# 114: Designing an MVP for a New Consumer Product

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2022-02-16
- Length: 28m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Magnus Skold, a senior industrial designer at Mako Design + Invent, explains the concept of a 'smart' Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for startups, emphasizing that simplicity and core feature focus drive better quality, lower costs, and smoother production than feature creep. He draws on his experience designing for high-end private jets, commercial airlines, and Dell to illustrate how 'levels of complication' in design directly impact manufacturing complexity and vendor communication. The discussion highlights the importance of matching product aesthetics to their usage environment and making 'free' versus 'costly' design choices to ensure a product is intuitive, robust, and ready for market validation.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=0) Introduction: Magnus Skold and Mako Design + Invent
- [2:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=136) Magnus Skold's Background: Private Jets, Airlines, and Dell
- [5:15](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=315) Defining Smart MVP: Brilliance over Bare Minimum
- [7:16](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=436) Levels of Complication: The Swiss Watch Analogy
- [9:51](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=591) Purity of Purpose and Intuitive User Experience
- [12:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=776) Free vs. Costly Design Choices and Prototyping
- [16:32](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=992) Matching Aesthetics to Usage Environment
- [19:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=1180) Simplifying Production and Vendor Communication
- [22:40](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-02-16-114-designing-an-mvp-for-a-new-consumer-product#t=1360) Startup vs. Fortune 500 Product Development Strategies

## Topics

- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Design for manufacturing & NPI](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/design-for-manufacturing)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Mako Design + Invent (company)
- Dell (company)
- American Airlines (company)
- Abbott (company)
- TXS Industrial Design (company)
- Sultan of Brunei (other)
- Prince Avolid bin Talal al-Assad (other)
- Don Norman (other)
- Tim Treleski (other)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [S2E37 Defied the odds:  A Physical Product Development Firm That Focuses on Startups & Small Businesses, Mako Design + Invent –Kevin Mako](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2021-08-23-s2e37-defied-the-odds-a-physical-product-development-firm-that-focuses-on-startu) (Being an Engineer)
- [Interview with Eric Ries - Transorted Testing Tachydidaxy](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-amp-hour/2013-08-21-interview-with-eric-ries-transorted-testing-tachydidaxy) (The Amp Hour)
- [Hardware Entrepreneurs: 3 Critical Mistakes You Must Avoid](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2022-06-21-hardware-entrepreneurs-3-critical-mistakes-you-must-avoid) (Predictable Designs Podcast)
- [IDology #8 - Dos and Don’ts of product development](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/idology/2023-02-15-idology-8-dos-and-donts-of-product-development) (IDology)
- [Importance of Technical Advisors and Product Simplification](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2020-05-15-importance-of-technical-advisors-and-product-simplification) (Predictable Designs Podcast)

## Citing this page

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