Customer References - RKS DesignDESIGNING TO IMPRESS: SMALL FIRM HAS BIG IDEASWritten by Vic Goodpasture in July 94 Ravi K. Sawhney, founder of RKS Design, knows the importance of a good first impression. His company's product design work for major corporations has impressed both clients and consumers. You've probably never heard of RKS Design, but you've most certainly seen its accomplishments. From the huggable (the Teddy Ruxpin animated talking bear) and playable (Ascii Entertainment's Sega-compatible video game controller) to the medical (a hand-held oxygen sensor) and computable (a notebook computer, a 486 PC server and a data compression device), RKS provides its clients the designs to gain manufacturing and marketing advantages. "Visual positioning plays a critical role in consumer purchasing," Sawhney explains. "People are taught not to judge a book by its cover, but the reality is people do just that. They look at products and instantly make judgments regarding quality, durability, reliability and functionality. Part of good design is creating a positive first impression."
With eleven full-time designers and a network of free-lance designers, model makers and engineers, the 14-year-old Canoga Park, Calif., company has solidified its reputation as a results-oriented firm. Combining a knowledge of technology, ergonomics, marketing, manufacturing and design with an understanding of client requirements, RKS continues to amass awards and recognition from its peers. The firm is also quick to adopt the best in design tools to complement its talent. After evaluating a number of alternative software packages, the company jumped full-fledged into three-dimensional solid modeling with Hewlett-Packard's ME30 solid modeling software and HP's Precision Engineering/SolidDesigner software. And with that combination of expertise and technology, RKS has fostered solid, long-term relationships with clients who value the firm's capabilities. "Clients don't come to us simply because they want something that looks good," says Sawhney, who began the company in his parents' garage. "You can design something that looks outstanding, but it may be impossible to manufacture or cost-prohibitive to produce. So when we speak of providing 'marketing and manufacturing advantages through design,' we're emphasizing that throughout the design process, manufacturing costs and the product's marketability are at the forefront of everything we do." At a recent day-long meeting with a client regarding a new, proprietary technology, RKS designers spent only 15 minutes talking about the look. The rest of the meeting dealt with issues concerning interface, technology, packaging, components and the relationship between components. "When you're developing an entirely new product, no detail is too small, no function unimportant." Sawhney explains. Take, for example, an RKS design of a new free-standing spectrometer. "Is the product's access door easy to open?" he asks. "That may seem like a small detail, but you'll be surprised how difficult it is to get things at the right height for both short and tall people. The viewing angles should not strain the user. The door should open easily and reliably. The way that door opens on a $100,000 product will tell you a lot about the technology inside." In developing a Sega-compatible video game controller for Ascii Entertainment, RKS found almost a dozen competing models on the market. Most were virtually identical to each other, and none addressed the carpal tunnel syndrome issue that was plaguing many users. RKS developed a controller with proper palm rests, finger grips and button distances. It's curved look appealed to design-savvy teens and pre-teens. Within two months of its introduction, it was the top selling controller in the country. GamePro magazine named the controller 1992 Peripheral of the Year, and the 1992 Consumer Electronics Show recognized it with an Innovation and Engineering Award. One of the designers who worked on the project found his nephew playing with the new controller. When asked why he wasn't using the other controllers, the nephew replied, "This is the one that works." Functionally, all the controllers work, Sawhney explains. "You press the button and it accepts the signal. But 'working' goes beyond meeting a technical specification. To us, working means, 'I can play for a couple of hours, and it feels right in my hands.' Those kinds of intangibles you can't write into the specification. But when you incorporate them, it gives your client a huge marketing advantage."
Product design is a study of compromise and balance. Market forces, competition and changing consumer tastes affect how fast a product goes from concept to point of purchase. And it is a delicate balance indeed. Push the process too fast and you risk manufacturing an incomplete or poorly designed product; move too slow and you risk losing your market share. Giving designers and engineers more time allows them to improve ergonomics, quality and functionality while lowering the cost of manufacture. But at some point that development has to stop so the product can be manufactured. Compressing the design process is one of the reasons RKS moved full-fledged into three-dimensional solid modeling. With time-to-market a constant issue, clients view RKS' investment into HP's ME30 solid modeling software and HP's Precision Engineering/SolidDesigner software as an investment in their companies as well. The company also uses HP's ME10 for two-dimensional design and the output of full-production drawings. Run on HP 700 series workstations, the solid modeling tools vastly improve RKS' ability to respond to tight time constraints no matter the project's complexity or sophistication. Projects that would have taken 8-10 weeks before, can now be slashed to less than three -- including producing prototype parts. "Solid modeling allows for a higher level of visualization," he says. "It also increases interaction between companies working on different components of the same product. Because it's three-dimensional and can be rotated in any direction, it virtually ends questions of interpretation. The ability to send information back and forth and visualize it quickly is crucial. I've heard outside designers say they only use 3D CAD when it's appropriate. That's inconceivable. When would it not be appropriate? It's faster, better and cheaper." HP's PE/SolidDesigner allows designers to explore ideas and concepts within cyberspace. They can test a wide variety of concepts without detriment or time loss. And they have a dialog with the computer in the form of instant feedback as to implications of a design change.
"The marketplace demands higher quality products that look softer and smoother -- more user friendly," says Frank Zinni, design director. "You can do that three-dimensionally on a computer screen with PE/SolidDesigner. You can get the soft, well-refined surfaces consumers now seek. You can check designs for fit and function -- things you previously could only do by actually building a model. Before we had this technology, we spent most of our time and energy interpreting the information and projecting views. Now that's all incidental." Because time-to-market is becoming more and more critical, any method that speeds up the development and prototyping process is real time savings. For example, L.A. Gear assigned RKS to design an LED (light-emitting diode) keychain casing to be given away as part of L.A. Gear's promotion of its new "footwear technology." The assignment was one of the first RKS had to use its new HP three-dimensional solid-modeling tools. Both the hardware and software proved their value: In four weeks, production product was coming off the assembly line. The marketplace is more fickle today than it's ever been before, according to Sawhney. Products are becoming more niche oriented, which prevents manufacturers from projecting out more than a year or so. With L.A. Gear, the high-tech keychain light was required for an upcoming trade show where the footwear company was to launch a new line of shoes. The design and production deadlines had to be met. "The most successful and fastest growing companies are those that can identify a close target and meet it," he says. "They identify a market opportunity and respond immediately. Then they move to the next opportunity. Compare that strategy to one where companies attempt to project a need somewhere in the far future. They may or may not be right -- and that still doesn't guarantee they'll be able to respond to their marketing window. Some markets that used to allow a few years in development are now compressed to six months to a year -- from product concept to consumer purchase. With three-dimensional modeling, you get to the marketplace faster." For example, conventionally drafting a fairly complex part may take several weeks. With PE/SolidDesigner, the process can take days. The program's high visualizing capability allows both clients and designers to make changes in the computer before any actual prototyping. Using rapid prototyping, which makes a part from the computer file, clients can handle an item that had been only a concept just days earlier. A recent project involved 30 parts. "It was so complex that building the prototypes conventionally would have taken six weeks," Zinni points out. "With rapid prototyping, we built all 30 parts in five days." HP's PE/SolidDesigner software allows designers to maximize their creativity with intuitive tools that greatly enhance the design process. In addition to the benefits RKS derives from the solid modeling software, it's a big help when dealing with clients who are unfamiliar with the design process. "We're designing three-dimensional objects for our clients," Zinni points out." They can see within days their product coming to fruition. It really strengthens the designer-client relationship." Most of RKS' clients are companies that have developed new technologies and now need help packaging that technology into a product. Some are major corporations who have their own in-house design and engineering teams but are seeking a fresh perspective; others are small start-up companies looking for help in bringing their idea to life. Before any work begins, RKS' staff meets with the client and probes in-depth all avenues of packaging, manufacture, marketing and deadline requirements. "We ask a lot of questions," Sawhney says. "Many times clients are unsure of what they want. Our job is to draw that out of them." Once RKS accepts a project, the company's eleven designers get together and review the requirements. The group brainstorms to get the maximum perspective and viewpoints on a particular problem. Then Sawhney and Zinni, who between them have more than 45 years of design experience, designate two or three people as the responsible design team -- which can call on any other designers in the office at a moment's notice to focus on a particular problem. "Because we're a small company, Frank and I work directly on projects," Sawhney says. "In a larger firm we'd be involved strictly in management. I think our clients appreciate that direct involvement. Besides, I started this company to do what I love - design. Just because RKS has become successful doesn't mean I have to give that up."
The company's breadth of design experience ranges from a fetal monitoring system to designer dog- and cat-food bowls. Other recent projects include: a new interactive toy line for Sega of America, a children's computerized learning tool for Apple Computer, a free-standing scientific and industrial spectrometer, a pacemaker programming system, a professional blow dryer, high-end stereo speakers, and a virtual reality arcade game. "A client once told me, 'You really have the process down pat. You have honed, enveloped and tailored the product development process to a phenomenal level,' " Sawhney recalls. "If we wanted to be huge, we could be huge. But we choose not to be. Our focus is high-quality product development. And that's what we bring to the party. We are not striving to be the biggest or the most famous design firm -- just one of the best."
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