Quirky is a two-sided company. The sales side is similar to any average company. The design side is the uniqueness of Quirky. User-generated concepts are taken through the entire design process which focuses towards user involvement and input at every step.

For an idea to start the process to become a Quirky (or Quirky Partner) product, a user submits their concept to the Quirky website where 200 other users must vote for it. This is the initial challenge of the design process on Quirky. Convincing 200 strangers to vote for your ideas using their limited daily votes isn’t easy, but it is often the source of some the earliest feedback on your idea. Quirky suggests sharing with friends and family on social media networks, but still many of the votes needed must come from the established Quirky user base.

Once an idea has earned 200 user votes it enters the Expert Review phase, where a Quirky worker assigns a team to the idea in order to check it for feasibility, similar products, legal issues, etc. If it passes this review it moves to Live Evaluation, where the entire Quirky Staff reviews ideas on stage to either continue the design process or reject the product.

My idea, submitted a week before this post, was still in the user voting stage with just a few votes needed to enter Expert Review. I’ll be sharing my experience as I go through the design process (If my idea is selected).