November 6th, 2008...4:06 pm
8 answers to doomed product ideas …
Back in August this year we surveyed over 10,000 designers ….. and they told us the 8 reasons that stop you from making things.
At that time there were a few other quality suppliers who had solved 2 of these problems, while Ponoko had solved 4.
And we’re on the march to be the first to solve them all.
So here’s a summary of those 8 reasons, where we are up to now and where we are going to next:
Reason #1 - Where the hell do I start?!
Before Ponoko, there was no one place you could go to design, make and market your product ideas. Life was VERY tough if you wanted to bring something into the world.
But Ponoko gave you a place to get all these things done, in one single place online.
Problem solved.
Reason #2 - Make the design process super simple
Before Ponoko, you typically had to be an expert designer to get something made. Unless you could drive design software, you could not easily get a start.
But Ponoko can be used by people with zero design skill (Ponoko ID), people who cannot use design software (Photomake) and people who can (Designmake).
Problem solved.
Reason #3 - Talking different languages - fixed setup fees, minimum orders and shipping costs
Before Ponoko, you had to pay fixed setup costs and pay for minimum order sizes to get something made.
But Ponoko asks you for neither. And you get to talk with us in your language (not manufacturer-speak).
Problem (mostly) solved. The problem that remains is shipping costs …
Reason #4 - Limited materials selection
Before Ponoko, you had access to the materials you searched for yourself and you bought by the full sheet, although you only needed 15% of it. Lots of time and money to get started.
But Ponoko gave you very easy access to materials in a variety of sizes, starting from just $0.50.
Problem (mostly) solved. The problem that remains is depth of selection …
Reason #5 - Small orders VS small cost
Before Ponoko, you could not make a small order for a small cost - you had to pay an unreasonably large cost for a one-off, or make a large bulk order to get a low per item cost.
But Ponoko gave you the ability to get one-offs at a reasonable price.
Problem (mostly) solved. The problem that remains is a very friendly retail price …
Reason #6 - Will anyone actually buy my creation?
Before Ponoko, you had to spend a lot of time and cash before you could get your product to market to assess the initial demand for it - then many hoops to jump through to scale up.
But Ponoko gave you a single place to test your ideas before you spent money on them (promote your design files), test market your products at very low cost (Alan Chao’s coasters cost him just $39.33 to get going) and to get into major retailers. From zero to upscale with a single provider.
Problem solved.
Reason #7 - Give me another 40 hours of spare time!
Before Ponoko, it took you about 40 hours going back and forth and around in circles with materials and manufacturing suppliers to get your product made – and many months to get the promotional wheels moving.
But Ponoko has chopped the process down to about 1 hour – and the best we’ve seen is from concept to first sale in just 16 days and to major retailer in just 8 weeks.
Problem solved.
Reason #8 - Show me some (more) love
Before Ponoko, you were all alone on your quest to get stuff made (and to market). Who was always available to lean on for support from one end of the challenge to the next?
But Ponoko has given you a place to get all the support and advice you need, in a down to earth fashion – accessible for everyone.
Problem solved.
So where does this leave us?
Well, we’ve almost solved all of the problems you have told us about.
And with our recent developments, we think we’re over the finish line - everything a creator needs to go from concept to market test to market scale, all in one place at the click of a mouse!!
BUT … just in case you feel we might have missed something, this is your opportunity to let us know before we launch 
So if there’s something we have not included in the notes above, please leave your comments below so we can get them addressed before it’s too late …
11 Comments
November 6th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
One of the things I see coming up most in the forums (and indeed I’ve run into it myself) is that people can’t get their design files to work, due to rasterization, bad lines (.001 vs .003mm), and not following the color formatting. You guys are very helpful in reviewing the design files, and in getting back to us when there are problems, even fixing them and helping us understand them. But that has to be a drain on your time, and the additional back and forth only serves to delay product delivery.
It would be nice if there was something could verify uploaded designs immediately, telling us what the problems are and either fixing them automatically or telling us what is broken (visually would be really slick - showing the problem areas of the design). I see the cut-line width question come up frequently enough that I have to think there’s a way to detect lines of the right color, within a certain thickness tolerance, and converting them automatically to the right thickness. It need not force-validate every uploaded design, but something that we could push designs into that said “Good” or “Bad and here’s why” would be useful (to me at least) and I have to think it would save you some time.
Also, Metal Options. (He said again).
November 6th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Awesome Mungo, you’re dead on.
What else (everyone)?
November 6th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
I’ve yet to make anything on Ponoko, but have tested out uploading designs.
Would a “make preview” option like the traditional print preview be a possibility to visually see where cuts will go? If you had mis-produced lines or colours it would be easy to see how the cutter had interpreted your design and you could adjust accordingly.
If it saves the Ponoko team time they could spend on making the service even more awesome then I’m all for it.
And yes to metal options
That is all.
November 7th, 2008 at 1:57 am
I would just put my vote forward for a more local production centre in Europe, as, by reducing costs, it would be a much larger incentive to make things via Ponoko. In fact, I think I would have a frenzy of laser cutting…
The other factor is sustainability - it makes me a little wary to make things (usually small pieces) and then ship them to literally the other side of the world, one at a time! It also puts me off selling things that way; instead it would be ideal that local production meant lower costs and lower environmental impact. Imagine - the creativity and culture of international designers, but the product made at a local level. The materials could even be tailored to local availability of material, or recycled pieces… truly bespoke design.
Another small thing - could we have very close-up photos of the cut edges as they come out of the machine, please? This would be useful to know for how much finishing a product would need after manufacture, or if it can be directly shipped to the client.
Oh, and thirding the metal request! And leather…
Great work so far, however - cheers!
November 7th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
This is an answer to my prayers. Often small businesses like mine spend more time sourcing and trying to locate quality vendors than making the product itself. And we spend more to meet those aforementioned minimums only to find out to late that a vendor isn’t great or the product won’t work out. I just put in my first order with Ponoko last week. *fingers crossed*
Lastly, thanks for offering industrial wool felt. I suggest offering other colors like green, purple, and white too. And yes, metal options would be lovely!
November 10th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
Mungo and John - a ‘make preview’ is a great idea so you can problem solve quickly, and over time making this more intelligent. But to solve this for you instantly we’ve added a new service to get a 6-point design file report before you make an order - you’ll see it here … http://latest.ponoko.com/2008/11/10/new-wed-like-to-introduce-you-to-designmake-prime/
November 10th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Meg - for all the reasons you mention, globally distributed making nodes is one of our key goals ahead. And this means local materials supply too. Yippeee! Please hang in there with us as we make this happen. We’re just as eager as you to see it. You’ll see a bit more about our vision here … http://www.ponoko.com/about/the-big-idea
And with materials you’ll see a range of photos on each materials page - and we agree that some of the older photos need to be redone
November 10th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Leslie - you’ll see you can use our new service to request whatever materials you want to make from next - see here for details … http://latest.ponoko.com/2008/11/10/new-wed-like-to-introduce-you-to-designmake-prime/
November 10th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
Everyone - metals are heeeeere … check out the links about to the introduction to Designmake Prime
November 19th, 2008 at 8:44 am
I second the reccomendation for more felt colours! LIKE RED!
Will metals only be available to designmake prime subscribers?
November 19th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Stainless, aluminum and brass will be available to all Designmake Free and Prime users. If you want to request other metals, then Prime is for you.
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