All posts tagged: design

People and organisations have backgrounds in many fields, and being an expert in one of those will likely generate the seed of an idea – which can be developed into what may be a commercially-successful product. However being an expert in one particular field does not make them the master of all.

This is very true when the decision to develop a product is made. With the advent of crowdfunding, accessible design tools, one-off machine shops and laser-cutting houses, inexpensive PCB production and the wealth of “experience” published on the Internet – almost anyone can be easily convinced that they too can bring an idea from concept to delivered product.

However this form of readily-accessible tools and knowledge doesn’t immediately allow an individual or organisation become competent overnight, just like reading a book on eye surgery doesn’t turn you into an optometrist. Thus when considering turning your ideas into a product – are you equipped for the challenges of product development?

Let’s examine the major stages of the design process and consider just a few points with regards to what is necessary.

Conceptual Development
This involves many tasks including product and market research, developing final product specifications, prototype creation and more. If designing your first product, do you have the discipline to finalise the specifications and avoid feature creep? Is your design cost-effective? Without a wide knowledge of parts and suppliers you could miss out on finding a single component or module that could replace a whole sub-section of your design.

The Design Process
This involves multiple iterations of your product, both hardware (and software if it uses embedded technology). This could involve large initial capital outlay to bring in the required development tools for hardware and software, test equipment and more. Choosing the appropriate tools alone can be a nightmare, and leave you at the mercy of vendors or fast-talking sales people. Finally the time required to design, test, incorporate feedback and redesign can be more than you expect, as each iteration is a learning process in itself. The more time you spend, the more time you’re giving your competition to succeed.

Testing, Verification and Certification
Your new product must meet a variety of compliance standards for mains power use, RF emissions, accuracy, perhaps environmental factors such as withstanding levels of vibration and temperatures, and more. This will require incredibly specialised testing equipment and the services of an external laboratory. Furthermore you may need multiple examples of the product at this stage for external user testing and feedback, again requiring short-run manufacturing expertise that doesn’t stretch the budget.

Pre-production Manufacture
If you’re working on your first product, this stage will seem like a complete nightmare. After finding a manufacturer you can trust, and setting up your component supply chain, developing tooling and test jigs for the assembly line (with most of this likely to be in the Far East) you may be running out of time, budget or nerves as you deal with suppliers, manufacturers and designers in more than one language and time-zone.

Manufacturing
Although an extreme amount of work and effort brings your organisation to this stage – manufacturing is not a hands-free effort. It requires quality control, supply-chain and product delivery management; and after some product examples have been released the opportunity to make small changes to the product based on customer feedback. This may require revisiting the previous stage of the design process and the efforts within. For higher-volume production you may need to keep staff on-site with the contracted factory to oversee manufacturing and ensure the design has not been altered to find relevant cost-savings for the manufacturer that could affect the outcome of your design.

Ongoing Support
After experiencing the processes to this point, you’ve reached a somewhat simpler part of your product’s development cycle. By now you’re an expert in your product, how it works, operates and can be used to it’s maximum. However you can’t rest on your laurels, as constant customer feedback and market forces will require you to update the product when necessary.

So why do all that yourself? You could invest in the physical and human resources required to bring your first idea to life – at a great initial expense, and hope for the best. Or you could instead take your design to a team of experts in the product design and manufacturing business – who can understand your product idea and turn it into a finished product on time and on budget.

Here at the LX Group we can take your design ideas and produce the required customised solution for your team, or even follow through to final completion, including documentation, standards compliance and revisions.

To move forward with your design requirements on time and on budget, simply contact us for a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

LX is an award-winning electronics design company based in Sydney, Australia. LX services include full turnkey design, electronics, hardware, software and firmware design. LX specialises in embedded systems and wireless technologies design. https://lx-group.com.au

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

As the pace of product design and development always seems to be increasing due to market forces and technological innovation, the one factor that can often affect the speed is the budget available for research and design. More engineers are being tasked to achieve more with less, and although that may be possible with hardware, the financial cost of doing so may not be possible.

Due to these time, financial and other pressures there is one method that has become increasingly popular – the use of manufacturers’ development boards, open-source hobbyist platforms and similar products in the design stage. This is perfectly acceptable and often an inexpensive way to test unfamiliar microcontrollers in an inexpensive manner – some boards can be acquired for less than ten dollars, less than the cost of the MCU itself.

However in doing so, the design team can quite easily fall into a trap – and one that can be very difficult and expensive to extract the organisation out of. This is using the actual development board in the final, manufactured product design. However like many things in life, it may have “seemed like a great idea at the time” – but there are several potent reasons why this is a bad idea. Let’s run through them now.

Volume – can you get the required number of development boards for manufacturing? When a new microcontroller is released, it may be followed with a few thousand inexpensive boards – that can vanish from retail channels six months later, never to be seen again. If your product becomes popular you will need to redesign to allow for a new microcontroller board.

Reliability – it’s all very well to bolt in a development board and have the assembly team either insert interface wires or solder into the connectors, however this adds another layer of complexity and another area that will not be resistant to vibration, harshness or corrosion. Furthermore you will need to keep stock of replacement boards for servicing – for the lifetime of the product. And as mentioned earlier, boards may not be available over the long term. So you need to stock up in advance, which is a calculated gamble of your operating capital.

Intellectual Property – naturally you can incorporate a microcontroller into your design and own the IP over that design. However if you incorporate the manufacturers’ development board, the copyright over the total product design and thus your intellectual property rights can be weakened or removed by the terms and conditions of the development board use. Furthermore, by using the development board in final designs, it is easier for your competitors to analyse the design in terms of build cost and general design.

Is it Open Source? – some development boards are released under a variety of licenses such as Creative Commons or full Open Source hardware-software. By using these products you are then morally required to release your product built on this hardware using the same (or more open) licensing as the original development platform. In the hobby or kit market this may seem like a good idea, but not for commercial products. Releasing designs for your product just helps the competition.

Reputation – What would your customers think of your design if they realised it was based around a development board? It looks cheap, shoddy, and can often prompt people to think that “if it’s that easy, we could do it ourselves!” – even though you realise it is not. Furthermore this could create difficulty with the development board manufacturer and weaken the relationship – as the purpose of development boards is to allow inexpensive prototyping and encourage the purchase of their products at a commercial rate.

Thus there are many reasons not to cut corners and use these development boards in your design. However this will not solve the problem of getting your design to market on budget and on time. In situations where time and money is critical, it can be much easier to outsource any or all stages of hardware design to manufacturing to an experienced, trustworthy partner with agreements on final deadlines and expenses – such as here at the LX Group.

We have large engineering team with a wide variety of experience in all stages of design for various markets – including the domestic, commercial, industrial and military arenas. We can take your design ideas and product the required customised solution for your team, or even follow through to final completion, including documentation, standards compliance and revisions.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

When designing new products or iterations of existing ones there can be what seems like an almost infinite number of factors to take into account. One of these will be the user-interface, and due to a rushed development cycle your team may not be aware of or pay little attention to one very important factor of the user-interface design – accessibility for users with disabilities. Just for a moment – examine an existing product. Then try to operate it with your eyes closed. Such an exercise is one example that quickly illustrates the needs of the disabled.

Although you may design a product for an existing target market, or even for internal use – there may come the day when an employee or customer with a disability will use your product. Thus to avoid embarrassment, difficulty for all those concerned – and possible legal action, consider the target market and/or user in more detail to ensure accessibility for all. There is a wide range of disability categories to be aware of, however we will examine the four main types that should be considered.

Visual Disability

Although designing a product for those with a visual disability may seem quite difficult, there are many ways to enhance a user-interface to allow use by such members of the community. With larger devices there should be room for Braille text adjacent to normal labels, or the spacing of controls that match pre-set sequences of operation for simpler devices. Digital audio devices are quite inexpensive and can be integrated with microcontroller designs to offer audio feedback by using pre-recorded audio files.

For those with partial sight the ability to change the size, colour or contrast of any visual output would also be a great help. Finally, a not insignificant amount of the population is colour-blind, and this needs to be taken into account. For example using two separate indicator LEDs instead of a single red/green indicator.

Auditory Disability

Designing for those with partial or full hearing-loss will require research into the type of data or output that is normally heard by a user, and converting this into visual or physical indications. For example machine operators can hear when something is happening (or not) – whereas the hearing-impaired user will not know. In consumer or public devices, the simple display as well as spoken announcements are required. Systems that can indicate all possible statuses, modes and options in a visual format will be favoured and appreciated by those with hearing difficulties.

Cognitive Disability

Some people have difficulty with short-term memory, spatial reasoning skills and comprehension of data and instructions. As design engineers you may be familiar with multi-level menu systems or obscure system commands, however such complexity cannot be tolerated by all. By simplifying interfaces, reducing the number of menu options, using simpler wording on labels and displays, and requiring less comprehension by end users, can you meet the needs of this demographic of the population.

Motor Disability

Some users have difficulty with hand-eye coordination and muscle control. Therefore they may have difficulty with controls that require alignment, delicate turning, variations of pressure (such as a two-stage button similar to a camera exposure control) or buttons and switches that are just small. By using controls that require less thought and fine adjustment you can simplify the physical effort required to interact with the device an enhance accessibility for users with such afflictions.

Apart from the four categories listed above, there can users that fall into variations or combinations of disabilities. Although it can seem difficult to cater for every possible eventuality, research into end-users and customers will put your design team on the right path. It can also be useful to contact national associations or advocates for people with various disabilities for their advice – with a positive, mutual attitude they are always happy to help with interface design suggestions and improvements.

If your organisation is in the process of designing a new or updated product for use by the wider public, taking accessibility into account is vital. As part of our design process the engineers at the LX Group can work with your team and outside consultants to create the ideal interface for yoir product, and of course be your partner in any and all stages in the design and manufacturing process. No matter what stage of design your team has achieved, we can partner with you to share our design and manufacturing expertise for your benefit.

To move forward with your prototype requirements, simply contact us for a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

Building prototypes of your product idea during the design process is naturally important and something that is a necessity for many reasons – including physical conceptualisation, demonstrations to possible financiers, proof of concept, usability testing in later stages, and project inspiration. However like all stages of the design process (as discussed last week) doing so requires a level of knowledge and expertise that not every organisation possess.

This is not a criticism, but should be taken as a positive observation. And like any skill – if you can’t do it properly yourself, find someone who can. Here at the LX Group we will take the time to understand your needs and ideas which can then be transformed into one or even a range of prototypes – setting you up for success. As part of this process a decision needs to be made with regards to the type of prototype required, so let’s examine them in more detail and the benefits of each.

Proof-of-concept prototypes

This is often a very basic example that will function in a similar manner to the final product – to prove that it is feasible and can be done. We say that the key purpose is to focus on, understand and address identified risk areas with the prototype. For example selecting an appropriate microcontroller to ensure processing speed and I/O requirements are adequate, or power consumption levels fall under a required maximum. During this level of prototyping it is important to remove design faults and technical risks otherwise the costs involved to make changes later on will be exponential compared to doing so now.

Demonstration prototypes

When you need to show someone what “it’s all about” – a demonstration prototype will be required. This is the model you shop around to potential investors and future customers, document or show during grant applications, and generally spruik to the outside world. Those of you in larger organisations may also require this to “sell” the concept to decision makers in the upper echelons of management. The prototype may not function as the final product, however it should appear to do so. For example the housing and cosmetic look will match the final product as much as possible, however embedded software may be very basic or “emulate” the required functions.

Research and Development prototype platforms

When you have the go-ahead to move forward with the project design, it’s time to get working on the design – which requires R&D prototypes. The algorithm development of the product can take place with these prototypes, and thus may not look like the finished product, but they will have the functionality and specified hardware to operate as one. Furthermore this type of prototype may be modified or altered during the research process to account for changes, updates and possible design changes.

Commercial Product Iterations

There are three iterations during this stage in the design process, including:

Alpha prototypes – these are the first revision of the design and generally meet all aspects of the product design. These will be used to test the design parameters, review the design and seek improvements, and seek internal suggestions and improvement ideas.
Beta prototypes – these will include any changes made during the alpha prototype stage, and be submitted for compliance testing, certification, stress testing and product trials. After the results of those operations more changes may be required to the design requirements and specifications.
Pre-production prototypes – these are manufactured during short runs and ideal for verifying the manufacturing process, component suppliers, determining production yields, product testing, and the supply chain. For more popular products security at all stages of the supply and manufacturing chain is vital to remove the possibility of information leaks, industrial espionage and intellectual-property theft. You don’t want fuzzy photos of your next great thing plastered over Internet pundit websites.

Where to from here?

Your project budget and prototype requirements will determine the method of creation and time required to do so. For many designs the speed of prototyping can be increased dramatically, in conjunction with reducing the budget requirement by using a mixture of standard components, development kits, a mixture of reference and custom designs and pre-designed hardware libraries. By not “reinventing the wheel” wherever necessary time and money can be saved without too much effort, leaving resources available for R&D or custom sections of the design.

So if you have an idea for a prototype and not sure about how to move forward and would like to have an experienced organisation take care of everything – we can “make it happen”. At the LX Group we have our own hardware compiler – a proven system of product design that will save you precious time and money. No matter what stage of design your team has achieved, we can partner with you to share our design and manufacturing expertise for your benefit.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

For the inexperienced organisation or individual, the journey that is product design may appear to be either a simple task or something so complex that they suffer from the paradox of choice and the product fails to move forward from an idea to reality. Nothing could be further from the truth, and in both of these cases that is a shame, as with some thought, planning and the right partners – product design is achievable and your ideas can become products.

The old adage “proper planning prevents poor performance” is still true and certainly applies to product design. At LX we have our own six-stage planning process that has yielded in success for all of our clients. Let’s examine these stages in more detail.

Conceptual Development

This stage involves several areas, including intended market research, deciding on product specifications, basic prototyping and setting up the team to work together. The more information you can gather about the intended market for your final product, in conjunction with an understanding of the technology available – the better the final results. This step is crucial – you can’t go back in time to change features based on initial research – and redesigning from scratch will destroy your budget.

Design

After conceptual development the initial versions of the product can be constructed. This will involve several versions, and testing by the internal team. If the product requires embedded software many iterations may be necessary to meet the design requirements. Furthermore any industrial design for such things as enclosures or mounts will also need to take place in conjunction with the final physical design of the product.

Finally, during this stage you will be preparing for commercialisation assistance, and possibly external financing. Having some working beta version prototypes and marketing data created during the first two stages will assist in this.

However this is also an exciting stage, as you can see the birth of your product and understand the reality of it. As part of electronic product design you should consider the LX Hardware Compiler – a system designed to save money and an incredible amount of development time.

Testing, Verification and Certification

During this stage you have the opportunity to test the product, not only for operation but also to comply with any relevant compliance standards and gain required certification for the target markets. Failure at this stage may render the product unsaleable in some markets and possibly lead to product recall or legal action. Furthermore all levels of hardware and software must be verified as working to specification otherwise the project will incur expensive re-designing and tooling costs. You will also need to finalise planning for moving from the laboratory to manufacturing, your organise the production team, suppliers and manufacturer.

Pre-production Manufacture

Here you will design the process for manufacturing, working with the manufacturer to prepare the production line, such things as test jigs, organise the required parts from the supply chain, run a small batch of pre-production items to test the factory processes and quality control – and generally be satisfied the product is ready for manufacture. Furthermore when dealing with offshore manufacturers it is important to confirm with them that the processes, procedures and suppliers decided upon after pre-production will be adhered to for the full production run. Finding a production partner you can trust can be a journey in itself, especially for those without any contacts or past partners in the industry.

Manufacture

Finally you can start manufacturing the product at full speed. However you can’t stand back and watch, a constant vigilance needs to be maintained with regards to quality control, meeting customer orders, logistics and also the quality of secondary items such as packaging, documentation and customer support vehicles needs to be taken into account.

Ongoing support

Even after selling thousands or more of your product, there will be times when software needs to be upgraded, new compliance standards introduced that will require a slight redesign, and new information from your marketing team that may required possible upgrades or changes to the final product. All these and more can and will require changes that require revisting the previous steps of the design process, and cannot be ignored otherwise the success of your product and reputation will be at stake.

When working through all the stages listed above, and more things that you may not even have considered, it will pay you to consult an organisation that has brought a wide variety of products to life in all fields of operation. And here at the LX Group we can be your partner and guide through the entire process – from an idea to the delivered product.

Bringing the right product to market at the right time and on budget can be done, and by not selecting the right parter you leave your organisation open to budget problems, production delays, quality issues and any manner of related problems.

So if you have an idea or prototype and not sure about how to move forward with your planning, inexperienced with product commercialisation and manufacturing – or would like to have an experienced organisation take care of everything – we can “make it happen”.

Simply contact us for a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

When fighting a warehouse fire in extraordinary temperatures, you don’t want to worry about the two-way radio breaking down. If a police car is broadsided during a high-speed chase, the on-board computer can’t be torn free to become a dangerous projectile. When staking out a remote location in the desert or on or drilling for oil in the North Sea, electronic equipment needs to withstand the extreme weather.

When designing projects for extreme environments such as the previous examples, you need rugged electronic designs. To make sure your clients and end users in the field have technology they can rely on, a number of organisations have developed stringent industry testing standards and procedures. This has an impact on product design as engineers are required to know, design and test their equipment to comply with set standards. The desired end here is for the products to survive “Torture Tests” and gain compliance certificates.

Ruggedisation is defined as “designed or improved to be hard-wearing or shock-resistant. There are four categories of rugged electronic equipment; commercial-grade; durable; semi-rugged and fully rugged. Today’s most widely used ruggedness standards include those from four highly respected sources: the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC) which publishes the European IP (Ingress Protection) standards for electrical equipment, and the United States military.

Most standards provide exceptionally detailed instructions and procedures for product testing. Major tests normally performed include:

Water Intrusion: When water or rain penetrates a device, they can cause short circuits and corrosion. Many manufacturers test their rugged products against both MIL-STD-810F and IP54, IP64, IP66 water and rain intrusion standards. Testing for rain intrusion is normally done in a rain chamber that drenches products with jets of water of varying intensities from all possible angles, as well as for dripping water for different periods of time. Fully rugged models are also tested with full immersion, to IP68 and MIL-STD-810F, Method 512.4.

Salt and Fog: In coastal and marine environments, salt and fog can cause electronic equipment to short circuit or rust, affecting performance both short and long-term. Engineers normally test to the MIL-STD-810F Method 509.3 standard using the specified five percent saline solutions.

Humidity: Conditions of extreme humidity can cause electronic devices to corrode and malfunction over time. Typical tests are to MIL-STD-810F Method 507.3 specifications, which specify 95 percent relative humidity and worst-case scenario high temperatures up to 75°C.

Dust Intrusion: Dust and sand intrusion in deserts, shorelines, mines, construction sites, or other environments can cause movable parts like buttons and keypads to clog and malfunction. Often manufacturers test to both MIL-STD-810F, Method 510.3 for sand and dust testing and IP standards for blowing dust.

Drop Testing: In the field, it’s common for handheld devices to be knocked over or dropped. Manufacturers test to MIL-STD-810F Method 516.5 with around 90- to 120 cm free-fall drops to concrete, and also with tip-over tests. The equipment is expected to remain fully operational after multiple drops.

High and Low Temperatures: Manufacturers test their technology under operating conditions of minus 35°C (MIL-STD-810F Method 502.3) and plus 60°C (MIL-STD-810F 501.3). In addition, equipment is often stored under extreme temperature conditions, and is expected to work to specification when put into service. Many manufacturers tests equipment storage in extreme low temperatures down to minus 57°C (also MIL-STD-810F Method 502.3) and high temperatures up to 85°C (also MIL-STD-810F 501.3).

Temperature Shock: Equipment is often transported by aeroplane, or used outdoors and brought inside, meaning it can be under extreme cold for long periods of time, then deposited or stored in extreme heat. Equipment is tested under these precipitous temperature fluctuations to MILSTD- 810F Method 503, testing equipment that has gone from storage of minus 57°C to 80°C and vice versa.

Sun Exposure: Equipment that is installed in, or must work in, unrelenting sunshine is tested to MIL-STD-810F Method 505.4 standards for enclosure and performance damage from solar radiation. Tests normally last from three to seven days, and are conducted in a specially designed solar chamber.

Shock and Crash Testing: Mobile and vehicle mounted products are tested to make sure they are installed correctly by subjecting them to worst-case scenario accident impact tests. MILSTD- 810F Method 516.4 tests are exceptionally stringent. Equipment must continue to operate correctly under 75Gs, or 75 times the force of gravity. Drop tests of varying heights to a steel floor are also conducted. Equipment must stay intact, mounted and continue to be 100 percent functional.

Vibration: Vibration testing to MIL-STD-810F Method 514.5 measures how equipment reacts to different levels of vibration, which can cause wire chafing, intermittent electrical contacts, display misalignment and other issues. Tests are conducted in both standard vehicles such as cars and trucks and under the more severe vibrations caused by more vibration-prone vehicles such as motorcycles, tanks and others.

Low Pressure: High altitudes and dropping pressure, such as in aircraft or on mountains, can cause membranes in parts such as speakers, microphones and keypads, to malfunction. Manufacturers conduct low-pressure performance tests to MIL-STD-810F Method 500.3 that ensure 100 percent equipment functionality

To ensure that products go to market quickly and don’t suffer costly delays, engineers should include relevant testing consideration as part of the design process. By confirming assumptions of the product’s compliance—such as the market and classification of the area in which the equipment will be used (Class I, Division 1, Class I, Zone 0 etc.), determining the appropriate protection concept (intrinsic safety, flame-proof, etc.), and establishing the indicative environmental considerations (enclosure ratings, extended ambient temperature range and so on) product development will be smoother and not require reworking to meet aforementioned standards.

The recommendation is for engineers proceeding into research and development stages to keep the submission for final certification in mind. This could mean reaching out to consultants who will help you through your submission process and follow their advice and guidelines.

At the LX Group we can carry out product testing, verification and compliance certification. We also partner with a number of NATA-certified local and international partners to provide independent product compliance and environmental testing.

LX has a range of equipment to support environmental and certification testing including an environmental test chamber, EMC test equipment, ESD simulator (CE testing), and various electrical input simulation devices such as environmental testing, design verification and compliance testing.

Some common compliance standards include:

EMC emissions and immunity testing (including C- Tick, FCC and CE)
Electrical safety (mains certification)
UL certification
RoHS and WEEE compliance
Industry-specific standards (including medical and mining)
Ingress Protection (IP) rating
Packaging and labelling requirements

For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

So you have an idea – the “next big thing” in the technology or consumer electronics area. You may have developed it alone, or with a group of friends or colleagues. Over many sleepless nights and busy weekends it was developed into a working example. Or your small company worked on it non-stop. You overcame the design challenges, early bugs and faults. Now you’re at the stage where the prototypes are performing as required and you know it’s ready to convert into a product.

At this juncture the project may have hit the largest stopping point there could be – funding and commercialisation. More money is required to further development, however as an individual, small group or business there’s no way the bank will lend you the money. Furthermore with almost everyone “feeling the pinch” you don’t want to ask family or friends.

However there is a solution – “Crowdfunding”. Until recently crowdfunding was unheard of, but like most great ideas has spread like wildfire and is now a legitimate form of fund-raising for great projects. How it works is very simple – you describe your new product in as much detail as possible, showing the features and benefits just like any other sales tool.

However you then offer people the ability to pay in advance to either sponsor or back the product development and purchase the final product. You will set in advance a goal amount. Different monetary amounts are set, each with a ‘reward’ of the product and other extras – and the higher the amount, the greater the reward. At this point is is supremely important to accurately state the delivery date. People will wait if they know when to expect their product. These amounts are pledged, and not received unless the financial goal amount has been met at a set cut-off date.

If the total amounts pledged fall short of the goal amount, the project remains unfunded and you’re back to try again. However – if the goal is met – the backers funds’ are transferred to your organisation, less a fee by the crowdfunding facilitator. And this is when the next challenge arises – bringing the product to market.

For inspiration, two recent examples of crowdfunding success were developed locally here in Australia. The first of these is “Ninja Blocks”, a hardware and cloud-based solution to interface all sorts of objects interactively with the Internet. Their goal was $24000 however ended up receiving just over $100000. The product captured the imagination and enthusiasm of so many people the founders have had a second round of VC funding.

Another is a current project – the “LIFX Light Bulb”. It’s an RGB LED energy-efficient light bulb that can be controlled via wifi and therefore an Internet-connected device. Although the end date hasn’t been reached, and the goal is $100000 – they have already received over one million dollars in backing.

As you can see – with the right product, pricing and promotion – crowdfunding can be a raging success. However before moving forward and examining further development, who are these crowdfunding facilitators?

The largest and most popular is known as Kickstarter. Based in the United States, they have a huge range of products and projects being funded. If you need to reach a global audience, this would be the facilitator to consider. They collect the pledges via the Amazon payment system and capture a small percentage, around five to ten percent. But there is one drawback – projects must be based in the United States. However this can usually be worked around by having a representative in the US who can act on your behalf.

Another choice is Pozible, although not as large as Kickstarter they’re based locally which makes the process so much easier. However as a domestic facilitator you may not reach the global audience due to foreigner trust issues and being far from the majority of the target market.

Back to your project – let’s say you’ve successfully gained your funding. Where to next? You could be staring a huge bank balance, a prototype on your desk and have several thousand people waiting for their reward. Do you understand the processes of taking a design from prototype to actual manufacture? Perhaps it could be redesigned for a cheaper cost price – not only components but making it cheaper to make. And where will you have it made? Locally? You’ve heard about how cheap it is to offshore to East Asia – but who do you contact? Who can you trust? Do you feel confident sending your designs and a large payment offshore – hoping everything will work out? Or do you have the time, knowledge, language skills and savvy to research in country?

If the answer to even one of those questions is “no” – to ensure success you need a partner who understands your product, will take the time to work together with you from your initial contact right through to delivering the final products to your backers. That is where you can take advantage of our experience and success to bring your product to market.

LX has experience in successfully taking electronic products from concept through the commercialisation process. There are many factors to consider before commencing product development and LX can provide expert advice throughout the process, lowering your commercial risk.

Some of the services offered by LX include:

Development of business cases and business plans
Competitor research and analysis
Evaluation of proposed solutions
Intellectual Property (IP) landscaping
Market research and feasibility studies
Rapid market testing
Surveys and focus groups
Development of marketing strategies
Starting a business – LX Business Quick-Start pack
Assistance in raising funding (investment and government grants)
Product versioning strategies and technology road mapping

For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

No matter the size of your next project, from the creation of a simple tool to the most complex embedded hardware designs – documentation is a key requirement at all stages of development. It allows for a constant reference to the project details during development, offers an articulate form of progress during project development to the stakeholders, helps with project hand-overs, and once completed provides a useful reference for all stages of the project and of course the end user or client.

Various organisations may use different project management styles – however the requirement for documentation encompasses all stages of the project. And the definition of documentation can vary at different stages of the project, for example some may consider documentation to just be end-used instructions; whereas it can encompass many forms. Using the “waterfall” method of project management as an example, we will consider documentation requirements for each stage of the project.

Before moving forward with the project, the forms of documentation required should also be considered. During the processes there will be a constant stream of internal notes, designs and other forms of record that need to be indexed and filed for later reference and modification. This is the ideal time to formalise the record-keeping structure of documentation and decide on the medium of record.

In the requirements specification stage, it is important to invest time into not only determining the requirements and goals of the project, but to ensure that every point of interest, detailed specification and requirement is recorded and made available to the project team. The customer must be made aware that this is the key stage in setting the project goals and requirements, as any changes further on will alter the final cost and completion timeline.

The design stage of the project will involve conversion of the requirements into a formalised foundation that gives engineers a starting point with which to develop the product or service. All team members working on the project must not only refer to the customers’ requirements and keep them at the forefront, but also make detailed notes and document their work at all times. This not only includes the usual tasks such as documenting software, or creating circuit schematics – but also notes written after designing, explaining how things work in their own language.

Although some may find this tedious and a distraction from “real work”, by not doing so they will automatically create time-consuming problems for themselves when required to revisit existing work in the future. Furthermore (if required) when the time comes to write end-user documentation, the author can refer to the engineers’ notes on how the product or service works which helps minimise the time taken at that stage.

During the implementation stage of the project, the need to refer to documentation created in earlier stages will be crucial for the implementation team. They may have been introduced to the project after the starting point, and need to familiarise themselves quickly. Furthermore during implementation the documentation will need to be updated to allow for the addition of end-user instructions, possible variances to the original specifications, and unexpected possibilities made available by project features. Through the implementation process, existing documentation can also be updated with the goal of creating the start of external documentation for the end user and client.

Once the project verification stage has commenced, the quality and detail of internal documentation will be one of the major factors in the success of the process. As staff move in and out of the project – knowledge can be lost or opposing viewpoints and experience introduced due to the personality of different people. Only by having everything documented will you have concrete information with regards to “how things should be”.

Furthermore at this point the need for end-user documentation will need to be finalised. By referring to the design documentation and notes, an accurate representation can be viewed by the author allowing them to create overviews, instructions, tutorials, sales material and other output for the public face of the project. At this stage the output for external use should also be reviewed by an independent editor – someone not involved in the day-to-day workings of the project, but whose speciality is documentation itself.

Although it may be simpler to print and index everything as it is created, the use of a secure internal “wiki” – or online website that allows users to add and update content may also be considered. As well as providing revision tracking and recording of all versions of information created, they can provide a fast method of information retrieval and speed up the final documentation process. However the success or failure of using internal online methods will rely on the strength of the organisations IT security policies and the proficiency of the team creating it.

It is the task of an editor to not only check the documentation for spelling, grammar, and form it into the required layout – they must also ensure the documentation “makes sense” and is approachable for the target user. As part of this process the editor can also liaise with the client and include them in this process in order to mould and create documentation in all forms that satisfied their requirements.

Although this is only a small precis of the full requirements of documentation in any project, we hope this highlights the importance of quality documentation in your projects.

And in saying that, LX recognises the importance of accurate and thorough documentation. The depth and form of documentation can vary depending on the requirements of the client and project. LX can develop documentation including:

Software and firmware documentation including commented source code and flow charts to professional and industry standards
Design documentation including using abstraction tools to produce traceable design decisions
User, installation and maintenance documentation
IP documentation to develop and secure intellectual property
Due diligence and functional safety documentation
Certification and testing reports

The team at LX has developed a number of systems in this area and has extensive experience with the core technology requirements of such systems. We understand the importance of high availability, accuracy and integrity of the systems, combined with the need for future proofing infrastructure rollouts.

For more information or a confidential discussion about your ideas and how we can help bring them to life – click here to contact us, or telephone 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Pty Ltd for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.