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End-to-End Product Development for Connected Devices

From initial concept to mass production, we bring your hardware vision to life.

  • Complete Expertise Under One Roof 35+ senior specialists in design, engineering, firmware, embedded software, and manufacturing.

  • 1000+ Successful Projects Since 1996 Award-winning team with products on shelves spanning medical, consumer, industrial, and AI/IoT connected devices.

  • Manufacturing Issues Caught Early Our integrated process identifies production challenges during design phase, saving time and budget later.

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meet design 1st See how we partner with innovators to build the future of connected devices.

Trusted to design, engineer and setup manufacturing for the world's most innovative brands.

  • Motorola
  • Shark
  • SomnoMed
  • Cloud9
  • We-Vibe
  • Ericsson
  • NASA
  • Liberty Pumps

A Deep Bench of Talent, All Under One Roof.

Our senior experts collaborate as one integrated team to de-risk your project and accelerate your path to market. We build for manufacturing from day one, ensuring a direct path to a commercially successful product.

1. Product Design Strategy

Research your category and lay solid project plans.

Our cost-effective up-front analysis and user value testing provides a clearer picture of your competition, price/cost options, patent strategy, customer valued features, market specific requirements, and more.

Armed with these insights, we can work with you to set your overall innovation strategy, confidently refine product feature priorities, set cost targets, identify the most promising creative and technical directions, and establish a solid project plan.

2. Industrial Design

Transform your vision into a useful engaging product.

Our lean process is a proven method for harnessing our creative and technical capabilities to turn ideas into simple to use products that deliver conspicuous customers value.

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.

3. Mechanical Engineering

Engineer products that perform on every level.

Your new product must exceed user expectations about performance, quality, and cost. It may also need to meet stringent regulatory requirements.

Our expert 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.

4. Electronics Engineering

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 deliver the whole market-ready product.

Our engineering team has proven methodologies, intimate knowledge of the latest standards and frameworks, and years of experience designing, testing, and certifying hardware, firmware, and software applications.

5. Embedded Firmware Design

Seamless integration of electronics into new products.

Embedded software plays a critical role in the optimal function of physical products. Our expert team of software and firmware developers works together to design compact software with a small memory footprint and low power requirements.

Using an interdisciplinary approach to integrating hardware and software into your product’s design delivers energy-efficient, highly reliable systems with built-in redundancy and fault tolerance.

6. Prototype and Test Engineering

Show and validate your design early, reduce your risk.

Prototypes are essential when developing physical products. With our in-house modeling and fabrication capabilities, and our established network of reliable prototype suppliers, we build thousands of models and prototypes each year for all kinds of physical products and demonstration units.

For low cost predictable development, we create virtual renderings, physical bench models and fully functional prototypes to evaluate and assess your products utility to customers prior to manufacturing.

7. Manufacturing Setup and Support

Quickly get your design into reliable production.

To design a great product, you must know the process. 70% of a product’s cost is locked-in during the early design stage, so we apply our extensive knowledge of manufacturing right at the start of your project.

We engage component suppliers and potential contract manufacturers early in the design or work closely with your in-house production team. This removes surprises during the new product introduction process to minimize the development cost and reduce time required to complete manufacturing set-up for full production.

Why Companies Choose Design 1st

We’re the trusted development partner for ambitious startups and established OEMs serious about bringing successful hardware to market.

Case Studies

Learn how companies, like yours, have gotten their product to market faster with Design1st

From Napkin Sketch to Manufacture-Ready Product, Designed Right the 1st Time

Design 1st integrates our knowledge and expertise with yours to bring your product idea to life