How to design a product without meeting the team in person
You have an idea for a new or next generation product. You put hard work and effort into product launch plans with a realistic set of milestones and deadlines.
Then an international pandemic confined all but essential workers to their home offices and prevented you carrying out all those face to face meeting you had meticulously planned.
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Can you still develop a product without physically meeting up?
You don’t have to abandon your plans and leave your idea in limbo. In the product design world technology moves on fast and your good idea left on the shelf now may mean leaving it on the shelf forever.
The good news is not only are there ways to continue your project but there is a global appetite for more innovative products right now.
So how are you going to achieve those much-needed conversations?
Video conferencing
You will find many articles online stating the pro’s and con’s of the video conferencing platforms on offer such as Zoom, Teams, Skype and Hangouts to name a few.
Once you’ve chosen the right platform for you there are a few essential things to put in place which will make your life instantly easier:
Fast Broadband – Make sure you have a good connection to avoid unwanted interruptions mid-call, around 2MBps will suffice.
- A good headset or speaker – Adding a Bluetooth headset or speaker such as a Jabra Speak 510 brings a big improvement to the audio side. You can use you’re computer’s built in audio if you absolutely need to.
- Set up a Webcam – Once you’ve set-up you can e-meet members of the remote team without leaving the safety of your home.
3 ways video conferencing works better than a phonecall for product design
Speaking on-screen has several advantages over a simple phone call:
- Body language – Picking up on cues from other people allows you to go into more depth on potential problems or spot genuine enthusiasm for an innovative idea. Not only does this allow you to save time but you can also pick up on whether potential suppliers are right for you.
- Sharing ideas – Instantly create more meaningful interactions by using your hands or other props such as drawing tablets to share and discuss ideas in real time.
- Sharing your screen – With the right platform you can securely share your presentation or allow your remote team to share your screen demonstrating and explaining things in a far more practical and in-depth way.
Good luck
We hope the information above can help you with your projects.
How do we know this works? Because we’re already doing this.
Contact us to find out more or read more in our article using the button below
How to get Electronics Design Help without meeting face to face
Remotely helping with electronic design
If you’re reading this you may be wondering, can we really help you without meeting you in person? Yes we can.
We’re already working with far away companies
We don’t like taking no for an answer. As a company who are constantly helping customers push the boundaries of their product designs we don’t like to restrict ourselves by location. We’re in the centre of the country in Nottingham UK but our customers include remote locations in the far south of England and we also help companies from around the world.
ECAD and MCAD sharing
We tend to share printed circuit board layouts at draft and final stages of designs with the enclosure designers via video call.
Three-dimensional software models of the printed circuit board and components can be shared with the designers, typically as a STEP file. The PCB can be easily pulled into the majority of mechanical cad tools to design the plastics around and conversely the plastic enclosure model can be pulled into our electronics cad tool, Altium Designer as a mechanical enclosure.
How we stay in touch with our team remotely
We’ve stayed connected with our team on working from home days. Starting off with Skype we have now migrated to Teams sharing schematic diagrams, circuit simulations and printed circuit board layout for design reviews and peer discussion.
Can you really do everything from home?
We recently moved into a brand new premises on Nottingham Science Park with a full test area which allows us to carry out additional testing which isn’t possible remotely, however as electronic specialists many of our team have their own equipment at home meaning we can swiftly work on projects without venturing into the office.
What next?
To instantly create a more successful and streamline product design process, using a thorough design review, get in touch with our team. You can reach us immediately during week days by using our contact page.
Book your first virtual meeting with Ignys