Bringing Deep, Cross-Industry Expertise into Wearable Device Design
Whether to protect, collect data, empower workers, or enhance experiences, wearables are impacting nearly every industry with immense potential. Priority Designs uses a cross-disciplinary approach to developing wearable devices that puts the user at the center while helping clients innovate in new ways. To develop wearable tech requires a unique mix of specialties: soft textiles, hard goods, electrical components and thoughtful construction. But to the person wearing the technology, it just has to feel right.
OSU Spine Institute, Conity Wearable
Balancing Critical Constraints for Comfortable, Intuitive Wearable Devices
People cover a wide spectrum of sizes, heights and abilities, and wearables must be designed to comfortably deliver the desired function of the device while users are static, or in motion. No small feat. This requires careful attention to fit, sizing, ease-of-use, compliance, and a host of additional critical constraints, but many of these criteria are often conflicting. Navigating these tricky waters requires problem solving, testing, and the collaboration of varied team members.
Priority Designs has built experience in the category over 25 years, integrating soft and hard components with physical + digital interaction. As demand increases for products that sense and share data, and nudge positive behavior of wearers, our electrical + software team members are a valuable part of development that involves connectivity, often in compact, discrete applications.
We’ve developed relationships with trusted manufacturing vendors and material suppliers. We’ve learned how to comply to regulatory requirements, and how to select materials that balance durability, biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness across a variety of market categories. With each wearable product, our diverse team of specialists pulls in the right people for each task, delivering holistic, thoughtful and elevated user experiences.
There's no question that working with PD helped maked this product a success. There were many short-cuts we could've taken, but the PD team helped create a bigger vision.
Eric Miller
Director of Product Management, Werner
Priority Designs' overall breadth of experience is an invaluable resource. They've already learned what to do, or not what to do, and we've been thrilled with the relationship.
John Roby
President & CEO, Sirchie
It was clear that Priority Design's in-house team could handle the mechanical, industrial design, and electrical work which was a strength over other firms.
Jodi Lee
Brand Director, Scotts Miracle-Gro Company
Having BIG ideas is one thing, having someone be able to execute them for you is another. Priority Designs not only brought it to life, they made it even bigger.
Adam Beach
Owner, MyGolfSpy
Our collaboration with Priority Designs was a resounding success. Their commitment to excellence throughout the project ensure timely delivery and a product that perfectly aligns with our mission.
Jim Alloway
CEO, Pilot Dogs
PD helped guide us through the re-branding process in a way that really got to the core of our DNA. Their work resonated with both our upper managment and our users alike.
Alan English
Senior Brand Manager, Proto Industrial Distribution at Stanley, Black & Decker
PD's deep understanding of our users and ability to translate findings into actionable items is a powerful combination that helps keep our teams aligned and new programs on track.
Mary Glennon
Global Marketing Insights Manager, Hollister
From concept to design to TMV to testing, PD has been a valuable part of our team and we could not have done this without them. It has been an absolute pleasure working with them.
Kristen Bunch
Senior Engineer, R&D, TIDI Products
The Priority Design's team mastered to understand our niche market and it's end-users quickly, which has led to definition and development of an intuitive UI/UX, which exceeded our expectations.
Steffen Baumann
Former Senior Product Manager, Midmark Corporation
Working together on this project was much more than reviewing sketches and concepts - it was truly a collaboration. That doesn't happen without great people, and PD has them.
Eric Miller
Director of Product Management, Werner
PD has been exceptional to work with. Their in-depth understanding and partnership throughout the project far exceeded our expectations. We couldn't have done this without them.
Jenna Merandi
Medication Safety Officer, Nationwide Children's Hospital
Wearable Technology Development
When wearables include integration of tech – whether sensors, lights, interfaces, connectivity, embedded systems or medical hardware – our team tests and builds solutions that are appropriate for the application. To avoid disjointed solutions, we work fluidly between disciplines, leveraging the latest materials and concepts with traditional equipment and construction methodologies.
Ultimately when integrating electronic and mechanical components, the solution needs to bridge the functional requirements with manufacturing solutions and the user’s experience with the technology.
Wearable Specialties:
- Healthcare Wearables
- Construction Wearables
- Wearables for Enterprise & Logistics
- Fitness Wearables
- Functional Apparel
Design Services
Our Wearables Expertise
Material Sourcing & Textile Development
When a wearable project incorporates textiles, the product is built on the foundation of the materials selected. This is where most of the product function and constraints come from and is an important area to place dedicated research.
Textiles have many variables, such as stretch, stitch structure, bio-compatibility, finishes, adhesives (just to name a few!) that can affect the performance of a finished good. Materials are typically not on a shelf waiting to be purchased, and most vendors work on a made-to-order business model. On average, raw materials take 6-9 weeks to be produced and received, so it’s best to think about sourcing at the beginning of the design process to account for these long lead times.
Construction Method Selection
Soft goods specialists can help navigate which construction and manufacturing method will best fit the requirements or constraints of the project. Often, products incorporate multiple methods into one solution. For example, seamless or knit construction can reduce abrasion against the user’s skin, or compression molded foams can provide protection and support. When designing and prototyping, we have extensive in-house machinery for development including:
- 3D Knitting
- Cut-and-sew
- Seamless Bonding
- Thermoforming / Compression Molding
- Lamination
User Experience & Product Design
We apply human centered design principles to craft thoughtful user experiences throughout all aspects of wearable development. These include the industrial design of the physical product, the relationships with embedded technologies, and the interaction between users, interfaces and controls. This includes how, where, and when the user will wear the product, for how long, and the entirety of the experience.
Fit, Comfort, Sizing
If a product doesn’t fit, or isn’t comfortable, the user isn’t likely to wear it, even when compliance is required. We’ve seen that a product’s fit is critical for acceptance of the device, and getting it right requires a thoughtful approach to the user population and appropriate sizing.
Unfortunately, to size a wearable does not mean you can just use the scale button in Illustrator or Photoshop. To size appropriately requires pattern grading using fashion industry sizing strategies to fit the end user comfortably. Testing wearables with users, refining, and adjusting will lead to a strategy built for success with varied sizes.
Hard Goods/Soft Goods Prototyping
Wearables are often mixed with hard good components, created with urethane casting, CNC machining, vacuum forming, or a whole host of other methods. With an in-house shop, our soft goods developers work with prototype specialists to create hard good parts that are combined with textiles during assembly. By layering fabrics and foams, compression molding, soft goods over-molding and experimentation, these teams have developed custom materials or unique combinations to achieve the desired results.
Human Factors & User Wear Testing
Wearables can be complex systems, and making sure users understand how to use the device safely and effectively; performing all necessary functions as well as donning and doffing correctly, are important objectives. Our degreed Human Factors Specialists perform usability testing with product prototypes at varying levels of fidelity to uncover and resolve any user experience issues before production. For medical devices, our team can develop formative and summative studies in compliance with regulatory requirements.
