We’re entering the biggest change in the way things are designed and made since the Industrial Revolution. The changes that you’re going to see are not only dramatic, but they’re happening very fast. You’ll see more change as a result of these trends in the next decade than even the largest scale companies have seen in their entire lifetimes designing buildings, cars, planes, or products.
We understand that good design is still fundamentally the most important element of any products success. But, what constitutes ‘good’ design is changing quicker than ever. Today’s consumers still care about aesthetics and performance, but are equally invested in how things are made and how something is designed to fit their personal ecosystem. Customers want to know where a product is sourced, what sort of materials were used, what the environmental impacts are, what the quality of that product might be, and how it might have affected even the nature of the people who are making it.
New computational tools are now available that allow a designer to input functional requirements like material, manufacturing method, performance criteria, and cost restrictions. Programming isn’t something associated with a design, but it will play a fundamental part moving forward.
It’s crucial for you to understand the impact these disruptions will have on the way you work and how you can manage them as we enter upon this new era of design.
Your customers demands will only deepen and expand over time. Customers power of influence is stronger (for example consumer preference caused the water bottle industry to change materials before government regulations) highlighting that the consumer is ever more socially aware and shows this with purchasing decisions. Geographic and generational fragmentation see designers having to provide a greater variety of design alternatives to appeal to people in different geographies and cultures with different tastes and values.
Your competition and marketplace are changing and expanding. Whereas competition within a given marketplace was once easy to identify and forecast, crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter have lowered the barriers of entry for new ideas to enter the marketplace. Companies and even individuals (think Tyler Luckey’s Oculus Rift) can now disrupt, design, fund, manufacture and establish a consumer base quicker than ever before.
The future is AI, but not as you may know it. Advancements in artificial intelligence and the simulation of complex processes have enabled CAD software to play an active, participatory role in the design of form. Human and Machine collaboration allows a designer to create unprecedented numbers of design alternatives in the same timescales currently allocated for conceptual design. These are not parametric alternatives, these can be completely different concepts.
The Internet of Things is just the start. Customers now expect even the simplest function products to be connected with embedded smart technology (sensors, microcomputers, etc) and this is set to expand into new areas. For designers it’s vital for you to convert the huge amounts of data generated by your products during operation into actionable information. If you can do this, it stands to reason you can more accurately understand your customers, better design future products, efficiently maintain those already in service and build a greater connected ecosystem between your products and user. We’re already seeing everything from connected vehicles to smart toothbrushes and smart dog collars.
New manufacturing methods can improve your designs and expand your product ranges quickly. Design is expression, but you’re constrained by mass production and manufacturing methods. The availability of new additive/subtractive manufacturing techniques allow you to explore new and exciting concept design that was previously unthinkable. It’s vital you understand new manufacturing techniques to maximise concept design opportunities.
We can support you in deploying tools to improve the design process. Gamification alongside immersive platforms like VR, AR, and are fundamental to efficiently design, review, validate and now experience concepts quicker than ever. A modern design pipeline can be repurposed to benchmark and gauge customer feedback quicker and cheaper than ever improving the the whole design ecosystem.
Our business is made up of exceptional multidispilinary teams in automotive, aerospace, manufacturing and construction. We also partner with research groups such as HSSMI and DETC and technology startups. As a result, we’re best placed and uniqely positioned to see future trends and transfer applicable knowledge from any industry to your design needs, ensuring you receive the best support available.
Take a look at how we helped Astheimer.
“My advice would be to try VR out, you need to try these things first. You can then discover whether it is relevant to your workflow, whether it would improve your processes and how it could impact your business. It is only after you review VR within your business that you can distinguish how tangible it is. Being able to trial VR is a valuable part of what Majenta Solutions can offer and being able to do this allowed us to make a conclusive decision to invest in VR through Majenta Solutions”.
Carsten Astheimer – Founder and Creative Director, ASTHEIMER
To facilitate the increased volume of design development in ever-reducing timescales, you must ensure a robust design and high fidelity visualisation is deployed to support efficient ideation, exploration, informed decision making, visual communication, and collaboration.
We’ve helped customers achieve smooth adoption of new technology into existing design pipelines often resulting in immediate benefits. We continue to monitor trends and emerging technology to ensure our customers design process remains agile enough to react trends.
Technology is the key factor all these disruptions, and Majenta Solutions is uniquely positioned to support you through the transitions and opportunities that these disruptions are going to bring.