Making things better by making better things. - Oxford Product Design is an award-winning, full service product design consultancy founded in 2013.

We are professional problem solvers, working with some of the world’s leading brands on category-defining products that improve how we humans live and work. (We wish we could share them all here, but we’re sworn to secrecy.) And we’re just as excited about working with entrepreneurs and startups on groundbreaking new ideas...

Our way of working is rigorous but flexible. We’ll take your project from ideation to production, or can get involved and work alongside you at any stage of the process - from technology development to engineering, visualisation, prototyping and project management - integrating with your in house team or working independently.

We’re innovators - curious, experimental, creative and passionate. But our pragmatic, precise approach and highly technical expertise mean that manufacturability and risk management are at the core of everything we do.

Finally, we care deeply about the impact our work has on the planet. We are proud to be founding partners at Oxford Greentech - a network encouraging innovation, collaboration and knowledge transfer to facilitate the transition toward a sustainable future.

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Build it right - Our intelligent process has been honed over hundreds of product design cycles. It’s rigorous but flexible, and it works. We tailor it to meet the unique requirements of each and every project.

We can take your project from ideation to production, or can get involved at any stage of the process - from R&D to engineering, prototyping and project management - integrating with your in house team or working independently.

The first step is to build a detailed and accurate picture of the end user, the market, and the problem. As our client, your knowledge and expertise is invaluable to our finding the right solution.

We’re transparent, straightforward and open with our clients (and with everyone else for that matter), working in true collaboration with you to get the job done. Because we know that the best solutions come when people work together, pooling knowledge, expertise and experience.

By monitoring progress throughout the project, we ensure that we’re meeting your time constraints and budgets, and we look ahead to anticipate problems and mitigate risk, testing our solutions and keeping manufacturability front and centre at every stage of the process.

We’re independently ISO 9001:2105 certified. This internationally recognised quality standard ensures that our process prioritises the best experience for our clients through consistency and continuous improvement. So you know you’re in safe hands.

We believe that we have a responsibility to our clients to drive both the practicalities of manufacture and the commercial success of the products we have a hand in creating.

We work with purpose toward a solution that will defy convention, delight your user and exceed your expectations.

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Delivering an exceptional, commercially successful product requires creativity, passion and technical expertise across multiple fields.

Our team brings together specialists from across disciplines - from research and strategy, to industrial design, to mechanical, electronics and software engineering, to prototyping and manufacture.

We can take your project from ideation to production, or can work alongside you at any stage of the process - integrating with your in house team or working independently.

Our intelligent process has been honed over hundreds of product design cycles. It’s rigorous but flexible, and it works. We tailor it to meet the unique requirements of each and every project.

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Our industrial designers are adept at creating beautiful and informed designs that challenge convention as well as being both realistic and achievable.

The team begins from a perspective that anything is possible. In an ideal world, what might this product look like? How could it feel and behave? They conceive masses of ideas, before narrowing down to the most innovative, inspiring and manufacturable approaches.

The team then works alongside our mechanical engineers to refine their ideas further, testing their concepts throughout the process and ensuring manufacturability as well as determining potential components, material and finishes.

We bring the concept to life through detailed, photorealistic visualisations and animations using software including Creo ISDX, Rhino and Keyshot, to help you convey your product to a wider audience. We’ll work closely with you to establish the right colour, material and finish (CMF) for your product.

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Our designs have to be beautiful, innovative and crucially, realistic.

We work in collaboration with our clients to make sure we have a clear understanding of the scope of the design challenge - before we begin to iterate, develop and hone the perfect solution.

Our methodical approach allows us to examine the key factors that will influence a product’s design. Design for Manufacture (DFM), Design for Assembly (DFA) and Design for Disassembly (DFD) considerations always underpin our CAD surfacing and detailed design phase.

Using complex computer simulation methods and industry recognised tools including Creo CFD and Solidworks Simulation Premium, we can predict the behaviour of the product concept and determine critical factors that influence that behaviour.

Finite element analysis enables us to predict how your product will respond to physical effects such as force, vibration and heat and helps pinpoint any inefficiencies in the design.

Mold flow analysis ensures that the mold design is producing strong and consistent parts.

Tolerance analysis lets us validate that the product can be assembled in the factory with low yield, and that critical fits impacting performance can be maintained.

We can then work closely with a testhouse to guide your product to achieve certifications such as CE, FCC and FDA.

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We don’t stop at the design of a product’s casework.

We offer a complete and holistic approach to product design, integrating electronic capabilities into our concepts to create smart, connected and optimised products that contribute to the Internet of Things.

The electronics and software engineers on our team are true experts at seamlessly integrating electronics to create smart, connected products. They work with emerging technologies to develop firmware, software and hardware that will ensure smooth functionality and a sleek experience for your end users.

Working across sectors enables us to see the bigger picture and means that we can apply emerging technologies from other product types to build completely innovative solutions.

Starting from initial feasibility studies, our full range of services include the design of sub assemblies, printed circuit boards (PCBs), components or even whole systems. By evaluating and developing the methods and tools required to assemble products, we build component specs for rapid implementation.

Our electronic and mechanical engineers work together to seamlessly build your electronics requirements into the product. This speeds up the product development process, getting your product to market as quickly as possible.

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Photorealistic software provides exquisitely rendered, animated visualisations that can help you establish the right colour and feel for your product.

But even the most high fidelity virtual representation of a product can’t beat the experience of holding it in your hand. When it comes to understanding the experience of using a product in the real world there’s no substitute for physical prototyping.

Prototypes are often the fastest and most effective way to understand and refine a product’s design as well as to communicate a product’s potential to future users or potential investors.

We have the technology and the skills in house to simulate the precise look, function and feel of finished products through a variety of techniques including the very latest 3D SLA printing technology, in materials from plastics to rubber.

We also work with a group of trusted partners that offer CNC and other prototyping capabilities.

The team is highly skilled in building everything from quick and dirty visual prototypes for proof of concept, risk management and iteration - to functional rigs for manufacture and pre production prototypes - right through to high precision prototypes suitable for customer focus groups, testing and evaluation.

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The perfect solution requires a perfect understanding of the problem.

We start by building a detailed and accurate picture of the end user, the problem your product will solve for them, and the context in which your product will be used.

In our experience, a user-centred design approach is the fastest way to bring clarity and direction to a project. We conduct questionnaires and focus groups, human factors and market research, competitor analysis and product teardowns, and explore design trends and emerging technology in the field.

The knowledge we gain through research allows us to boldly challenge preconceptions, and to envision a product that will delight your user, defy convention and create the conditions for commercial success.

Research is not a single phase at OPD. Rather, it’s a thread that runs through our entire process. We ideate, prove and refine our ideas at every stage, mitigating risk and ensuring that our designs are optimised for production.

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To be successful, every project needs careful planning, attention to detail and collaboration.

Product design is a complex discipline with numerous moving parts that require the attention, skills and knowledge of multiple experts.

Our project managers are diligent and skilled in the handling and coordination of every stage of the product design process, right through to handing over manufacture-ready data to a manufacturing partner.

They will guide you through our flexible and proven process, monitoring progress throughout the project to ensure that we’re hitting those crucial milestones - both to deadline and to budget - and keeping you informed at every stage.

Contact us to find out how we can help with your next project.

Bringing a product to market is a complex operation. Each project brings a unique set of challenges to navigate, and establishing the right strategy with the right support is key to a successful journey.

Our team has the experience and the expertise to guide your project to success.

Whether you need help making your idea a reality or have developed a technology and are looking for cross-sector opportunities to apply it, we will work with you to establish a clear and definite strategy, and to help you make the decisions that will lead to a successful launch.

We can also work closely with you to plan and manage your IP strategy and to apply for development grants, investments and product funding applications.

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Our responsibility doesn’t just end when we have finished the design stage - we also ensure the practicalities of manufacture and support the commercial success of the products we have a hand in creating.

Our design process has manufacturability and assembly at its core, and through our rigorous testing and validation process we’re able to take products from idea stage all the way to mass production. Our manufacturing partners can cut tools directly from our 3D data, saving you both money and time.

We can help you to select and manage the best manufacturing partner for your project. We have relationships with a variety of trusted, reliable and experienced factories across the UK, Europe and Asia, who we ourselves have audited.

We support protobuilds - running the manufacture of your first products through the assembly process to ensure that the relevant documentation, materials and parts are in place for the build.

We also offer ongoing manufacturing support and production process planning. For every project, we will see to it that the implementation of our designs is efficient, effective and precise.

Our work doesn’t stop there. Seamless production requires ongoing testing so we’ll oversee the manufacture of your final product, working closely with the factory to manage quality issues, improve efficiency and bring down the overall cost.

Our engineers will look for ways to reduce lead time as well as the overhead costs associated with the production process, while retaining exceptional output and quality.

Find out how we can help with your next project. Get in touch