Securing the best solution

Trying ideas out and learning from the experience is an essential part of new product development.

Hendolock is an innovative privacy lock for internal doors, requiring no additional fixings and is easily removed from the outside in case of an emergency.

The idea was simple, but getting the exact fit and subjective feel of the action right required several iterations of prototypes.

Initial card and foam models were developed into CNC machined metal & fabricated steel parts which tested and demonstrated the designs. Prototyping is a valuable tool in new product development.

Success through iteration

Genie Complete is a salon console offering a range of innovative cosmetic treatments.

To refine and communicate concepts for form & functionality, Lucid Group used several iterations of prototypes

Working from sketches & basic component layouts, designers made foam models to investigate sizing and communicate form proposals to potential consumers.

Basic rigs validated balance and operation of moving parts before an accurate rapid prototype was used to check fits obtain final client sign off.

At all stages of a product development, prototyping enables invaluable hands-on feedback.

Ensuring reliability in safety-critical applications

Lucid Group designed SafeBox for Royal Mail, to securely transport hazardous diagnostic specimens in normal postal systems without leakage.

Communicating & validating design intent was challenging. Proposals had to be tamper-evident on opening, sufficiently compact to fit in a post box and separable for recycling.

One-way snap-fits and tamper-evident, rip-through polymers would have been incredibly expensive to prototype in sufficient volume to inform all of the project's stakeholders, which included potential consumers, the postal union, moulders, toolmakers and Royal Mail management. We animated the consumer experience, supplying a non-working block model to give everyone involved an appreciation of scale.

After design improvements that input stakeholder fed-back, a prototype injection tool-set was manufactured, using inserts that were to be re-used in the eventual, multi-impression manufacturing tool. Mouldings were used to validate the design in structural testing and inform further detail design improvement.

SafeBox won the Instititute of Packaging's Starpack Award for Innovation. Royal Mail markets the product to laboratories and licenses to world-wide postal organisations. Digital, prototyping, rigs and pre-production tooling were invaluable in product design evaluation.