# 150: Building Product Prototypes with Your Design Team

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2022-11-16
- Length: 17m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-11-16-150-building-product-prototypes-with-your-design-team
- Listen: https://productstartup.com/

## Summary

Robert Irwin, Lead INdusdtrial Designer at Origyn (a division of Haier) and former Senior INdusdtrial Designer at Amazon, discusses managing design teams and the iterative prototyping process for hardware products. He emphasizes the importance of leadership EQ, specifically empathy for both end-users and internal stakeholders, to avoid compartmentalizing features and ensure they work together in a physical prototype. Irwin advocates for a staged approach to prototyping, starting with rough, low-fidelity models like 3D prints to de-risk failure before moving to higher-fidelity builds that test mechanics and manufacturing feasibility.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-11-16-150-building-product-prototypes-with-your-design-team#t=0) Introduction and Guest Background
- [2:41](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-11-16-150-building-product-prototypes-with-your-design-team#t=161) Leadership EQ and Empathy in Design Teams
- [5:09](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-11-16-150-building-product-prototypes-with-your-design-team#t=309) The Danger of Compartmentalizing Features
- [6:56](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-11-16-150-building-product-prototypes-with-your-design-team#t=416) Prototyping as a Feedback Loop for Stakeholders
- [9:58](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-11-16-150-building-product-prototypes-with-your-design-team#t=598) Staged Prototyping: From Rough to High-Fidelity
- [12:49](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-11-16-150-building-product-prototypes-with-your-design-team#t=769) De-risking Failure and Pivoting Based on User Data
- [15:04](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2022-11-16-150-building-product-prototypes-with-your-design-team#t=904) Embracing Failure to Find Weaknesses

## Topics

- [Prototyping & iteration](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/prototyping)
- [Industrial & consumer product design](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/industrial-design)
- [Validation & product-market fit](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/validation-and-product-market-fit)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Origyn (company)
- Haier (company)
- Amazon (company)
- Hoover (company)
- Mako Design + Invent (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [#027 - Rapid prototyping - a platform and its essential tools, with Finbarr Watterson of Fictiv, USA](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/the-hardware-entrepreneur/2017-05-24-027-rapid-prototyping-a-platform-and-its-essential-tools-with-finbarr-watterson) (The Hardware Entrepreneur)
- [S7E16 Chad Walters | Constraints, Iteration, & Industrial Design in Product Development](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2026-04-10-s7e16-chad-walters-constraints-iteration-industrial-design-in-product-developmen) (Being an Engineer)
- [The Ugly Truth About Prototyping a New Product](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/predictable-designs-podcast/2023-01-11-the-ugly-truth-about-prototyping-a-new-product) (Predictable Designs Podcast)
- [IDology #5 - Mindsailors industrial design process](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/idology/2023-01-03-idology-5-mindsailors-industrial-design-process) (IDology)
- [S1E49 The Critical Formula for Developing New Products | Jeff Christian](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/being-an-engineer/2020-11-06-s1e49-the-critical-formula-for-developing-new-products-jeff-christian) (Being an Engineer)

## Citing this page

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