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Our In-House Product Development Expertise

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.

1. Product Design Strategy

Designer pointing at a design on a whiteboard screen while a colleague looks on

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.

2. Industrial Design

Marker sketches of fitness wristband concepts on a desk

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.

3. Mechanical Engineering

Designer working at a keyboard with a CAD model on the monitor

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.

4. Electronics Engineering

FEA stress plot, transparent device render and a black electronics enclosure

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.

5. Embedded Software Design

Circuit boards in a black fixture lit by blue light

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.

6. Prototypes, Evaluation and Testing

Exploded wearable heart-rate monitor render beside its app's heart rate zones screen

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.

7. Parts Supply and Sourcing Strategy

Cargo plane flying over stacked shipping containers and a truck

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.

8. Transfer to Manufacturing Support

Numbered exploded view of the Levy electric scooter deck, stem and battery

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.

Design 1st helped us deliver an exceptional product to market

Infographic: SkyX aerial system specs, 100 km range, 1.5-hour endurance, cellular and SATCOM links

“We didn’t look at this shipping container project as ‘one and done.’ We wanted a product that could be replicated for scale and the Design 1st team has enabled us to do just. Their team’s forward-thinking approach complemented ours and this partnership resulted in a customized container that protects, charges and transports our aerial vehicles virtually anywhere around the world.”

Didi Horn
Founder & CEO, SkyX

From Napkin Sketch to Manufacture-Ready Product: Successful the First Time

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