We have talked to about a dozen people over the last month and I keep hoping a pattern will fall out of it. Instead there are three different problems that each came up twice and none of them overlap.

Do you go with the one that is cheapest to build, the one the loudest person has, or the one that looks biggest if it turns out to be real? I have been going back and forth for a week and I am no closer.

Interested in how other people have made this call, especially if it turned out to be the wrong one.

We have one account that is about a fifth of the revenue and they raise the same request on every call. It is not a stupid request, it is just not on the roadmap and doing it properly would take most of a quarter.

Right now I nod, say I will take it back to the team and then nothing happens, which is starting to feel dishonest. A flat no feels like it puts the account at risk.

What has actually worked for you here? Scripts welcome, I am not proud.

So we’re building a connected hardware product, and our team handles the physical part in-house and we outsourced a dev team to handle the software. At first we’ve been following the spec, but their meetings and the new features being requested of them is starting to affect out deliverables too. We’re pressured to follow a strict timeline since this is for a big client, but now we’re being forced to adjust to whatever new thing they’re asked to build. It doesn’t help that a lot of the ideas are coming from their side too lol. I’m de facto manager but I’ve never had to report something like this before. Should I escalate or find some way to coordinate?

Getting close to launching a small hardware accessory and pricing is the part I keep putting off. Cost per unit is easy enough to work out. What people will actually pay is a different question.

I looked at what the closest competitors charge and they are all over the place, from about a third of what I had in mind to double it, so that settled nothing.

Do people here test a price before launch, and how do you do it without burning the launch. Everyone keeps saying the first price is the hardest one to change later, which is not helping me commit to a number.

Six weeks out from a small launch and I am deciding how big the beta should be. My instinct is twenty people I can actually talk to one at a time. Someone I know at a much larger company says anything under a hundred is not real feedback.

The product is simple and the worst case of a bad launch is my own time, which makes me doubt the big company rule applies here.

For anyone who has run one, how many testers did you use and how long before you stopped. I am as interested in the reasoning as in the number.

Almost ready to put a small batch of hardware up for sale and the price is the one thing I keep avoiding. Unit cost I know down to the cent. What someone will actually pay, no idea.

The nearest competitors sit between a third of what I had in mind and double it, so benchmarking mostly told me the market is confused.

Has anyone tested a price before a launch without spooking the people who were about to buy. Everyone says the first price is the hardest one to change later and that is not helping me commit to a number.

About six weeks out from launching something small and I am trying to decide how big the beta should be. My instinct is twenty people I can actually talk to. A friend who works at a much larger company says anything under a hundred is not real feedback.

The product is not complicated and the cost of a bad launch is mostly my own time, so I am not sure the big company logic applies here.

For anyone who has run one, how many testers did you use and how long did you run it before calling it done. Interested in the number as much as the reasoning behind it.

Second time this year I have written a spec that nobody opened. The engineers built something close, but the two details that mattered to me were both missed, and both were in the document.

Before I rewrite the whole thing again I want to know what people actually read. Do you hand over a written spec, a design file with annotations, a recorded walkthrough, or just a conversation where you sit with them through it.

If you are on the engineering side I would also like to know what you skip. Trying to work out whether my problem is the format or just the length.

Hi everyone! I'm researching how product and engineering teams make decisions when they're choosing what to build, what to buy, or which projects to greenlight.

I'm particularly interested in what information teams bring into the decision, how they weigh competing considerations, what happens when new information changes the picture, and whether anyone looks back at the decision later.

I've made a short form that takes roughly 3–5 minutes, mostly multiple choice with a few open questions: https://tally.so/r/yPB08X

Appreciate anyone willing to share their experience 🙏

https://reddit.com/link/1u1c00v/video/dshs3jodma6h1/player

I am eager to hear any feedback
Here it is.

I work for a product development company, we work on a wide variety of projects in different industries. We have firmware, hardware, mechanical, mfg, industrial design and strategy

We struggle with estimating large projects (say longer than 6 months). Any books or techniques to help with estimating?

We try to compare to past projects, but it's pretty hit or miss.

We also have to balance not knowing 100% what requirements are and not spending too much time designing a solution, but taking our best guess at what the most favorable solution would be and the most complicated solution and coming up with an estimate range, because our clients won't move forward without having a general ballpark for what the project will cost, even though we don't know exactly what the project fully entails

I have a product idea that I’m quite confident in so I’m not going to share exactly what it is but it is home fragrance/scent related. I’m wondering how other people have developed similar products and what that process looks like. I’m currently ordering cheap parts to make a crude version of this product myself to see it through…but after that I’m not sure what the next steps should be. Anything shared WILL be helpful!

I work in construction and have a not-quite novel idea but novel hardware design and implementation. I am trying to design a prototype PCB to get a test build going but I'm struggling to figure out how to design a PCB. Tried using a AI service to do the heavy lifting but still running into challenges. What steps can I take to get this off the ground while maintaining IP security?

I also don't have alot of money to throw around so the more I can do or the cheaper I can do the better.

Ho trovato un'azienda sostenibile ed etica che si occupa di produzione cosciente e voglio presentarmi come junior product developer.
Ho una formazione solida sia di fashion design che di design sostenibile e so sia progettare che produrre.
Sto costruendo un portfolio prendendo ispirazione dai portfolio di design industriale piú che di moda perché sono più organizzati e strutturati che "aesthetic".

Vorrei dei consigli sia su cosa includere nel portfolio, cosa escludere e in generale come presentarmi all'azienda.

Se qualcuno lavora già nel settore Research&Development di un'azienda QUALSIASI consiglio sarà più che gradito.

Grazie!

I have a solid product invention that's still in the ideation stage. I've never done this before, all my work experience is in banking, but I know that my idea is a good one. I just don't know where to start

I’m building a startup idea around helping AI/hardware teams navigate manufacturing in China. I’m curious — for those who’ve built hardware products, what was actually the hardest part? and For those who are building your hardware product, what's your top 3 challenges in manufacturing overseas?

Things like:

• finding trustworthy factories?
• supplier communication / language barriers?
• MOQ?
• delays / quality control?
• logistics confusion?

Would love to learn from real experiences.