177: Package Design Tips for New Hardware Products

Justin Chen is the Co-Founder of PickFu, a platform that helps businesses survey real people about their key visual decisions.  They have administered over 5 million queries over the last 12 years.  Today Justin is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on why hardware product packaging is so important, how to design great packaging, and how to use real feedback to iteratively improve and perfect your package design. Today you will hear us talk about: Friends and family feedback is okay, but  Look at the competition to understand what the standards are for packaging Packaging as an afterthought is a mistake, as packaging is a big part of your  Eye catching.  Make sure you stand out from the competition Put badges on the packaging to attract customer Informative packaging is about what the important selling points are of a product Have people rank selling points. What are the questions that a buyer may have? Hardware packaging is essentially a digital billboard. Include your physical packaging in your digital marketing materials The more attention to detail you put on your product packaging, the more confident you are on the product. Make a few variations of your packaging design, then start with big picture creative options, then show them to people for them to pick their favorite. Then keep iterating and narrowing down the packaging over and over. Then test that package design on competitors. This method de-risks packaging. A big question to ask customers is to say, what does your new hardware product do? Hardware startups should factor in high quality packaging and more informative packaging. EPISODE LINKS: Justin Chen Links: LinkedIn | PickFu The Product Startup Podcast Links: https://www.ProductStartup.com/ Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook Page | Facebook Group | Pinterest | Twitter | YouTube Mako Design Links: https://www.makodesign.com/ YouTube | Instagram | LinkedIn | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter Kevin Mako Links: Instagram | LinkedIn | Quora | Facebook | Twitter Partner: PTC’s best-in-class software solutions Onshape: The only cloud-native product development platform that delivers full-featured computer-aided design (CAD), integrated product data management (PDM) and enterprise analytics in a single system, and Creo: 3D CAD solution that provides designers with the most innovative tools to build better products faster, such as generative design, additive manufacturing, real-time simulation, IIoT, and augmented reality. Producer: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories.