The Mako Strategy Team on What Makes a “Bad” Design

At MAKO Design + Invent, we spend a lot of time with our clients passionately discussing their project and product needs. We receive a lot of different comments and questions daily about those who are curious and are in need of invention help in order to approach their product and designs in the best and most efficient way possible.

It’s understandable that when beginner inventors or innovators are starting their product design journeys, they look for what makes the “best” product designs, however, sometimes recognizing what makes a “bad” design can equally help you out just as much!

One of the biggest faults in looking towards what makes the “best” design is that you focus too much on following a certain checklist of what you think all the best designs must have in order to make a functional or successful product.

Knowing what will equally ruin or create a bad design is just as helpful for your product design because it allows you more freedom to experiment with different designs – with the knowledge that you know what to avoid or eliminate in order to maintain a good design.

Below is the best invention help advice from the MAKO Strategy team to avoid creating a bad design!

Focus on Your Product’s Main Function

It’s understandable that entering the world of invention, entrepreneurship, and the product design business can be extremely exciting. When thinking of different possibilities for your product, a lot of inventors want to create the most innovative and “life-changing” inventions that will change the lives of consumers around the world.

One common mishap, however, is that a lot of inventors tend to bite off more than they can chew – that is, they want to create the ultimate product that includes every single function possible within one product.

Although it might seem like a great idea to create a multi-functional product, having too many functions in one product can actually take away from the main function of the product – which is what you want to overall focus on when designing a product. An important piece of invention help advice is to recognize the cons of having too many functionalities in one product.

Too many functionalities can confuse your target audiences as they will have a harder time using the product, and overall, creating a product with multiple functions can make it harder to efficiently create the product. Sometimes certain functions require mechanical or electrical components that can get in the way of other functions and make it almost impossible to properly create.

The Best Invention Help Advice: Don’t Prioritize Design over Functionality

Getting invention help is definitely important when creating a product since it involves a lot of factors and perspectives to consider. Not only do you have to create something that has a function that will help or add something to people’s lives, but you also have to find a way to make people take an interest in your product.

A typical way of doing this is to create an aesthetically pleasing or interesting product that brings an audience to your product out of curiosity or novelty appeal. However, sometimes inventors can become so obsessed with the look or idea of their product that they neglect the more structural or mechanical aspects of their product.

Although it is important to create an appealing design, at the end of the day, your target audiences and consumers will be using your product for its functionality rather than just as a centrepiece in their homes. Ignoring the vital aspects needed to make your product work is a huge mistake and will actually create a bad design rather than a good one because you’re essentially making a non-functional product that won’t work!

It’s important to find a balance between creating a product that works and an aesthetically appealing product – focus on function first, then aesthetics!

The Big Picture is More Important Than the Details

Down the line of creating your product, you might want to consider aspects pertaining to your future business ventures. It’s obvious that a new product would entail the start of a great and exciting journey as both an entrepreneur and small business owner, meaning a lot of factors and steps have to be taken in place in order to be prepared for the debut of your product.

Sometimes inventors will focus more on the branding and marketing of their product even before the production of their product! It’s great to prepare for the debut of your product, however, small details such as branding or including the logo onto your product should be added at the end after your product’s overall design has been finalized and made.

An important piece of invention help is to make sure that you are not focusing too much on the small details of your product, such as the logo, colours, branding, and packaging. By doing this, you make the design process of your product harder and more complex than it needs to be.

It’s important to be patient, wait for your product to be built in steps, and create the necessary prototypes for your product before requesting certain features such as logos and branding to be incorporated into your design, or else you’ll end up with a non-functional, faulty, or rushed design that may not even work!

Choosing the Right Material for Your Invention

Finally, a small yet important sign of a bad design is choosing the wrong materials to make your product. Material plays a huge part in the design process of your product and can affect the whole product development process and results of your product. Not only can materially affect how your product performs but also how it will feel in the hands of your consumer.

It’s important to do the right research about which materials will allow for the maximum amount of functionality in your product in order for it to work properly. You can get all the right invention help that you’ll need just through proper research or having a great resource, such as the MAKO blog, to help guide you and make the right decision in your product design.

A great way to see which materials work the best for your product’s function is to create multiple prototypes of your product to test out the product for yourself and get others to try it out for themselves to see what the overall feel of the product is like with different materials.

It’s important to not focus on the cost of the materials but more on which materials work best for your product regardless of the cost – any money spent on creating a functional and effective product will come to you from the profits of your great product design!

If you have a great invention idea and you’d like to learn more about this process, get in touch with MAKO today, and we can set you up on a call with our product analyst!

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!