Green Shoe Garage
Product strategy & industrial design
Product strategy, industrial design, and hands-on prototyping that connect what people need with something you can make.
Start with an idea, an approved brief, or a prototype that needs a new direction. We help define the product, explore alternatives, and carry the design intent into engineering and fabrication.
01 / Purpose before form
We begin with the use case, requirements, constraints, and decisions that need evidence. If you already have a useful brief, we can build from it.
Define users, use scenarios, product values, technical requirements, risks, and cost targets. Explore product/market fit, competitor and reference products, portfolio priorities, market-entry strategy, and the role a demo or pitch deck needs to play.
Compare genuinely different directions through sketches, proportions, layouts, models, and surface or solid CAD. Build around the real component envelope, and assess usability, distinctiveness, engineering risk, tooling, and future volume.
Map grip, reach, viewing angles, controls, loading, access, cleaning, and maintenance. Define user touchpoints, machine–human interfaces, labels, ergonomics, and the physical interaction with the product.
Develop a CMF specification around appearance, tactile feel, production cost, tooling, assembly, and scalability. Coordinate materials, finishes, part splits, and visual language while the geometry can still change.
Electronics, sensors, optics, tanks, motors, mechanisms, wiring, airflow, and structural zones belong in the design envelope early. So do sealing surfaces, antenna clearances, ventilation, and service access.
02 / Design & making
Design can cover the physical object, the way it communicates, the interfaces around it, and the package that carries it.
Production methods and specialist work are chosen to suit the project. The design priorities include user safety, environmental considerations, functionality, maintenance, target-market needs, industry trends, manufacturing location, production cost, and scale.
03 / Ask with a prototype
A prototype is a tool for learning. Its fidelity should match the decision you need to make.
Who might use the product? What unmet need does it fill? How large is the opportunity? Use models to gather reactions, examine use scenarios, and learn what people like or dislike.
Does it function as intended? Is the experience consistent? Evaluate appearance, ergonomics, competing products, and compatibility with other equipment where relevant.
Show the difference your idea makes to investors, buyers, and other stakeholders. Explore commercial potential, vendor interest, and early sales commitments with something tangible.
Compare parts, materials, fabrication routes, and production quantities. Examine whether to buy an OEM component or develop a custom part, and what that choice means for the complete product.
Model builds can include part procurement and inspection, verification of critical specifications, virtual prototype studies, interface mockups, and onsite prototyping when needed. Evaluation may involve stress, thermal, flow, failure-mode, and user-interaction tests, plus coordinated third-party work.
04 / Design maturity
Mockups and prototypes help confirm scale, interfaces, access, and material decisions before design freeze or tooling.
Which direction is worth developing?
Start from an idea, early requirements, reference products, a rough component list, or a first proof of principle.
Focus: Users, use scenarios, product values, visual direction, and the initial envelope.
What you receive: A design brief, competitor review, moodboards, initial sketches, and alternative directions.
Does the form support the user and the internals?
A selected direction, approximate dimensions, component layout, and core functionality give the concept a practical basis.
Focus: Proportions, interfaces, ergonomics, visual language, CMF, and initial 3D form.
What you receive: The selected concept, renderings, and preliminary surface or solid CAD.
Does it work as a physical product?
An appearance or functional prototype represents the key dimensions, components, and interactions.
Focus: Scale, grip, reach, viewing angles, cleaning, maintenance, assembly, and finish choices.
What you receive: Prototype feedback, revised CAD, a confirmed interface layout, and updated CMF.
Can a pilot build preserve the design intent?
Near-final mechanics and electronics, a manufacturing route, and a validated prototype guide refinement.
Focus: Surfaces, part splits, finishes, manufacturing interfaces, and assembly.
What you receive: Production-oriented CAD, CMF specifications, and design-intent information for suppliers.
Across the whole project, the work can progress through discovery and feasibility; concept design; engineering and CAD; prototyping; validation and compliance-related testing; and manufacturing handoff. The schedule depends on scope, dependencies, supplier lead times, and the evidence required at each review.
05 / Source, build, deliver
We plan what needs to be bought, made, assembled, tested, documented, and transferred.
Record appearance, dimensions, materials, controls, and core functions. Select components, modules, and off-the-shelf parts against availability, quality, cost, and delivery. Develop a supply strategy and identify suitable suppliers.
Compare domestic, international, and client-owned facilities by process and capability. Consider order minimums, timelines, quality controls, facility conditions, broker fees, payment terms, shipping, customs, additional processing, and intellectual-property handling.
Make or procure the mechanical parts and enclosure, assemble the product, and evaluate shape, color, texture, fit, power, controls, connectivity, and the agreed functions. Refine quality specifications and resolve failures before the next iteration.
Walk through the agreed use cases and results, review acceptance, and arrange shipment. A hardware-focused prototype can be delivered for further software development; a complete prototype includes the software and integration defined in its scope.
See the sample client BenchBook or explore the GSG development process.
06 / Working together
Hire us for a focused question, design work, a hardware build, a complete prototype, manufacturing preparation, or evaluation of something you already have.
A defined scope, requirements, deliverables, and acceptance criteria support an agreed price and schedule. We establish assumptions, exclusions, revision allowances, and how changes will be handled before work begins.
Useful for research, exploration, evolving requirements, and both short and extended support. Agree the rates, priorities, spending limits, and review points, then adjust the pace or scope as the work reveals more.
A customized co-creation session to strategize, design, and build toward a working prototype. Typically shorter than a week, it can be tailored to intrapreneurs and teams within established companies, with follow-on sessions defined around the remaining work.
Discuss confidentiality before sharing sensitive information. The agreement defines ownership, licensing, background technology, third-party materials, and publicity. Patent strategy and filing decisions belong with your qualified patent adviser.
For a first conversation, bring the problem, intended users, sketches or existing files, known constraints, target quantities, budget, and desired milestone. We will identify the useful next step and the information needed to scope it.
The proposal should identify prototype quantities, supplier costs, payment milestones, client responsibilities, change approvals, acceptance, shipping, and support or maintenance arrangements.
Ready when you are
An idea, a drawing, a stubborn problem, or a prototype that needs another set of eyes. Tell us where you are and what you need to learn.
Schedule a consultation