Entering the threshold of 2024, an intriguing convergence of technologies is opening doors for new and innovative devices. The parallel paths of AI/machine learning, battery innovation, advanced robotics and the IoT are colliding, enabling fresh and novel methods to solve both new and existing challenges—something that continues to amaze me after over 35 years in product development.
What was once seemingly a science-fiction dream is now a reality, as daily devices have transcended their traditional roles of functional tools to intelligent, learning and adaptive entities. AI integration has also moved beyond consumer products to become an integral part of product design by streamlining concept creation, optimizing electronics and software capabilities and forecasting to improve supply chains. The result? Accelerated time to market, products more targeted to user needs and more cost-effective process decisions.
Based on my first-hand experience in 2023, here are seven product design trends I anticipate will shape 2024.
AI integration: powering new electronics and sensors
One of the top trends in 2023 was the integration of AI into new electronic device designs. For many of our clients, we aided in integrating AI into products across various sectors like medical, agriculture, consumer goods and industrial products. We expect that to not only continue but to grow in 2024.
(Source: Shutterstock)
In the realm of healthcare, AI integration has revolutionized personalized care. Smart medical devices dynamically adapt treatments based on real-time patient data, substantially enhancing outcomes and patient experiences. Similarly, in health and wellness, AI-driven devices like wearable fitness trackers and wellness apps utilize AI for personalized biofeedback, providing tailored health insights and lifestyle adjustments.
AI has also helped enhance consumer and industrial products with smart and responsive features, driven by advances in AI chips for edge applications. For instance, the buzz around the launch of the “Humane AI pin,” an anti-smartphone leveraging a laser ink display to project visuals, captured widespread attention. Despite how advanced AI already feels, it’s important to remember that it’s still a relatively new concept, and as we quickly saw in 2023, it will only continue to improve.
Battery innovation
Batteries are one of the most overlooked components that reside in almost all of the products we use daily. You don’t think about them until your device needs a new one or it catches fire.
In 2023, we saw great advancements in solid-state and lithium-sulfur batteries, signifying a leap in battery technology. Solid-state batteries promise higher energy density and improved safety, while lithium-sulfur batteries offer up to 5× more energy storage, revolutionizing safer electronics transportation and renewable energy development. The outcome? Devices boasting longer life, extended portable usage, and safer and higher-quality batteries in our products. Expect this to carry over into 2024 and beyond.
Edge AI hardware
Most of us have become familiar with the cloud, as it’s allowed us to store our files virtually and free up internal storage space on our devices. However, as technology advances and becomes more intelligent, edge computing has rapidly gained popularity, as it processes data closer to the data source. This reduces latency and enables real-time processing, delivering a more seamless local and cloud storage interaction. We are starting to see this in easier-to-set-up-and-use IoT smart-home devices as well as with content delivery.
Specialized edge AI hardware, including on-board accelerators, plays a pivotal role in on-device deep learning, catering to real-time, data-intensive tasks. The migration of AI processing from the cloud to the edge enhances bandwidth efficiency, data privacy and offline mode and reduces latency. Various AI accelerators like TPUs and GPUs facilitate efficient, flexible and increasingly advanced and potent edge computing.
Cobots
Designed to operate alongside humans, the purpose of collaborative robots (cobots) is to enhance safety, efficiency and quality in workplaces and in manufacturing. Equipped with advanced sensors like 3D vision systems, accelerometers, GPS and force/torque sensors, not only do cobots save time and resources by removing routine manual processes, they also reduce the risk factors by performing duties that may be dangerous to humans.
Take Swabbot, for example. Swabbot was created to swab and clean hard-to-reach locations in manufacturing liquid and gas containment tanks and other large confined and potentially toxic spaces to humans. It is designed to streamline the current human-centric manual processes in industries like beer making and pharmaceuticals, significantly improving accuracy and safety.
Near-shore manufacturing
The move toward near-shore manufacturing is not something new, but over the last few years, three key drivers have helped move manufacturing closer to home.
Companies opting for manufacturing locations closer to home are putting development teams closer to the manufacturing teams, reducing lead times and improving just-in-time cost control, with the goal to achieve more predictable supply and higher quality. In addition, digital technologies like automation and AI are reshaping near-shore manufacturing, making it less reliant on manual labor.
Lastly, transitioning closer to home reduces shipping emissions and offers better control over the production change process, enabling quicker adaptations to market changes. While we believe it will take many years to change, we see more companies following onshoring strategies in 2024 and beyond.
Smart-home interoperability standardization
In 2023, a staggering 40% of smart-home consumers reported difficulties during installation and encountered technical problems, an 11% increase year over year. Roughly half of these issues stemmed from interoperability among competing manufacturer devices already present in homes. This includes unifying the user experience for devices like the router, thermostat and smart locks into the feel of a single, easy-to-use system.
Matter, an open-source smart-home protocol, eradicates these barriers, enabling seamless connections among various smart devices, simplifying the consumer experience and creating opportunities to integrate new devices into existing home ecosystems. We anticipate this to continue and improve this year.
Product redesign
At Design 1st, we have experienced a rise in companies eyeing product redesign as a strategy to embed AI capabilities, reduce costs, leverage innovative manufacturing methods and introduce new features. This endeavor focuses on slashing expenses, implementing efficient manufacturing processes and improving product appeal by incorporating new features like enhanced connectivity and smart technology.
A trend away from the sole reliance on OEM products signals a shift toward developing custom solutions, offering greater control and differentiation. It’s possible that we’ll see more familiar products redesigned with new capabilities in the coming year.
The trends shaping 2024’s product design landscape pave the way for a future marked by innovation, efficiency and seamless integration of cutting-edge cloud and device integration technologies. As companies adapt and embrace more connected, efficient and technologically advanced devices, the future for users where they never have to “manage the devices” is coming. People want toast, not toasters. It’s quite possible that none of the 2024 trends we are following develop as we expect them to, but it sure is an exciting time to be working in product development.
About the author
A passionate product designer and business executive, Design 1st CEO and founder Kevin Bailey helps guide CEOs, startups and established companies through the maze of hardware product development. Having spent over 35 years in the detailed design of hardware products, Kevin is now an expert at assessing risk and opportunity when making the hundreds of decisions required to move from a vision to a physical product that customers find useful and businesses can manufacture.
Advertisement
