Modular Design: The Key to Agile Products

Introduce Speed Flexibility and Scalability to Your Products with Modular Design.

Here at Mouse were big fans of modular design and for good reason. Your fast paced competitive environment is relentlessly moving forward, no matter your industry, taking a modular approach will offer great returns.

So What is Modular Design?

Modular design is an approach where a product or service is broken down into small chunks or components. These components can then be changed, removed, replaced, re-arranged or re-designed to create new products.

Cooking!

Bolognese is typically made with ground beef, tomatoes, milk or cream, onions, carrots, celery, and a blend of Italian herbs. A classic dish for sure. What happens if we swap out the herbs for Cumin & Chilli powder, throw in some chillis’and beans? Same base ingredients, totally different dish.

(For those of you who don’t cook from scratch, the new dish is a good Chiili, for those of you who do, try adding a bit of grated Chocolate and a dash of instant coffee!)

To Business Success.

LEGO, the world famous child’s toy company who are making huge inroads into the adult market. Breaking it down into components, LEGO is essentially small plastic blocks in a range of shapes, sizes and colours. These can then be built into an unlimited number of models, only limited by your imagination.

Benefits of Modular Design?

• Faster Future Development:
  • Iterative design: Once the modular approach has been adopted, iterative design changes can be as simple as modifying one component.
  • Fast aesthetic changes: Introducing new colour ways or products can be quickly implemented using existing components.
• Reduced Costs:
  • Recycle: Components can be reused across different projects, reducing both development time and cost.
  • Simplify Maintenance: Identifying and fixing issues is more straightforward as problems are often isolated to specific components.
• Increased Flexibility:
  • Easy Customization: Components can be easily swapped, modified or re-designed to meet specific needs, requirements or customers..
  • Adaptability to Change: When requirements evolve, only the affected components need to be updated.
• Improved Scalability:
  • Easy Expansion: Adding new features or functionalities is as simple as adding new components.
  • Efficient Growth: Products can grow organically without major overhauls.
• Enhanced Innovation:
  • Faster Prototyping: Components can be quickly combined and tested to explore different design possibilities.
  • Encourages Experimentation: The modular structure allows for easier experimentation with new ideas and technologies.

Example of great Modular Design?

We helped John Lewis re-launch their infamous mix and match ‘Pole Bar’ range of window furnishings. Pitching the Industrial design was a challenge of marrying an eclectic range of stunning visual design with high customer experience. As you would expect from John Lewis we put a real focus on the customer, from shopping experience, through simplified DIY fitting to a life long interaction with the product.

After winning the tender, we were tasked with one of the largest SKU (Stock-Keeping Unit) stock fills John Lewis has undertaken. The design covered three styles, in 6 colourways with all components available individually. This totalling over 400 SKUs potentially available, rolled out across 46 stores nationally.

Taking a modular approach, we were able to slash development costs and time frames by focusing on a reduced number of components. This resulted in better engineering and quality across the range without compromising any aesthetics. The other huge benefit was the vastly reduced time to prototype and testing of products, as we could mix and match between parts. The modular design approach was so successful we took the range from concept to product in store in 8 months.

The re-launch of the ‘Pole Bar’ was so successful, it took prime retail frontage in every John Lewis store and web shop for over 10 years. Some of the products are so popular they are still available today.

Key Considerations of Modular Design?

It is extremely difficult, but not impossible to retrospectively apply a modular design strategy. Consideration has to be made to…

• Clear Interfaces: Well-defined interfaces between components are essential for ensuring seamless communication and integration.
• Standardization: Establishing clear standards for component design and development is crucial for maintaining consistency.
• Testing: Thorough testing of individual modules and their interactions is critical to ensure the overall product’s reliability.

Find Out How You Can Adopt a Modular Design Approach.

At Mouse we love everything product. Get in touch to see how we can help you get ahead of the competition by adopting a module design approach to your products.

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