Lean Hardware

Lean Hardware is a method for developing hardware startups inspired by the Lean startup method.
Its purpose is to bring physical products to market faster, cheaper and better in a sustainable way.
The development of this method is due on the one hand to the explosion in the number of hardware startups in the Internet of things, robotics, wearable computing, smart home and more due to lower prototyping costs and widespread connectivity, and on the opening up of global supply chains to small-scale manufacturing and startups.
Principles
The key elements are customer discovery, lean iterative prototyping, designing with factories on the product side, as well as product crowdfunding on the marketing and financing side using platforms such as Kickstarter or Indiegogo.
The principles of Lean Hardware have been further developed in a series of articles on the popular tech blog Techcrunch as well as in various other publications and events.
Definitions
Customer discovery
This method developed by Steve Blank helps focus on customer needs to ensure a suitable solution is developed.
The Lean Hardware rule for this is "Build the right thing".
Lean prototyping
Using prototyping platforms such as Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Spark Core, a first functional version of a prototype ("Minimum Viable Prototype") can be developed, with the frequent use of 3d printing to test suitable form factors. This version is often unsuitable for sale but a necessary step to test functionalities. In subsequent versions, a custom circuit board is generally required, which can lead to long lead times and slow down the prototyping process. Suitable access to components and prototyping tools or specialized shops or factories is a great advantage at this stage. The prototypes obtained can be functional and bear the final design expected but are not suitable for mass manufacturing.
Design with factories
For small-scale or mass production, many aspects of a prototype need to be optimized for manufacturing, for cost, for assembly, etc.
Designing with the right components, taking into account cost and life cycle, as well as leveraging the manufacturing know-how of factories, results in better products and less manufacturing issues.
The Lean Hardware rule for this is "Build things right".
Crowdfunding
Product crowdfunding has been a tremendous support to hardware innovation by providing financial support to creators at a very early stage in the process.
Many projects have been plagued by delays due to their lack of anticipation of manufacturing and shipping issues.
Additional benefits of crowdfunding are the media attention such projects can get as well as the engagement of the community of backers.

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