DESIGN
The Design Process
Identify the Need
Market needs can be identified in many ways, but must always be proven. Some of the methods used to prove there is a market, are surveys, previous market research, and the first EBE meeting where your peers are your market. Although knowing the market exists is essential, you must demonstrate that your product can fit into the market. This can be achieved through soft launches, pre-order campaigns, and beta testing. After the market is identified, it is crucial that you find your niche in the market. For most start-ups, it is difficult to compete with the big-name brands right off the bat so make sure that you can be the best in your niche before expanding to other areas of the market.
Understand the Problem
Understanding the problem is not only a useful entrepreneurial skill but also an important engineering and other business applications. When identifying your needs, these become hypotheses, and they need to be tested with your prototypes. Once your prototype is complete, start refining it into a minimum viable product (MVP). Start by developing a product with sufficient, and no more, features to satisfy the customer's need. This will take many iterations so be patient if it is not perfect the first time. When understanding the problem it is also important to communicate effectively with your team members to accomplish the same goal and make the best product.
Evaluate Designs
Before choosing a final design, you will have to look at all of the design options and weigh the pros and cons of each options. The most useful way to look at the options is to use a design matrix. The team will work together to determine the weight and ratings for each criteria for each design. The design matrix will then use these inputs to help the team decide which design is best.
Develop, Document, Test
Once a design is chosen, you will have to finalize the design in a CAD program such as SolidWorks or NX. While the design is being documented, the other members of the team must start the prototype fabrication. There are many different resources to help with prototyping on campus including the MakerSpace and TEAM Lab. You may have to find other resources outside of UW to help with prototyping so reach out to other students, faculty, or business professionals. Once the prototype is fabricated, determine what tests need to be run in order to prove your product achieves its full functionality. Next, run these tests and determine if changes need to be made to the design in order to have a fully functional product. Remember that this is an iterative process and you will not get it right the first time.
Additional Resources
BME Design Resources - http://bmedesign.engr.wisc.edu/course/resources/
UW BME Design Process - bmedesign.engr.wisc.edu/course/files/design_process/
Design Matrix Requirements - http://bmedesign.engr.wisc.edu/course/files/matrix/DesignMatrixRequirements.pdf