Handheld Products
for Peak Performance
Handheld product teams are faced with the challenge of creating products that feel right in the user’s hand, naturally guide usage, and inspire confidence from the first interaction, all while delivering on premium positioning and business expectations. Whether you are launching a new tool platform, refreshing a core line, or translating technology into a product people trust in the hand, the challenge is the same: earn preference in seconds without adding unnecessary complexity, cost, or training burden.
We help teams turn ergonomics, user insight, and manufacturable design into handheld products that improve adoption, strengthen brand preference, and perform in the real world. If a human hand touches your product, we know how to design it with a human touch.
We help teams make sharper handheld decisions before tooling, production, and portfolio commitments become difficult to reverse.
From power tools and medical devices to home and connected products, we help teams create handheld experiences that feel right in the hand, clearly guide use, and inspire confidence, while supporting stronger differentiation and commercial success.
Handheld Products for Peak Performance
Industrial Equipment
In the fast-paced world of industrial work, efficiency and durability are key. At Sundberg-Ferar, we design robust, ergonomic tools and equipment that enhance performance while ensuring comfort and safety. From heavy-duty machinery to precision instruments, our solutions are crafted to withstand the toughest environments, helping professionals work smarter and more effectively.
Turning a fragmented equipment experience into a more unified, operator-first control environment
Ditch Witch approached Sundberg-Ferar with a platform challenge: unify the operator experience across five Horizontal Directional Drill (HDD) rigs through a single cab strategy – improving comfort, visibility, and consistency while simplifying development. The team worked across engineering, design, and ergonomics to develop a modular cab with a standardized control layout that could scale across machines. This included evaluating seating positions, control reach, and sightlines to ensure clear viewpoints and reduce operator fatigue in demanding conditions. The result is a more consistent and comfortable operating environment that improves usability across the lineup while enabling greater platform efficiency and a stronger, more cohesive product offering. Read more.
Hand Tools
At SF, we design hand tools that offer precision, comfort, and control, making every task more efficient and user-friendly. From ergonomic grips to durable materials, our tools are crafted with the user in mind, ensuring that professionals and DIY enthusiasts alike can achieve accurate results with minimal effort, all while prioritizing comfort and ease of use.
Using task-driven design language to make a crowded hand-tool category easier to choose and easier to trust
Wiss saw an opportunity to better serve professionals and craftsmen by making their scissors lineup more intuitive, purposeful, and relevant to real-world tasks. We partnered with Wiss to use design research to map product form more directly to material and cutting intent, translating functional differences into clear, recognizable geometries across the range. The result is a more understandable and compelling product lineup that helps users quickly choose the right tool at the point of use and purchase, strengthening both usability and shelf impact. Read more.
Power Tools
SF designs power tools that deliver performance, strength, and reliability, empowering users to tackle tough jobs with confidence. By integrating intuitive controls, advanced engineering, and robust materials, our tools provide the power needed for demanding tasks, all while enhancing safety and efficiency for both professionals and DIYers.
Refreshing a power-tool line for a new audience without losing speed to market
Dremel needed to quickly expand beyond its core user base and reach a younger, more diverse DIY audience, many of whom were entering the category for the first time during the surge in at-home making. We helped develop a new visual brand language and product family that reduced intimidation, improved approachability, and made tools feel more accessible to entry-level users. Delivered on an aggressive timeline, the work focused on enabling faster market entry while aligning the portfolio to a broader consumer base. Read more.
Health & Wellness Products
In healthcare, every product plays a crucial role in enhancing patient care and improving quality of life. At Sundberg-Ferar, we design medical equipment and wellness products that prioritize comfort, accessibility, and ease of use – whether in clinical settings or at home. From advanced diagnostic tools to in-home wellness devices, our solutions focus on empowering users with products that are both functional and intuitive, promoting well-being and independence with every interaction.
Packaging advanced technology into a handheld device people can understand, afford, and adopt
Freestyle Partners, LLC set out to bring their portable, filtered Far UV-C device, BeamClean™, to market in a way that could drive adoption across multiple environments. Sundberg-Ferar partnered with the team to translate this advanced technology into a more approachable, understandable, and easy-to-use product, while also aligning the design to manufacturability and cost realities. The result is a clearer, more intuitive device that communicates its function and value more effectively, improving usability and strengthening its commercial viability across a range of use cases. Read more.
Kitchen Appliances & Products
SF designs kitchen appliances and products that are as intuitive as they are innovative. From sleek, high-performance gadgets to multifunctional appliances both big and small, our solutions combine cutting-edge technology with ergonomic design to make meal preparation more efficient and enjoyable. We focus on creating products that not only deliver exceptional performance but also blend seamlessly into the kitchen environment, offering a balance of style, ease, and reliability for every home chef.
Building a stronger small-appliance family that could win both mass appeal and style influence
Kenmore was looking to define a next-generation visual direction for their small appliance portfolio – one that could unify product families, strengthen brand recognition, and support growth across a competitive mass market. Sundberg-Ferar partnered with their team to explore and develop a cohesive visual brand language, creating multiple product families and evaluating directions that could scale across categories. The focus was not just on aesthetics, but on selecting a design system that could resonate broadly with consumers while still leading on style and influencing early adopters. Read more.
Sports & Recreation Equipment
Whether it’s gear you wear or equipment you hold, the right design can elevate performance and enjoyment. Our team excels at designing sports and recreation products that empower athletes and enthusiasts to push their limits with confidence. By combining advanced materials with human-centered insights, we create products that move with the body and perform at the highest level, helping users get the most out of every activity, from casual recreation to professional competition.
Designing equipment around role-specific performance priorities instead of one-size-fits-all assumptions
Xenith partnered with Sundberg-Ferar to define what’s next in football equipment and strengthen how their products serve players across positions. Through in-depth interviews and observational research, the team uncovered that athletes have fundamentally different expectations based on how they play – some prioritizing speed and agility, others demanding greater protection and durability.
These insights led to a more flexible equipment strategy and the development of a scalable “flex fit” approach, enabling products to better align with real player attitudes while creating a clearer, more compelling product story across the lineup. Read more.
For handheld categories, first touch is not just an experience moment. It influences returns, training time, fatigue, confidence, premium perception, and whether a product line can scale cleanly across a portfolio.
Whether you’re launching a new tool platform or refreshing a core line, we can help you identify where to focus and what to do next.
Research how the hand actually meets the product
Use ethnography, task mapping, ergonomic benchmarking, and grip/interaction studies to reveal what users need physically and psychologically from the product.
Build a clearer architecture and design language
Translate those insights into control layouts, massing, grip strategies, visual brand language, and family relationships that can scale across the portfolio.
Prototype for real-world confidence
Validate comfort, control, manufacturability, and product-story coherence before expensive downstream commitments turn avoidable issues into sunk cost.
The most powerful tools are not just about performance, but also about how they feel in the hand, how they guide the user, and how they inspire confidence, no matter the task.
On the Road to 100
With a longstanding legacy of innovation, Sundberg-Ferar has been a trusted partner to leading brands in designing handheld products that empower users. For more than nine decades, we’ve collaborated with top companies in numerous industries to design handheld solutions that work smarter, feel better, and perform beautifully. Explore more below!
