General Fuel Cell
Swabbot
Lumenera Case Study
Molecule – Industrial Dehumidification
ARC Case Study
SkyX – Drone Recharging Station
Ridemaster – Motorcycle Communication
Heatstone – Outdoor Radiant Heating
Zumio – Clitoral Stimulator
vSculpt – Pelvic Floor Toning
TravelWay – Lunch Box Container
A Product Design Company With the Experience You Need
1,000+
Products Developed
25+
Years in Business
75+
Design Awards
What Kind of Product Development Help Do You Need?
COMPANIES
With a Development Team
COMPANIES OR STARTUPS
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ENTREPRENEUR
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Awards & Certifications
Design1st projects have received 75+ awards and we hold 1000+ patents.
Case Studies
Learn how companies, like yours, have gotten their product to market faster with Design1st
Helpful Product Design Resources
The top 5 Manufacturing Reasons Hardware Companies Fail
By understanding each of these major reasons that hardware companies fail, you can avoid the common pitfalls and drive your product towards success
After six years of intensive research and development to prove-out its emerging technology the next challenge was how to move from an in-field working prototype to production-ready manufacturable product.
The 6 Types of Prototypes Every New Product Must Do
Prototyping helps remove design risks and leads to successful product outcomes. Here are the 6 types of prototypes every successful physical product does.