Storyboards

Quickly envisage people's interactions with products in early development

Rapid sketches, focusing on people, not products provide productive insights

Innovation

Seeing things differently helps us create business opportunities.

We use discovery techniques including...

Flow analysis

Highlights bottlenecks to avoided or exploit

Diagrams are used to show all the interactions in a system or development

Unfocus groups

A way of generating original, uninhibited thinking and feedback

Observe how a diverse group of people approach problems

Card sort

Enables people to objectively prioritise their expectations

Ask people to sort cards with features or benefits and describe why.

Affinity mapping

Helps connect problems or issues, creating themes for innovation

Elements of a design or problem are clustered to discover relationships.

Product autopsy

Discovers benefits or problems with existing products

Products are tested, dismantled and costs/benefit analysis performed

Character Profiles

Profiles help to prioritise the significance of design features to consumers.

Listen to and record the opinions and values of potential customers

Forecasting

Predicting behaviour, technology or markets helps put decisions in context

Forecasting can be on the basis of published research or predicted scenarios

Image analysis

Helps define product features that complement brand values
Analysis of trends in form, colour and finishes can make ideas more relevant to consumers

Component Layouts

Helps to optimise the positioning of parts and verify sketch ideas
Lucid Group's 3D CAD systems enable everyone understand and contribute to ideas.

Technical searches

Identify and refine solutions in diverse markets or technologies

We discover opportunities in materials, suppliers, regulations and markets

Diaries

Discover how consumers experience products and services

Video diaries of interactions with products and prototypes are particularly revealing.

Correspondents

Ideas can be enriched with diverse cultural, economic and environmental perspectives

Feedback from all over the world improves design ideas

Competitive audit

Benchmarking ideas against competitors highlights opportunities.

Feature and benefits are listed and compared.

Intellectual Property analysis

Discovering if and how an idea is protected helps establish it's value.

Patents and design registrations are searched and analysed

Shadowing

Helps discover problems, opportunities and how people interact with products

We spend time with people, observing and learning about their behaviour.

Ergonomic analysis

Identifies people of relevant sizes to evaluate design ideas

People are chosen on the basis of data from scientific studies

Research

Know how helps us to reduce risk and understand opportunities.

We use many tools to help confirm the value of ideas, including…

Project planning

Experience of shortcuts and pitfalls in developments helps them run smoothly

Lucid's team applies over 15 years of practical know how to plan effectively

Design

Lucid visualises and models alternatives for industrial design problems.

Building on innovation and research, we deliver integrated design proposals.
Tools include…

Extreme users

Highlight critical issues and can help develop improvements

We listen to experts and people who are completely ignorant of products

risk assessment

Helps avoid problems with new products and services

We predict, test and design out negative product features

proof of principle rigs

Test ideas and analyse problems and opportunities quickly

Rigs and basic models are often built by Lucid's designers

test groups

Consumers can provide the inspiration for improvements

Managed group discussions using prototypes help validate designs

Ball park costing

A guide price, based on incomplete product design data

Ball park costs are used to compare preliminary options

Sketch Design

Product design solutions communicate concepts quickly.

Hand or computer aided design visuals are used to get fast feedback.

basic mockups

Are invaluable to communicate and assess the size, form and feel of ideas.

Foam, card, wood and paper are often used to quickly mock up ideas

Development

Lucid's experience helps balance technical know how with consistent focus on market and consumer needs.

Some of the problem solving, test and technical processes we use include:

Production

Lucid helps businesses focus on sales by management of the production.

Manufacturing contacts worldwide enable our people to help deliver quality product solutions to tight budgets and schedules.

Ongoing Development

Lucid's team constantly adapt designs to suit changing consumer preferences

Experience in many techniques enables us to deliver changes quickly

Manufacturing management

Lucid delivers manufactured product for many customers

Lucid's extensive production experience enables our clients to focus on sales

Production verification

Before volume production it's essential to verify quality

Lucid checks first off batches and manages corrections

low volume manufacturing

Near perfect parts can be made very quickly in low volumes

A network of suppliers using different techniques can speed delivery

Team management

We find the right component and assembly suppliers for new products

Quality contacts worldwide enables Lucid to quickly find supply partners

Compliance documentation and testing

Most products need some form of compliance documentation.

Lucid frequently manages testing and technical file compilation

detail specification

An unambiguous description of how to produce a product or service

Engineering drawings, CAD data and flow diagrams are typical deliverables

Manufacturing simulation

Optimises product design by predicting manufacturing conditions

Using 3D CAD simulation we can design out processing problems

Physical test prototypes

Used to accurately communicate design intent and test consumer reaction

Rapid prototypes can be made indistinguishable from production

Materials/component specification

Finding and detailing the right parts, materials and processes is essential

Our team all draw on over 15 years experience to accelerate specification

Structural analysis

Optimises engineering design by predicting the effects of loads

Using 3D CAD simulation we can avoid product failure or over-engineering

Block models

Help communicate the external form and feel of a product relatively economically.

Block models can be basic, or accurately finished to represent colours and surfaces

value analysis

Focussing on a consumer's perception of value helps develop “leaner” designs

Value focus helps us to avoid the cost of features and to design in benefits

lateral thinking

Continual reference to the “big picture” in engineering design produces better results

Team working helps Lucid's work to develop focused and fresh

Sourcing Suppliers

We find the right component and assembly suppliers for new products

Quality contacts worldwide enables Lucid to quickly find supply partners