12 Popularly Used Methods Of Generating Product Design Ideas

Consider you’re about to start designing a new product. You’ve mapped out a plan covering the look and function of your product. You know how it will benefit users and even have a name in mind. But when brainstorming product design ideas, your mind is blank. 

This scenario is standard and is also precisely why generating product design ideas is a pivotal part of the product design process. This guide examines how to brainstorm product design ideas to help you get unstuck and find inspiration for your product design.

NUMI can help you achieve your goals, such as learning about popularly used methods of generating product design ideas. Our product design solution offers structured guidance to an otherwise complex and chaotic process, making it easier to break down the steps of product design and get to the part where you can start designing your product.

What Is Product Design?

Product design describes imagining, creating, and iterating products that solve users’ problems or address specific needs in a given market. The key to successful product design is understanding the end-user customer, the person for whom the product is being created. Product designers attempt to solve real problems for real people by using empathy and knowledge of their prospective customers’ habits, behaviors, frustrations, needs, and wants. 

Ideally, the product design’s execution is so flawless that no one notices; users can intuitively use the product as needed because it understands their needs and anticipates their usage. Good product design practices thread themselves throughout the entire product lifecycle. Product design is essential in creating the initial user experience and product offering, from pre-ideation user research to concept development to prototyping and usability testing. 

But it doesn’t end there, as product design plays an ongoing role in refining the customer experience and ensuring supplemental functionality and capabilities get added in a smooth, discoverable, and non-disruptive manner. Brand consistency and evolution remain an essential product design responsibility until the end of a product’s lifespan. And it’s much more than just what users see on their screens. System and process design are critical behind-the-scenes components that eventually drive users to see and interact with the interface design.

How Did Product Design Emerge? 

Product design is an outgrowth of a very similar discipline called industrial design. According to the Industrial Designers Society of America: “Industrial design is the professional practice of designing products used by millions of people worldwide every day. Industrial designers not only focus on the appearance of a product but also on how it functions, is manufactured and ultimately the value and experience it provides for users.” 

Before the mass-production era of manufacturing, craftspeople built products primarily by hand. This meant fewer products were available for sale and that they cost more. Then, the industrialization of manufacturing allowed businesses to mass-produce products inexpensively. To help sell their products to the millions of people who could now afford them, manufacturers enlisted industrial designers' help to create functional and aesthetically pleasing products. 

Over time, a subset of industrial design has evolved into its category: product design. Industrial design today connotes physical products such as furniture and household appliances. In contrast, product design can refer to any product—even digital, virtual products such as software apps.

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Understanding The Ideation Stage Of The Product Design Process

During the research phase, you defined the user problem you want to solve. Now, the goal is to develop potential solutions to that problem. The ideation step is closely modeled on design thinking, which views ideation as a strictly judgment-free zone. Designers are encouraged to ideate collaboratively, think outside the box, and focus on quantity over quality. Who knows what excellent ideas you’ll develop when given complete creative freedom?

Some popular ideation techniques used by product designers include

• Group brainstorming sessions involving key stakeholders and fellow designers. 
• Crazy 8s—a Design Sprint technique that involves sketching eight unique ideas in eight minutes, with the goal of rapid and diverse ideation. 
• Mind mapping is a visual ideation technique that builds a map of interconnected ideas branching off from a central theme or concept. 
• Reverse thinking is a lateral technique that focuses on the opposite of what you want to achieve. For example, if your goal is to design a product or feature that improves the online dating experience for millennials, a reverse thinking approach would be to consider: How can we ensure a terrible online dating experience for millennials? The ideas you develop for the opposite challenge may bring you closer to your users' needs. 
• Concept sketching and storyboarding to visually capture how different solutions might look and function. This helps to identify potential flaws and validate or disqualify ideas early on. 

The ideation stage isn’t about coming up with a fully-fledged, entirely feasible concept—at least not to begin with. But, as you work through different ideas, you’ll naturally start narrowing it down to a handful of promising avenues worth exploring. 

Why is the ideation stage critical? 

The ideation stage of product design is essential for generating innovative solutions to user problems. As time passes, products can become stale, and so can the ideas that inform their design. The ideation stage helps teams think outside the box to develop creative solutions that improve user experience.

12 Popularly Used Methods Of Generating Product Design Ideas

1. Brainstorming:  All Ideas Welcome  

Brainstorming tops our list of idea-generation techniques for a reason: It’s one of the most popular and widely used methods for innovative problem-solving and idea generation-. The objective is to develop all imaginable ideas about a specific problem within a restricted time frame. All ideas are documented, with participants being banned from criticizing or evaluating while the session is ongoing. 

This allows the most absurd ideas to be heard and win a chance to cut. A good size for the group is usually 6–10 people, which gives you room to exchange further, cluster, join ideas together, etc. One part that can be a little painful is the actual scheduling, organizing, and post-documentation of the session in a practical format that you can share and continuously update or refer to. 

2. Focus Groups: Targeted Research for Early Product Design Ideas  

As the name prevails, this technique brings together a small group of individuals with divergent characteristics to provide information in a structured format. It is a form of qualitative research, including interviews, where reactions and perceptions towards a product or service are examined. This way, you can extrapolate what can be expected from a larger population. This technique is beneficial in the early stages of ideation to assist in making a concept/feature stronger, incorporating user feedback early enough before you invest in its actual development. 

3. Mindmapping: Visualize Your Ideas  

The benefits of this powerful technique are just endless. You can use it to visualize and organize information better, from simply structuring your thoughts, brainstorming sessions, managing meetings, and event planning. The process begins by noting a central phrase or word in the middle of the page. With that in place, participants start writing anything else that comes to mind, evolving around that key phrase. 

Once that is done, you start making connections to see how things come together, and a web of relationships is created. It is super easy to add ideas later on at any time, and it also helps you focus on the links and relationships between ideas so you never end up with detached information. 

4. SCAMPER: Innovate Your Existing Ideas  

Sometimes, all it takes is to study what you already have. Utilizing your current ideas or processes as a starting point can take you to places you never thought were possible. This idea generation technique emerged by Bob Eberle, and it exploits action verbs as stimuli with the focus of re-shaping ideas, concepts, or existing processes. 

SCAMPER is an acronym with each letter for an action verb:

Substitute

Replacing a part of your product, concept, or process with another to achieve a more significant outcome. 

Combine

the opportunity to integrate two ideas into one more solid solution. 

Adapt

Create a more dynamic process and focus on other complementary incremental improvements. 

Modify

View the problem from a zoomed-out perspective and improve the results holistically. 

Put to another use

Discover ways to use the current solution for a different purpose and evaluate the derived benefits if applied. 

Eliminate

What would happen if some parts of the concept were eliminated? 

Reverse

Shift the order of interchangeable elements of an idea. There are various examples of the use of this technique in products or services. 

A classic example is MacDonald’s. Ray Kroc used SCAMPER in numerous ways: selling restaurants instead of purely limiting himself to burgers (put to other uses), having a self-service model in place to avoid employing waiters (eliminate), and having customers pay before they dine (reverse). Other examples we come across daily are the combined washing machine and dryer and your smartphone, which now has a calculator, GPS, and camera. For further navigation through each letter to assist you in facilitating any workshop, here is a more detailed guide with helpful questions. 

5. Storyboarding: Create a Visual Narrative  

Developed by Walt Disney Studio, a storyboard is a visual story illustrating how a feature works or a product can be created. This technique assists creative people in representing information they gained during research. Images, quotes from the user, and other relevant details are hanging on a corkboard to stand for a scenario and facilitate grasping the relationships between various ideas. It is an invaluable tool to continuously show stakeholders your vision of how your product can evolve throughout the upcoming increments. 

6. Reverse Thinking: Challenge Your Assumptions  

This is one of my favorite techniques, but few are aware of it. Practicing reverse thinking is helping you question the status quo and what you usually take for granted. Feel free to use it when you sense your team is stuck with the conventional mindset, and coming up with “out-of-the-box ideas” seems burdensome. So now you are probably wondering how on earth you will reverse your thinking, and the truth is that you have a valid point. 

A straightforward example to grasp the concept can be the following: ‘how can I double my revenue?’ can transform into ‘How do I guarantee that I have no revenue at all?.’ See, it was not that complicated. This technique alleviates tension and self-confidence concerns and allows people to be bolder since they know their ideas will not be inspected for missing the mark. You can easily use this method as an icebreaker and switch to regular brainstorming once you get the ideas rolling. 

7. Sketching: Visualize Your Ideas  

Remember that one picture is worth a thousand words? Visuals can arouse further ideas and provide a wider lens of thinking. The concept behind sketching ideas is not to develop the subsequent Picasso work of art that you can mount on the wall. The sketches should be as simple and rough as possible, with enough detail to convey the key message. 

The main benefit of sketching is that, for a moment, you escape from the restrictions of the computer screen, activate your open-ended thinking, and realize that there is usually more than one way to approach a problem. The cool part is that sketches are open to interpretation in all possible directions by different people, strengthening the final idea before you work it up onscreen. 

8. Leverage What You Already Have & Create Something New   

Look for opportunities to leverage your existing products or services to create something new and innovative. This way, you can use each product or service's strengths while capitalizing on the potential demand for an entirely new offering that meets an unmet need.  This could involve taking existing designs, technologies, or innovations and tweaking them to create a more efficient, effective, and innovative product. 

You can also combine two existing products into one—the result is an entirely different item, such as merging a mobile phone and a music player.  Combining products and services can help businesses expand their offerings, maximize customer benefits, and develop original ideas that stand out. Let’s not even mention that this approach can save time and resources as businesses can leverage what they already have. 

9. Focus On Simplicity & Usability   

Keeping the design simple makes it easier for customers to understand and helps keep costs low. The ease of use of a product should be at the forefront when designing it—if the user cannot grasp how to use it, they are not likely to purchase or recommend it. Items that are easy to use and don't require prior knowledge or special skills are usually the most successful.  

Designers should put themselves in the consumer's shoes and consider creating helpful something without complicating it. Usability testing throughout the development process must ensure your product meets customer needs and can be used in day-to-day life.  By focusing on simplicity and usability, you can create a product design that satisfies customer needs and contributes positively to your bottom line. 

10. Keep an Open Dialogue With Designers and Customers   

Cultivating an open dialogue between designers and customers is vital in product design. When customers give feedback, designers are exposed to a wide range of ideas they can use in their designs, while customers gain a sense of ownership in the product design process, helping build trust and loyalty. 

To create products that better meet customer needs and have a competitive advantage in the marketplace, you should Actively listen and respond to customer feedback, Continually refine product design ideas based on suggestions, And create an open dialogue between all stakeholders By actively listening and responding to customer feedback, continually refining product design ideas based on suggestions, and keeping an open dialogue between all stakeholders throughout the design process, companies create products that better meet customer needs and have a competitive advantage in the marketplace. 

Keeping customer feedback at the forefront of your product design decisions is a surefire way to create a product that resonates with those who use it. When coming up with product design ideas, you should also Bring in other professionals from different fields, such as marketing or engineering, for new perspectives on solutions. Draw inspiration from everything, whether nature or other designs from various industries like furniture, architecture, or art. 

11. Use immersive prototyping to refine your ideas  

Most products don’t target a single set of customers; you’re likely focusing on different user groups. That means you’ll need to try various designs to learn which of your ideas will satisfy your multiple audiences. Explore various scenarios to understand what different users need, what they’re struggling with, and which product design ideas will make their problems disappear and improve their experience. 

12. Put yourself in your users’ shoes  

What’s even better than deploying observation and research techniques to understand your users’ problems? The answer: being a user yourself and experiencing issues firsthand. Research gives you access to third-party data, but when you experience the problem yourself, you see things an outsider doesn’t. This information can open your eyes and give you the perspective you need to generate problem-solving product design ideas.

Tips On How To Come Up With Great Product Design Ideas

Digging Deep: Product Research and Analysis

The product design process begins with thorough research and analysis to understand the target audience, product environment, and competitive landscape. This research identifies pain points and opportunities for improvement. 

First, understand the target audience. This group will most likely use the product, so it's essential to know their needs, wants, and pain points. 

Next, examine the product environment. The product environment is the context in which the product will be used. Understand the physical, social, and cultural factors affecting the product is use. 

Finally, look at the competitive landscape, which is the set of other products similar to the one you’re designing. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of the competition to create a product that can compete. 

Concept Design and Development: Where Ideas Take Shape

Once the research and analysis are complete, the next step is to generate concepts for potential solutions. This can be done through brainstorming workshops, sketching, and rough prototyping. 

A brainstorming workshop is a group activity where our design team and you can share ideas without judgment. This method quickly generates many ideas. Our workshop process targets specific details and subjects to draw out the best ideas and inspiration. These sessions can help shape the project and product idea. 

Sketching quickly visualizes your ideas. You don't need to be an artist to sketch effectively. 

The key outcome from the concept design stage is to narrow down designs in 3D CAD. Models are professionally visualized to communicate advantages and disadvantages. 

CAD Product Development: The Technical Stuff

After selecting a concept, develop and refine a CAD model of the product. This model will create prototypes, test the product's functionality, and prepare for manufacturing. Therefore, the production processes must be considered and designed within the CAD model. 

Product Prototyping: Testing and Validation

Prototyping a product is an essential stage in the product design process. Prototyping creates a physical model of your product idea. This can be done using various materials, including simple cardboard and foam, or more sophisticated methods like plastic 3D printing or metal fabrication. 

Prototyping allows designers to test and refine the design before production, validate unique mechanisms, and get feedback from potential users. This stage can often be iterative, meaning that further prototypes will be produced to validate the learning from previous versions until the team is satisfied that the design is ready. 

Design for Manufacture: Getting Ready for Production

Once the prototype is finalized, prepare for manufacturing. This involves creating a DFM (Design for Manufacture) plan. The DFM plan documents the manufacturing process and ensures the product can be produced efficiently and cost-effectively. Collaboration with manufacturers and suppliers occurs at this stage and can mean some design refinements to suit the chosen factory’s setup. 

Product Branding and Marketing: Creating Connections

Branding creates a unique identity for your product. This includes developing a brand name, logo, and tagline. Branding helps to make a connection between your product and your target audience. 

Once the product is ready to be manufactured, marketing it becomes essential. This involves developing marketing materials and launching a campaign to raise awareness and communicate the value of your product to your target audience. This can be done through various channels, including paid advertising, public relations, and social media to generate sales and grow your customer base. 

Product Packaging Design: The First Thing Your Users See

The packaging for a product is an integral part of the user experience. It should be visually appealing, easy to use, and protect the product during shipping and storage. It may also be the only thing the customer sees in a retail environment, so it should effectively sell the product and brand. 

Route to Market: From Manufacturer to User

The route to market for a product is the business process of getting it from the manufacturer to the end user. This can involve selling it through retail stores and distributors, online retailers like Amazon, or directly to consumers via your e-commerce website or social platforms. Licensing is another route to market, and this time, you are not involved in sales and are often not involved in mass manufacturing either. 

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4 Best Ways To Present Your Product Design Idea

1. Spotlight Market Insights and Problems Being Solved  

Every great product begins with an apparent problem. Start your presentation by identifying the pain points within your target market. This step sets the stage for your audience to understand the "why" behind your product idea. 

For example

• Primary Problem: Your child was locked out of the house because they lost their key. 
• Secondary Problem: Existing smart locks are either too expensive or overly complicated for everyday users. These insights demonstrate a deep understanding of your market, which can be obtained through customer interviews, market research, and competitor analysis. Use examples or anecdotes (like the story of the tech-savvy parent) to make the problem relatable. 

Pro Tip

A business model canvas can help crystallize these insights. This tool lets you map out the problem, the solution, and the customer segment in one simplified document.

2. Describe Features and Benefits of the Solution    

Once you’ve outlined the problem, dive into your solution. This is your chance to showcase the product’s functionality, aesthetics, and user benefits. Whether you have detailed sketches or a conceptual outline, emphasize how your design addresses the problem. 

Key Considerations

• Imagery: Include drawings, 3D renders, or competitor comparisons. Visuals make your idea tangible. 
• Prioritize Features: Identify the must-have and secondary features (e.g., hands-free operation). 
• Functionality and Style: Explain how your product looks, feels and operates. Is it minimalist, ergonomic, or tech-driven? 

Pro Tip

Develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). An MVP helps you test core functionalities and gather user feedback early, ensuring you build a product that truly resonates with your audience.

3. Define Aesthetics, Pricing, and a Brief Summary    

This section should answer three essential questions: 

• What does the product look like? Detail its aesthetic style—modern, vintage, sleek, or industrial. 
• What’s the price range? Mention your target retail price and justify it with market comparisons. 
• What’s the summary? List bullet points summarizing the product’s key features and pricing structure. 

For example, if your design includes sharp corners, mention how this might increase manufacturing costs due to specialized tooling. You align expectations with feasibility by being upfront about pricing and production trade-offs. 

Pro Tip

Separate design costs, manufacturing costs, and retail pricing. This clarity ensures a smoother development process and better alignment with design firms or manufacturers.

4. Analyze the Competitive Environment    

Studying competitors isn’t just about identifying what they’re doing—it’s about understanding what they’re not. 

Provide insights into three to five competitors, detailing. 

• Product strengths and weaknesses. 
• Gaps in the market they’re not addressing. 
• Opportunities for differentiation. 

Example

• Competitor A: Great design but needs more affordability.
• Competitor B: Affordable but struggles with durability. 
• Your Product: Combines affordability and durability with a sleek design. 

Pro Tip

Use customer reviews from competitor products to identify pain points you can address.

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