How to Choose the Best Prototype Design Company [Complete Guide] • Slash

A great prototype design company can save you time and budget by creating a testable model for your idea. A study conducted by Standish Group also reveals that 70% of digital products that rely on prototyping are successful.
However, the problem begins when you don’t know how to get a prototype made and which company you should rely on. Yes, you can Google a simple query like “design firms near me” to get a list of prototype companies. But still, you should be digging deeper to meet a credible tech partner.
So before you decide, read this article to learn more about choosing a prototyping design company that fits your requirements.

Definition of Prototype Design?

A prototype is an early model of any product or service that allows designers to test the product’s functionality before the final release. Prototyping helps designers to convert the idea from paper into a digital reality. A good prototype design company studies the reviews from the prototype to make the final product as per users’ and stakeholders’ expectations.

Also Read: 4 Key Strategies for Successful Clickable Prototype Development

Benefits of a Prototype Design Company

Prototyping is the key to building successful products. But since it is not a one-person job, businesses hire prototyping companies for the following reasons.

a. Customized Digital Products

Prototyping makes your software or app different and valuable from the rest of the competitors. Prototype companies bring a competitive edge to your product idea by adding the missing features that users can’t find in other similar services. They might test tens of different features in your product and customize it with the most demanded ones.

b. Reduced Product Cost

While cost may not be an issue for established companies, it is a big matter for entrepreneurs and medium-sized businesses. Remember, changing things later after the software is released is always high-priced.
But a prototype manufacturing company gives great control over the cost of the final product. You can experiment with all the amendments on a prototype and implement the successful changes in the real product.

c. Evaluation of Constraints

With the help of a prototype design, you can assess potential problems with your product before its fully built. For instance, you can figure out early that a certain product feature has a functionality issue. As a result, you can identify the technical issue through the product prototype.

d. Risk Mitigation

Having a prototype design company at your side gives you the benefit of risk reduction. There is no second thought that projects made through prototyping are more successful. It is because prototyping directly impacts the essential parts of the project, such as time, budget, and resources. So when you carry out prototyping, the process unveils the hidden issues and operational gaps.

e. Product Simulation

A prototype design company helps you simulate the original and future digital product. A prototype gives confidence to customers to invest in your product in advance. Moreover, it lets you test the product’s accuracy and identify design errors.

f. Instant Feedback

One of the traits of a successful digital product is the quality to fulfill users’ expectations. With the help of prototypes, you can determine the level of user interaction with the product. In return, the prototype helps you gather their reviews and thoughts about the software solution. This permits you to amend the product according to the beneficiaries’ and customers’ demands.

How to Choose the Right Prototype Design Company?

Here is the list of characteristics of a brilliant prototype design company.

1. Great Understanding of the Product

The best prototyping firm is also an excellent product design company that understands your product’s nature. The associated prototype designer must be capable of understanding the entire development process – from ideation and prototyping to testing and development. This will help them design a prototype matching your product’s characteristics.

2. Availability of Resources

The prototype manufacturers must have the latest resources to ensure accuracy when crafting the same product design through prototyping. This includes having up-to-date hardware, software, and expert product design engineers. It will help them build the prototype according to the newest technology standards.

3. Response Time

A product design firm that takes business seriously will always respond to your queries as quickly as possible. So when selecting the right company, observe the time they take to get back with an answer. If the company takes more than 3 working days, it means that may be they have a shortage of staff or are not much interested in your project requirements.

4. On-Time Delivery Commitment

Find product design services that can keep their promise of delivering the prototype on time. For instance, if a company commits to deliver the prototype the next day, it must act accordingly. To find out whether or not the firm keeps its word, check its website for testimonials. Contrarily, you can look for other platforms, like Clutch, to find ratings.

5. Counseling

There are multiple ways and methods of building a prototype. So it’s completely understandable if you’re unsure which way to choose as long as you have picked the right prototyping firm. Remember that competent product design companies have prototyping experts who always offer great advice on selecting the right process.

6. Willing to Go to Great Lengths

The chosen prototype product development company should be flexible enough to accommodate the last-minute requirement. For example, if there is a week left in your prototype delivery. And you want to add a few more features to the model for testing. Then, the company should be willing to do its best to manage to add the new requirement within the planned period.

7. Experienced Team

Not all product design firms have a robust team of well-experienced and expert software prototypers. So make sure you choose a company with prototype specialists on their team.

8. Quality Assurance

Always select a prototype design company that continues to provide quality assurance through proper records and documentation of the prototyping process. Plus, QA can help discover the problems with the prototype, which eventually improves the design.

Also Read: 5 Reasons Why You Need a Software Quality Assurance Tester in a Development Team

Conclusion

A prototype design company creates a sample of your software solution before it enters the market. So whenever you choose a firm, make sure it has all the required technology and is committed to delivering timely projects. At the same time, the company should be willing to make extra efforts. And each product design consultant on the team should understand and work according to your expectations.
At Slash, we provide next-level prototype design services to bring your software ideas to fruition. Our professional team of prototype designers have the right experience and tech stack to create a software prototype that flawlessly aligns with your company’s vision. Contact us and we’ll get back to you with a great prototype solution swiftly.

FAQs – Prototype Design Company

Q1. What is a prototype company?

A prototype company creates prototypes for digital products through various techniques, such as agile development and rapid application development (RAD).

Q2. What does a prototype designer do?

A prototype designer is a part of the design team. The person is responsible for building early versions of a software product, called prototypes.

Q3. How much does a design prototype cost?

The cost of designing a clickable prototype depends on the level of complexity and requirements. But roughly, a prototype may cost around $10,000 to $20,000.

Q4. Who designs a prototype?

A team of product engineers and designers designs a prototype. Designers work on building the overall design, whereas engineers ensure that prototype features work correctly.