Five tactics to help you decide your next design idea

July 13, 2015

For some people finding new design ideas is as easy as looking at their surroundings and finding inspiration, for others it can be challenging finding that creative spark. An even more difficult challenge is designing a product that has the potential to sell and do well on the Shapeways marketplace. Here are some of the tactics that you can use to come up with new ideas for product designs.

1. Google Trends
   Designing products around what’s trending online is a great way to make a design that is fresh and relevant in people’s minds. One way to find what’s trending is by using Google Trends. With Google Trends you can filter out what’s trending by many category options by demographic and subject matter (science, sports, animals, etc). This is based on top stories and search terms people are searching for. You can even do a search on Google Trends for specific keywords and see how strong they come up in Google search. Here is an example of a search I did to see how popular the Tardigrade was. Here you can see how popular the keyword was and the demographic that are searching for it.

2. Instagram Hashtags / Explore
   Instagram recently launched a new updated discovery tab which allows users to easily discover trending hashtags and photos based on the type of photos you post and like. This is a great feature to see a curated stream of photos based on the photos you’ve already liked and give you a visual inspiration for your next product design idea.

Searching various terms on Instagram shows you how relevant and popular a subject can be.

3. Collaborations
   Collaborations amongst other designers and artists have been a growing trend in the Shapeways community. A fantastic way to bring a new product to the marketplace is to get together with a designer or artist whose designs inspire you. If they’re on Shapeways you can send them a private message, you can tweet at them on Twitter, or send them a direct message of a mockup 3D model to that artist on Instagram letting them know you’re an admirer of their work and if they’d be interested in collaborating with you on bringing that design to market on Shapeways. Here is an example of a collaboration done between Gabriel Prero and Bathsheba.

4. Ask your existing audience / Do a Q&A
   Do you have an existing audience or following? Ask your audience on social media. Make a post on Twitter or Facebook asking your followers what they’d like to see you design next and listen to their feedback. You can also experiment with Reddit’s r/IAmA, here is an example of one done by Kostika Spaho and Christopher Carter.

5. Modify An Existing Product
   Take a look at your existing products and see if you can modify it or manipulate it into a whole new product altogether. For example here is a 3D printed Grumpy Cat and a Santa themed Grumpy Cat created by designer Manuel Poehlau.

Designer Corretta Singer of the Shapeways shop CS1 turned her mech heart pendant into a mech heart ring.

Give these tactics a try and you just might come up with your next hit product. What does your creative design process look like? Let us know in a comment below!