FAQ
We have worked with hundreds of new product teams across hardware, software and data in critical parts of the development of exceptional, user centred technologies.
This all feeds deeply in to the Wearable Product Accelerator Process. Here are some of the questions and answers relevant to whether the Wearable Product Accelerator can work for you.
What exactly do you deliver?
Firstly the curated and in depth workshopping process with you and the team will sort through all details of the product concept. We then populate and synthesise a detailed and bespoke model for development, covering all stages, risks, development, production, unit cost and strategic investments needed.
We need investment, so how do we work out how much to ask an investor for?
That's part of the reason to go through the Wearable Product Accelerator process. We will allow you to go to investors with the long and medium term strategic development plan and a very well justified short term investment ask. Having the detailed plan allows you to have confidence when pitching and clarity about the longer term cash requirements
Can we trust your expertise on our specific product proposition?
We have a wide range of expertise in our team, with hundreds of products and many different sectors covered. Each session is bespoke to your product and we will draw on our experts to align their experience with your proposition. We combine this tailored selection of advisors, with the robust and stress tested tools developed for the Wearable Product Accelerator, which align with the general rules of product development and large scale production.
Is this process going to be a distraction and take up load of time?
No! We know how urgent timelines often are. Your runway is critical and the need for constant progress is essential. We can provide a very rapid turnaround for this process of 2-4 weeks. If you need it done fast, we will work with you to achieve tight timelines.
Does the process cover everything our business will need, or is it just the technology development stuff?
We focus on the technical development (hardware, software, data science) and costs associated with production, such as the tooling and unit costs. We do NOT consider the marketing costs, overheads, sales and other non technical factors, which you can add to our results to arrive at a solid investment, development and deployment plan.
Can you really estimate what it's going to cost to get to market early in the journey?
Yes! That's the whole point of the process. We seek to work through the driving factors with you and help you clarify the assumptions to establish realistic numbers you can justify. At each stage of development, you will need a compelling investment case and we draw on of decades of experience to help you justify this.
We are on a very tight budget, why should we spend money on this and not on development?
Good question. We aim to both help plan, cost and risk assess getting to market, but in the process, we almost always find ways of simplifying, fast tracking and reducing overall costs. The modest fees paid to us to help curate this journey should be paid back many times as the product is developed.
So once we have all the information from the Wearable Product Accelerator, what do we do with it?
The process will break things down and make your goal focused. Each stage of development will have scope and context, allowing the work to be commissioned. We can assist with finding investors, selecting contractors, or hiring people to your team. The process is about providing you with the knowledge to make better decisions.
Does your expertise cover things like designing software apps and interfaces?
Our team has loads of experience across physical, digital and data and so the roadmap will cover the entire technical development. We will assess the proposed product (under NDA) and bring the right team members to the table to give you the best possible advice and outcomes, with justifications in terms of the scope of each iteration.
Will we be able to pin down the Bill of Materials (BoM) and unit cost for the product?
Yes! We know through many years of experience how to calculate and scale unit cost projections. This is a complex part of the costing and really kicks in as unit production scales. We will map all of this and provide the detailed unit cost projections for the whole life cycle, allowing both investment planning and retail pricing strategy.
Can you make any introductions to investors?
Yes! We are well connected in the Wearables scene, with good contacts in the hardware investment community. Completing the Wearable Product Accelerator process helps to present a strong case and our network are favourable to teams who can justify their figures.
Are you affiliated or vested in giving specific advice, or suggesting specific development partners?
No. We are agnostic to who you decide to work with. However, we are very well connected in the wearables space and so can certainly advise on options for freelancers, agencies and manufacturing partners, giving you a way to fast track progress and keep costs down.
How accurate are the numbers you provide?
We seek to provide very accurate figures for the short term, good budgetary range for the medium term and well grounded projections for the longer term, production stages. The development costs dominate the earlier stages and the unit and production cost estimates dominate the later stages. Both take different tools and experience to estimate accurately and we are very confident in our methodologies.
Can you build us a prototype or a demonstrator?
Our focus is on preparing solid, reliable and defensible roadmaps through the Wearable Product Accelerator process. We have a strong network and can point you towards people who can assist on development of prototypes. Give us a shout and let's talk.
Have another question?
If you have other questions not covered here, or want to just check in and have a chat about the process and how we can support you, please use the button below to reach us, or pop over to the Contact page and give us a call