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Teardown

GoPro Evolution: A Teardown Through the Ages – Part 1

Our latest teardown focuses on the popular action camera GoPro. This teardown is actually not a singular adventure, but an odyssey of epic proportions, split into 2 parts. We’ll look at the product’s evolution across three generations and see how the engineering and manufacturing techniques have changed in the last half decade. To begin this ancestral analysis, […]

Article

Designing for the User [VIDEO]

Andrei Gonzales said it best:  “Design isn’t about eye-candy. It’s about problem-solving. If your ‘design’ isn’t solving quantifiable issues, than it isn’t design, it’s decoration.” Here at Fictiv, we believe design drives innovation; it establishes how users learn about the value of a product and how they actually consume it in an experience. In a […]

Article

How to Choose the Best 3D Printing Material

If you’re not sure which 3D printing material is the best one for your project, here’s a decision tree to help you choose. Need more info? Check out our Capabilities Guide.

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From SketchUp to 3D Printer: 3 Common Surface Modeling Issues & How to Fix Them

You’ve created a seamless design—structurally sound, sufficiently thick, and mindful of overhangs. However, you get your part back to find out that it’s not printable! Many of the errors we see stem from how the digital model was created and often the main problems come down to whether the design was modeled using solid bodies […]

Teardown

Teardown Showdown: Apple Watch vs. Fake Apple Watch

Welcome to another round of teardown showdown! This week we present A Tale of Two Watches. No, we’re not pitting a 42mm Apple Watch against a 38mm Apple Watch; what’s the point of that? Instead, this showdown is between a real apple watch and a fake one. Look at the picture again: Only one of these watches […]

Teardown

Ricoh Theta S 360° Camera Teardown

We love selfies at Fictiv. We even have human selfie sticks, also known as founders, but really we keep them around for their 6-foot-plus wingspan. However, as of late, our team has grown so much that we can’t all fit into a standard phone selfie. This is the worst kind of growing pain! Our culture is […]

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Enclosure Design 101

While the power of a hardware product comes from its internal components, a product is typically recognized by its enclosure, the outer shell that encloses electronic products, making them appealing and user-friendly. In this post, I’m going to walk you through the steps for designing a basic enclosure, using the design of a IoT plant […]

Teardown

Special Edition Teardown: Lockitron Bolt with Paul Gerhardt

Dear readers, we have a special treat for you this week: The founder of Lockitron, Paul Gerhardt, came to Fictiv HQ to help us tear down his latest keyless-entry smart lock: Lockitron Bolt. Here’s a video to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the teardown and what Paul had to say about the product development process […]

Teardown

Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard Teardown

This week, we’re tearing down the Logitech G13 Advanced Gameboard. It’s a fully programmable one-handed keyboard. Fictiv’s very own software engineer and MMO game enthusiast Craig Crossley recommends this model, citing its durability (three years and going strong) and ease of use. The G13 Gameboard retails at $79.99. We don’t see any screws on the front […]

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Learn by Example: How to Design Light Pipes

Light plays an important role in the design of many hardware products. Often, they are both decorative and functional. Indicator lights are the most minimal user interface: They tell you whether the device is turned on, low on battery, or “thinking” really hard. On modern electronics, the light’s source is almost always an LED. However, […]