Product Design Project - feasibility studies conducted by LUCID GROUP LTD. Product Design and Innovation Consultants - specialists in feasibility studies for your product design project, especially for medical device development

Phototheraputics: Helping businesses define a design brief

phototheraputics / omnilux / 2003

Helping businesses define a design brief

Omnilux is a unique non-invasive treatment for skin cancers, developed for Photo Therapeutics by Lucid Group from a basic rig used in trials funded by Cancer Research UK.

Lucid's team was initially asked to investigate the feasiblity of developing a volume production product to deliver improved treatment experiences. No budget or schedule existed.

There were no competitors to emulate, no pre-conceptions of use, size, shape or the technologies to use in production.

Our people shadowed clinicians and patients in trials. We investigated other treatment devices and best practice in ergonomic design, as well as cross-fertilised findings with experience in furniture and machinery design.

We involved Photo Therapeutic's team in creating and investigating sketches & basic models of potential product ideas.

The feasibility of siting different styles of product in different clinical environments was discussed with heath professionals & site managers.

Lucid Group used the information to develop a budgeted development brief for a series of alternative product embodiments, delivering design, prototyping and first-off manufacturing management of Omnilux in 2003.

Royal Mail: Helping businesses define new service directions

royal mail / safebox / 2003

Helping businesses define new service directions

Royal Mail delivers thousands of potentially hazardous diagnostic specimens daily. Tighter safety regulation threatened to exclude the carrier from the market, unless a new product could be developed to suit Royal Mail's systems.

Lucid Group was asked to investigate the feasiblity of protecting specimens to the new standards. Competitor products existed, but they could not fit in a post box, severely limiting Royal Mail's service options.

Our people shadowed laboratory and postal workers. We involved Royal Mail's security, scientific and marketing team in creating and investigating service flow charts, sketches and basic models of product ideas.

Extensive research into materials and other packaging solutions gave our design team the information to propose several directions for developing a unique service and product in order to deliver it.

Lucid Group was able to confirm feasibility, outline potential budgets and deliver a detailed design brief & project plan for a development that was completed in 2003.

Royal Mail SafeBox received the Institute of Packaging Starpack Award for Innovation & has been licensed to carriers worldwide.

pest west / NPW380 & NPW345 fly killer units / 2000

Helping businesses compete

Pest West is a UK distributor of flying insect control devices, competing in a market flooded by products from low cost economies.

Lucid Group was approached to develop a new product range - value engineered to be made in the UK and competetive on price. Our research showed that it was impossible to buy the necessary components, let alone manufacture a product to budget.

Lucid Group suggested a different business approach to achieve a return on investment. Shadowing people working with existing products, we noticed opportunities to add value.

Dead insects spilled into kitchens, designs were difficult to clean, exposing people to danger of electric shock. Contemporary kitchen design was open to public view, but products didn't fit a catering aesthetic.

We found that it was feasible to achieve a return on investment if Pest West were to change its target market.

We advocated focussing away from builders and concentrating on architects, specifiers, and hygiene contractors who could appreciate a safer range designed for minimal maintenace and fit to environments.

Lucid's modular design for the Pest West Nemesis range has subsequently broken new ground for the business, reduced inventory and dramatically improved margins, completely justifying the product design project.

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