165: Iterative Design Processes & Tools for Hardware Development

Mar 2 2023 • 23 mins

Kyle Dumont spent many years as a hardware developer for iRobot, then got a Masters of Science and an MBA dual degree at Harvard, then spun out AllSpice which is a software platform for managing electronic engineering feedback and revision tracking amongst other things. Today Kyle is going to share some valuable knowledge for inventors, startups, and small manufacturers on what iterative hardware product development is between manufacturing runs, who the feedback loop stakeholders are, and how to collect, organize, prioritize, and execute on that iterative feedback information to ensure the best improvements to your physical consumer product design.

Today you will hear us talk about:

What iterative design in hardware is between manufacturing runs
Legacy design is based on a waterfall model of design
Software has done a great job of iterating very quickly.
Get designs in the hands of engineers, or even better, users.
Iterative design can sometimes be forced on you if you need to make changes, so better to have the processes
Who are the stakeholders:
Customers, the most important stakeholders (both current and potential customers)
Cost reduction
Engineering design, multiple different disciplines (hardware, software, firmware, PCB, visual, industrial design, etc.)
Procurement, product managers, Manufacturers
Get hardware product engineers in front of customers
What tools can be used to collect, organize, prioritize, and implement
Version control is a great way to organize version control / revision control. This is the foundation.
Start to consider comparing versions.
Do you have the channels and tools to be able to have the various product stakeholders to provide input on the product.
Integrating tools together so that the most information
Avoid silos of different departments, ideally, you have all information together.
Use priority flagging to tag the importance of issues or opportunities.