More Than A Prototype – Indiegogo Product Stages Explained – Update #013

indiegogo product stages visonic dome blog update
All physical products on Indiegogo have the 'Product Stages' badge at the top of their campaign. In fact, the Indiegogo team personally checks each campaign to confirm that the correct stage was selected and that the creator isn't lying to backers.

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*Heads up!

Since the time that I wrote this post, there’s been a change of plans. Now, Visonic Dome is coming exclusively to Kickstarter for 32 days. No more Indiegogo campaign! But soon you can now get your Visonic Dome for -50% off in the first 72 hours by backing the project as an “Early Bird.”

Click here to read more about why we switched from Indiegogo to Kickstarter and what that change means for the project.

Thanks!

All About Indiegogo Product Stages

If you’ve ever backed an Indiegogo campaign before, you probably noticed the “Product Stages” box at the top of every page.

indiegogo product stages
The Indiegogo “Product Stages” tells backers how far along the development process is.

All physical products on Indiegogo have this box at the top of their campaign.

In fact, the Indiegogo team says they personally check every campaign. They do that to confirm that the correct stage was selected and that the creator isn’t lying to backers about their progress.

(Which, unfortunately, does happen. I think we’ve all seen it at this point.)

Therefore, the Indiegogo Product Stages is designed to let you know with a glance just how far along the project is before you throw your money behind it.

Indiegogo itself divides campaigns into 4 different stages of development. The product stages are:

  • Concept
  • Prototype
  • Production
  • Shipping

Indiegogo defines a ‘Concept‘ as an idea for a physical product. That means that, at the time of the campaign, the product doesn’t exist. There might be mock-ups or 3D renderings to show how it will look and how it will work.

The next step up is the ‘Prototype‘ stage. On Indiegogo, a Prototype is “a working version of the physical product that can demonstrate its features and functions.” In other words, there’s a real, physical example of the product, but it hasn’t been made at scale yet.

After that, only campaigns that are currently manufacturing their product can claim the ‘Production‘ stage. Campaign creators have to prove that they’re already making the product with images or video.

Lastly, the ‘Shipping‘ stage is only for campaigns that are (wait for it) actually shipping their product.

Where Visonic Dome fits in

For the purposes of the Indiegogo Kickstarter* campaign, Visonic Dome is a ‘Prototype.’

That’s because, although we have working examples and we’ve made the product before, we won’t start production until after the campaign.

The goal of this Kickstarter* campaign is to get the minimum order needed to start production. But without the assembly lines already rolling, Visonic Dome isn’t at that stage on the Indiegogo grading scale yet.
Fair enough.

Still, it feels a little weird to call Visonic Dome a prototype. Especially when you consider its long production history.

Visonic Dome fits in somewhere between the ‘Prototype’ and ‘Production’ stage


Usually, a prototype refers to something that hasn’t been produced before. Prototypes often have wrinkles that need to be ironed out or features that need to be refined.

That’s normal.

But the Visonic Dome is way past that stage of development. It’s a complete product – clinically tested, safety certified, and R&D’d at one of the biggest eye care companies in the world.

If only there were a 5th level on Indiegogo’s production stages…
Something between ‘Prototype’ and ‘Production.’
Maybe they’d call it ‘Production Ready‘ or something similar.

That’s where Visonic Dome fits in.

Ah, well.

The most important thing to me is transparency and honesty. And the ‘Prototype’ stage best describes how far along Visonic Dome is right now, in terms of putting products into boxes and shipping them out to you.

With your help, we’ll be in that ‘Production’ stage in no time!

608% Fully Funded Thanks To You!

Visonic Dome is getting ready for the assembly line. Final shipment is scheduled for July 2022.

Don’t miss out. Join 181 backers and pre-order your Visonic Dome now!

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The Start of Something New – Update #024

The definite #1 end goal for this year is to deliver Visonic Dome to every Kickstarter backer. This is where the success of a crowdfunding campaign is truly defined. Because it really doesn’t matter how many backers you can convince, if they never get to experience your product.

Read More »

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