The most successful new hardware products start with a plan that links concept, prototype, and build. The technology innovation studio Tomorrow Lab works in that practical zone, turning early ideas into manufacturable product designs that engineering and design teams can prototype, test, and refine together. The studio runs ID, ME, and EE in one go, so the prototypes address design-for-manufacturability and user-experience questions simultaneously.
The Bottleneck Between Idea and Physical Product
Many product teams have strong software talent, but limited hardware capacity, especially when timelines compress and technical ambitions are high. Specifications drift, design requirements change, and feedback arrives after money is on the table. Tomorrow Lab focuses on the missing link: coordinated industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and firmware engineering applied from the start, so constraints are visible while decisions are ongoing.
A Method Built for Real Constraints
Founded in 2010 by Ted Ullrich and Pepin Gelardi, the studio merges scrum development practices with design thinking and rapid prototyping tools. Their four-phase holistic innovation sprint tracks the path from concept framing to integrated manufacturable prototypes with clear gates and recorded decisions. In plain terms, TL aims for on-brand design, refined schedules, de-risked technologies, and lower costs versus trial-and-error approaches. Since teams see what’s approved, pending, and still carries risks, their approach helps curb crippling rework later.
Who Shows Up at the Bench
TL’s client mix spans VC-backed founders to corporate R&D leaders who need a reliable, experienced team and approach. While early founders often bring concept sketches and POC prototypes, they may need help with their myriad of questions about assembly planning. Meanwhile, enterprise teams often bring subsystems, supply-chain realities, and compliance checklists, but lack the cohesive team & processes critical to making meaningful progress quickly.
Tomorrow Lab is one of the few product design & engineering companies that fills multiple needs with staffing and procedures shaped by hundreds of shipped and shelved attempts. If you’re weighing product design and development support, TL can help adapt the plan around the caveats and ranges that help when budgets and approvals pull in different directions.
Why Integration Changes Outcomes
Tomorrow Lab’s product design services focus on a cross-functional approach that combines industrial design, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering. Work moves through a 12-phase system, which includes rapid prototyping at almost every stage. This structure helps reduce risk while keeping early development teams aligned.
What Teams Walk Away With
Concept clarity stems from Tomorrow Lab’s approach to meetings and documentation. That includes approaches such as consistent, versioned requirements documents, repeatable test plan documents, and engineering punchlists that capture technical performance edits. Tomorrow Lab shares invention procedures drawn from building across categories and uses a thorough project documentation approach to help internal teams maintain momentum after the handoff. The studio’s role is practical: translate an idea into component lists, 3D designs, and custom PCBs with firmware that behave together to create a product loved by their client and their customers.
This practical approach makes sense for anyone looking to partner with a hardware product design company. It could eliminate detours between sketches and bench tests, keeping budgets focused on the critical path.
Ultimately, Tomorrow Lab is redefining how physical products are made through its integrated approach to product innovation. They get this done by bridging design, engineering, and prototyping, whether you’re a startup or a corporate team.
