Services
Consumer Research
Our design process starts by ensuring we understand both your vision and the needs, desires and frustrations of your intended customers. Urso Studio can deploy different methods to achieve this, such as, creating focus groups, conducting interviews, observations, competitor analysis and immersive testing. These insights ensure our designs are based on firm foundations, underpinning the creation of enduring and innovative products.
Ideation
Once we have a clear picture from our consumer research, we start the process of turning insights into ideas. We may start this process with quick sketches and simple mock-ups to rapidly and efficiently test new concepts and principles. As ideation progresses, we will create renders and prototypes to clearly illustrate the ideas being generated. These are then shared with stakeholders, seeking feedback and approval before agreed concepts are developed further.
Concept Appraisal and Refinement
At Urso Studio, we understand the importance of quality and value. We are also passionate about the sustainability of our designs. It is here that we draw on our knowledge and experience to determine how the envisaged product is likely to perform in the real world. Attention to detail matters. Will intended consumers appreciate the hand-feel of a fabric? Will the snap of a buckle give satisfying auditory feedback? Do fastenings look strong and reassuring? Can a feature be used with gloves?
Iterative Prototyping
Prototyping makes your design a reality and the process is necessarily iterative. As designers and developers, prototyping allows us to fix and improve. By making multiple prototypes, each sequentially tested and improved upon, iterative prototyping provides confidence in the quality and utility of a product. Iterative prototyping is employed in industries as diverse as automotive manufacturing and software development, and effort invested in this key process is a feature of our approach to design at Urso Studio.
In factory development
Part of iterative prototyping happens in factories who interpret our technical descriptions and early prototypes before producing them in small numbers. Any factory constraints typically become apparent at this stage; instructions and explanations may need to be clarified, designs may need to be further iterated. As the factory produces further rounds of samples, so the product becomes increasingly refined. Our role at Urso Studio is to efficiently guide the factory towards the point where a fully optimised design is ready to enter production.
Pre-production sampling and quality control
Towards the end of the design process, Urso Studio will co-ordinate the manufacture of pre-production or ‘golden’ samples. These are flawless examples of the intended product which are held by both the factory and the brand. These samples, together with detailed design specifications, set the expected standard for manufacturing.
Supporting this, Urso Studio will prepare quality control documentation. These documents describe and illustrate the critically important aspects of a design. Together with our hands-on advice and guidance, these documents underpin factory-based inspections by describing minor defects which may be tolerated (in limited numbers), and more significant defects which will lead to rejection.
Buy ready handoff
Once a factory is ready to manufacture and quality assure a product, the product is ready to buy (Buy-Ready). At this point, a supply chain manager will be able to submit orders to a factory and expect delivery. Although the process of designing and developing a product is finished at this point, Urso Studio will remain on hand to troubleshoot any issues which may emerge in the future.
Commercial viability
Assuring commercial viability runs through the entirety of our design process. Factories will have minimum order and profitability requirements, consumers will have a price they’re willing to pay, brands will have profit expectations and an idea of how many pieces they intend to sell. A key element of the design process at Urso Studio therefore is to understand the expectations of different stakeholders, and then to balance those expectations and financial constraints to achieve a commercially attractive product.