I have designed or redesigned a number of audio products for a leading pro audio manufacturer here in the US. The last industrial design work I did for them involved designing a new series of components with which they planned to enter/re-enter the high-end market . Unfortunately, a change in top management canceled the project and disbanded the team just before prototyping.
Within this manufacturer, the design process varied widely - from designing sheet metal front panels that had to work with a nearly finished engineering design, to working from a clean sheet of paper where the chassis and front panel were a critical part of how the amp actually functioned. (I have a design patent on that one!)
Often, it was the engineering team that chose the design, aided by some from marketing and sales (who had a number of ex-engineers in their ranks.) From my experience, most engineers are not the best people to make these kind of design decisions.
I remember one project in which I was asked to provide a wide variety of quick sketches for review. I assumed that these would be used for further discussion. I presented some 16 designs that met the mechanical and manufaturing requirements. To my horror, several of the engineers picked up on a design I had simply tossed in to help fill out the presentation. That stupid design was the one they went with and it went on to be a big seller for them - ugly as sin as it was! Everytime I see that unit I just shake my head.
I will say that when it came to the high-end design, we recognized that how it looked would have a major impact on it's success in the marketplace. I reviewed virtually every competiting component out there and visited a number of audiophile shows to study the trends. The engieers that accompanied me enjoyed pointing out some of the insane things that others did strictly for show and really added nothing to performance. Of course, we knew that some of that kind of thing would be incorporated into our designs as well.
Having said all that.... man, you should have seen the design for the last project. Fantastic! Ground-breaking innovation! It's too bad I can't show the concepts, so you'll just have to take my word on it. ;- )
Within this manufacturer, the design process varied widely - from designing sheet metal front panels that had to work with a nearly finished engineering design, to working from a clean sheet of paper where the chassis and front panel were a critical part of how the amp actually functioned. (I have a design patent on that one!)
Often, it was the engineering team that chose the design, aided by some from marketing and sales (who had a number of ex-engineers in their ranks.) From my experience, most engineers are not the best people to make these kind of design decisions.
I remember one project in which I was asked to provide a wide variety of quick sketches for review. I assumed that these would be used for further discussion. I presented some 16 designs that met the mechanical and manufaturing requirements. To my horror, several of the engineers picked up on a design I had simply tossed in to help fill out the presentation. That stupid design was the one they went with and it went on to be a big seller for them - ugly as sin as it was! Everytime I see that unit I just shake my head.
I will say that when it came to the high-end design, we recognized that how it looked would have a major impact on it's success in the marketplace. I reviewed virtually every competiting component out there and visited a number of audiophile shows to study the trends. The engieers that accompanied me enjoyed pointing out some of the insane things that others did strictly for show and really added nothing to performance. Of course, we knew that some of that kind of thing would be incorporated into our designs as well.
Having said all that.... man, you should have seen the design for the last project. Fantastic! Ground-breaking innovation! It's too bad I can't show the concepts, so you'll just have to take my word on it. ;- )