Our Approach

In conventional development processes, designers define a product’s form, usability and external logic, while engineering teams subsequently attempt to translate these concepts into technical reality. This often creates room for interpretation, additional translation effort and structural compromises. Through Design Engineering, Squareone integrates technical design and manufacturability directly into the product development process. By bringing design and engineering disciplines together from the outset, uncertainty and costly iteration loops are significantly reduced, particularly for technically demanding products.

This capability is especially valuable for companies without their own development departments that require products ready for industrialisation. Our design data provides a robust foundation for handover and structured collaboration with manufacturers and toolmakers. It establishes clear conditions for further development by engineering teams and OEMs while ensuring that design intent and technical implementation remain as closely aligned as possible. Companies with in-house development resources also benefit from the fact that our concepts are grounded in real technical possibilities and can be transferred seamlessly into the next stages of development.

Design Engineering begins with product architecture – the fundamental questions of which housing and system architectures are feasible, where interfaces are located, and which integration requirements must be considered. From this foundation onwards, functionality, engineering, ergonomics and design are developed in parallel and continuously refined. Structural risks such as load conditions, manufacturing constraints and integration challenges are assessed from the very beginning. Technical issues are anticipated early in the process rather than becoming visible only after handover.

Our benchmark is production readiness. A solution must not only work from a design and engineering perspective; it must also be suitable for handover and capable of being manufactured consistently at scale. Our level of development extends to near-production design maturity, with only final tolerance definitions and material specifications typically added in the subsequent engineering phase.

Our Design Engineering experience spans mechanical engineering, industrial machinery, tools, ventilation systems, industrial electronics, pump technologies and a wide range of technically demanding specialist products. Across many of these projects, we have developed engineering solutions that were transferred directly into series production or formed the basis for patentable technical innovations.

We think in integrated solutions rather than isolated disciplines. Whether addressing ergonomic requirements that challenge engineering constraints, developing new technical principles that must be seamlessly incorporated into a product design, or integrating technologies from other industries into established systems, we approach complexity holistically. For our clients, this translates into fewer coordination loops, reduced development risk and more robust development processes.

At Squareone, Design Engineering is typically an integral part of a product design or product development engagement. Clients commissioning product design can decide whether the engineering solution will be further developed by their own engineering team or whether we take responsibility for both design and engineering as a unified process. In larger development programmes, there is also sometimes a need to explore new technical principles independently, particularly when the objective is to create patentable solutions.

Our engineering expertise influences every project, even when it is not commissioned as a standalone service. Concepts are evaluated for technical feasibility from the outset, making designs more realistic and strategic recommendations more robust. A team that thinks about design and engineering simultaneously approaches innovation development with a fundamentally different perspective on what is technically achievable and how ideas can be brought successfully into reality.

Ergonomics is one of the most important aspects of product development. Products developed without considering ergonomics are neither enjoyable to use nor sustainably functional in the long term. In many cases, ergonomics is not viewed in isolation but forms part of several services related to industrial design.

You can find our additional areas of expertise here: