Frequently Asked Questions
To help you find the information you need as quickly as possible, we have compiled a collection of our most frequently asked questions and answers. Whether you would like to learn more about our services, working methods, or other practical matters, you will find the most important information clearly organized here.
IDpartners is an industrial design agency based in Enschede, the Netherlands, specializing in the product development, design, and engineering of machinery, equipment, and technical products for the B2B market. Our team consists of a combination of industrial designers and mechanical engineers.
- Design agency specialized in the development of machinery, equipment, and technical products for serial production in the B2B market.
- Internationally active, including projects in the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.
- Our team consists of industrial designers, product designers, and engineers.
- More than 30 years of experience.
The required time strongly depends on the complexity of the product or machine.
Once we understand the scope of the project, we can generally provide a reliable estimate very quickly.
UX design makes products easier, safer, and more pleasant to use.
- Safety and Risk Reduction In demanding environments such as manufacturing and healthcare, unclear messages or poorly positioned controls can lead to failures or safety risks. A well-designed interface ensures reliable operation in real-world conditions.
- Improved Efficiency Simplified menus, logical workflows, and well-grouped functions enable users to perform tasks faster and more effectively.
- Reduced Training Requirements Intuitive layouts, consistent icons, and standardized terminology significantly shorten the learning curve.
- Fewer Operator Errors Reducing cognitive workload helps users make fewer mistakes. Clear visual feedback guides operators effectively through their tasks.
- Clear Information Hierarchy Interfaces are structured into multiple levels:
- Overview level (main systems)
- Area level (subsystems)
- Detail level (diagnostics and troubleshooting)
- This allows users to find information quickly.
- Logical Spatial Layout Graphical elements are aligned with the physical layout of machines and installations, making interfaces easier to understand.
- Contextual Clarity Relevant data is directly linked to the equipment or parameters it belongs to, reducing ambiguity and interpretation effort.
- Accessibility Under All Conditions Interfaces are designed to remain usable under challenging conditions, including:
- Operation with gloves
- Bright ambient light
- Noisy environments
- Color blindness and other visual limitations
We are happy to provide non-binding advice and discuss the possibilities. Please contact us through our contact form or call +31 53 4301 701.
As Jaguar’s former CEO famously said:
“If you think good design is expensive, you should look at the cost of bad design.”
Our design projects are tailored to your objectives and the complexity of your product.
Developing well-considered products requires time, expertise, and attention to detail. Design should therefore be viewed as an investment that significantly increases the likelihood of market success and profitability.
Our experience shows that a redesign can often result in a 20–30% increase in sales.
We design professional products manufactured in series, with a focus on industries such as:
We follow a systematic design approach in which the product design is developed through clear, structured steps tailored specifically to your company and market. This ensures an efficient process and a final result that perfectly matches both your requirements and those of your customers.
Would you like to learn more? Read our whitepaper “From Corporate Identity to Design.”
For product styling and industrial design projects, we generally estimate a period of 8–12 weeks from project start to delivery of a complete 3D CAD model.
The exact duration depends on complexity, available options, and product configurations.
Do you have a deadline, such as a trade fair or customer event? We are happy to discuss the possibilities and determine a feasible delivery date together.
Yes. Even products produced with small (<50/yr) or very small production numbers(<10/yr) can benefit from a distinctive design identity.
In these cases, we focus on suitable manufacturing methods that do not require high startup or tooling costs.
We handle changes carefully, assess their impact on the design and project budget, and remain transparent about any additional work required.
Our goal is to realize your vision within the agreed scope, schedule, and budget. If additional work becomes necessary during the project, we will inform you in a timely manner. Any additional work is only performed after your approval.
A successful design is not only about what looks attractive; it is primarily about reflecting your brand’s identity, values, and personality. This is typically achieved through a combination of research, discussion, and iterative development.
Our approach is described in detail in the whitepaper “From Corporate Identity to Corporate Design.”
Design plays a critical role in technical products because it directly contributes to functionality, usability, and commercial value. Good design goes beyond appearance alone.
A well-designed product improves ergonomics and safety, makes complex technology understandable and intuitive, and reduces the likelihood of user errors. Furthermore, design strengthens brand image and increases market differentiation.
By taking manufacturability, maintenance, and product lifecycle into account early in the process, design also contributes to efficient production and lower costs.
In short, design helps technical products perform better, become easier to understand, and achieve greater success in the market.
Would you like to learn more about this topic? Read our whitepaper “The Functions of Design” or contact us.
- Ensure a high-quality appearance: You only get one chance to make a first impression. During a product launch, the product should communicate its quality and strengths in a way that convinces your target audience. This can be achieved by emphasizing the product’s unique selling points through its design and finishing details.
- Create impact and generate curiosity: A short teaser animation can be used on social media and your website to announce the launch, spark curiosity, and reveal just enough to build anticipation.
- Motion attracts attention: Whether you are launching a product at a trade fair or online, moving visuals help capture and maintain attention. Animated mock-ups, flashing lighting effects, or product animation videos naturally attract viewers because people are instinctively drawn to motion.
In short, are you planning a product launch? We are happy to help make it more successful. Feel free to contact us at info@idepartners.nl or call +31 53 4301 701.
Our team consists of both industrial designers and mechanical engineers. As a result, we can support not only the design stage but also the detailed development and realization of your product.
Throughout the process, we work closely with manufacturers and suppliers to ensure that the design remains practical, manufacturable, and cost-effective.
Within a product portfolio, we generally start by designing a first product while ensuring that its design characteristics can be applied across the entire product family and/or product line.
The challenge often lies in developing recognizable design characteristics that transcend individual product families and connect the entire portfolio, strengthening overall brand recognition.
Our expertise complements your existing development team. For example, when we focus on designing a product’s housing, we work closely with your engineers to ensure the solution is technically feasible and supported by the entire team.
During projects, we typically organize progress presentations or workshops every two weeks, where we collaborate with your team to determine the best design direction. The design must satisfy all stakeholders within the company. We often need to consider technical constraints, but the design must also align with the company’s brand identity. Therefore, we involve not only engineers but also stakeholders such as marketing professionals in these workshops.
Absolutely. In addition to working throughout the Netherlands and Germany, IDpartners also serves clients across Europe and North America.
We have experience designing digital interfaces for a wide range of applications and platforms, including systems from Beckhoff, Siemens, and Bosch, as well as SCADA software such as SIMATIC WinCC and TwinCAT HMI.
We also have the expertise to develop functional mock-ups and interactive prototypes that simulate real-world usage scenarios, allowing us to evaluate and validate the design before implementation. However, due to the wide variety of programming languages and software platforms available, it is not feasible for us to maintain in-house expertise in every programming environment.
After completing the design phase, the implementation is typically carried out either by our client’s own software engineering team or by external software development partners. We can support the implementation process by providing graphical assets and design documentation, including brand guidelines, icon designs, color schemes, and other visual design elements.
During implementation, we are also happy to remain involved to help safeguard the design quality and consistency. We can review developments, provide design guidance, and create additional screens or interface elements as needed to ensure the final solution maintains a cohesive and optimized user experience.
In addition to our core team, we regularly collaborate with specialists such as:
- Sheet metal suppliers
- Model and prototype builders
- Electronics developers
- CE certification specialists
- Specialized suppliers
- Other technical specialists
Together, we determine how we can best support your specific product development project. Depending on your needs, we can add our expertise to your team to increase your product’s success through design, engineering, or UX design.
Design is crucial for technical products. Good design improves ergonomics and safety, makes complex technology easy to understand and intuitive to use, and reduces the risk of operational errors. In addition, design strengthens brand image and market differentiation.
Would you like to know more? Feel free to contact us for an introductory meeting.
IDpartners specializes in the development of innovative machinery, equipment, and technical products for the B2B market. Thanks to our extensive technical expertise and our understanding of industry trends, we quickly understand complex products and translate ideas into thoughtful, successful designs.
IDpartners is involved in much more than design alone. In addition to industrial design, we actively participate in technical development, test setups, and product realization. Our team consists of both industrial designers and mechanical engineers. This combination provides expertise in engineering, mechanical design, materials, manufacturing processes, industrial design, animation, and graphic design.
UX design ensures that products are easy, safe, and enjoyable to use. By placing the user experience at the center of development, users can work more efficiently, achieve goals faster, and operate products with greater confidence. This leads to higher user satisfaction and improved business performance.
Key benefits of UX Design:
- Efficient and intuitive operation – Users learn faster and make fewer mistakes.
- Reduced training and support requirements – A logical user experience shortens the learning curve.
- Improved safety and risk reduction – Clear interfaces help prevent errors.
- Better ergonomics – Reduced physical strain increases comfort and safety.
- Stronger perception of quality – A professional interface enhances brand value.
- Higher customer satisfaction and loyalty – Positive user experiences encourage repeat business.
- Greater return on investment – Reduced friction improves productivity and customer engagement.
In short, good UX design makes products safer, more efficient, more user-friendly, and more successful.
Absolutely.
During the design process, we take predefined screen sizes and orientations into account, whether the interface will be used on tablets, mobile devices, operator panels, or large control room displays.
No. IDpartners is involved in much more than design alone.
In addition to industrial design, we actively participate in technical development, test setups, and production support.
We support projects from concept through engineering, including:
- Technical detailing
- Manufacturability
- Material selection
- Mechanical and structural development
- Production considerations
- Assembly requirements
- Maintenance requirements
- Regulatory compliance
Actual production is typically carried out by a manufacturing partner. IDpartners coordinates and collaborates closely with these parties to ensure the design is manufactured correctly and efficiently.
No. We also design and optimize physical interaction elements such as: Buttons, Doors, Operator cabin layouts & Remote control desks
Depending on the project, we create physical mock-ups to test and evaluate interaction concepts.
Yes. IDpartners shares knowledge through tools and methodologies such as Innovation Tools for Engineers, aimed at improving product development processes and innovation within organizations.
Examples include workshops on:
- Value Engineering
- TRIZ
- MBI
- Systematic Design
Feel feel free to contact us
Upon completion of a project, the design rights belong to you.
We can also assist in protecting your identity and innovations through patent applications or registered design rights.
IDpartners is specialized in product design and engineering services, our services include:
- Design for Industry: Creating compelling product designs with a recognizable identity that strengthens your brand.
- UX Design for Industry: Optimizing usability and user interaction.
- Animations and Visualizations: Still and animated visuals that present your product convincingly and highlight its unique features.
- Engineering: High-quality technical development and product engineering, including multidisciplinary collaboration with specialist partners.
We aim to relieve your organization of as much work as possible. However, we need access to all relevant information concerning the user interface and product usage.
Every two weeks, we present our findings and design proposals and reserve time for discussion and decision-making.
We highly value input from: the Marketing team, Experienced users and (Software) engineers. This ensures that the final design meets the expectations of all stakeholders and gains support throughout the organization.
We also like to meet actual users whenever possible. Do you have customers we can interview? Or employees who regularly operate the machine?
User interviews and observations provide invaluable insights that help improve the final design.
We analyze how a product or machine is used and improve both physical and digital interactions.
Our approach consists of the following steps:
- Analyze product use through interviews and observations.
- Optimize user interaction through workflow and navigation concepts.
- Improve layout, information density, and logical structure.
- Define a modern visual style that fits the brand and product.
- Optimize interaction elements using icons, graphics, and color.
- Implement the final design.
Here you will find our UX Design approach ->
An engineering project is the process of transforming an idea into a technical solution that can be built, manufactured, or implemented.
The exact process differs by industry, but we generally follow the Systematic Design Methodology, which provides a structured approach from concept to realization.
A product animation is an animated video in which a product is presented visually.
Its purpose is to demonstrate the appearance, operation, and advantages of a product in a way that is often difficult or impossible to achieve with conventional photography or video alone.
A product animation visually presents a product through 2D or 3D animation.
It can demonstrate:
- What a product looks like
- How a product works
- What benefits it provides
Common applications:
- Product demonstrations
- Product launches
- Marketing and advertising
- Sales support
- User instructions and training
- Product development visualization
- Investor and client presentations
The duration depends on project complexity.
Typical projects range from:
- 1–3 months for medium-sized engineering projects
- 6 months to over a year for complex machine or product development projects
We tailor our deliverables to your specific needs.
Typically, a design project results in:
- Progress presentations
- Design sketches
- Basic 3D Product visuals
- A CAD model of the design concept
The CAD model serves as input for the next development phase.
We can also support the translation of the design into a production-ready engineering solution.
Our animations are frequently used for:
- Trade shows and events
- Websites
- Presentations
- Social media campaigns
Powerful visuals make products, processes, and innovations easier to understand, more attractive, and more convincing.
One of the greatest advantages of a product animation is the ability to showcase details that are difficult—or even impossible—to capture with traditional photography or video, such as the operation of internal components, exploded views, or cross-sections. As a result, complex information can often be communicated more clearly and understood more quickly.
Some key benefits include:
- Makes complex products easier to understand: Product animations allow you to clearly demonstrate how a product works, even when the underlying technology or internal mechanisms are normally hidden from view.
- Captures and holds attention: Moving visuals naturally attract more attention than static images, helping to engage viewers for longer periods of time.
- Increases sales potential: A clear and compelling demonstration of a product’s functionality and benefits can build trust and confidence among potential customers, increasing the likelihood of a purchase.
- Suitable for multiple channels: Product animations can be used across a wide range of platforms, including websites, social media, trade shows, presentations, online stores, and advertising campaigns.
- Reveals otherwise invisible details: Animations make it possible to show cross-sections, exploded views, internal components, and complex processes that would otherwise be difficult to communicate.
- Enhances your professional image: A high-quality product animation strengthens your brand perception and creates an innovative, professional impression that helps distinguish your company and products from competitors.
Absolutely. Feel free to submit your details through our contact form and we will contact you to schedule an appointment. We take your preferences into account, including timing and location.
The meeting can take place at your location, at our office, or online via Microsoft Teams.
During the introduction, we discuss your challenge, objectives, and expectations. We will also explain our approach, expertise, and capabilities. Together, we create a clear understanding of the project and determine how we can best support you.
Yes. We actively collaborate with universities and colleges such as:
- University of Twente
- Saxion University of Applied Sciences
- Windesheim University of Applied Sciences
- Hochschule Osnabrück
- Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen
Please visit our website for current vacancies. If there are no openings available, you are welcome to send an open application including your resume, motivation letter, and portfolio to info@idepartners.nl.