We've all seen those product development firms that purport to take your idea and turn it into manufactured reality; do they really work? One of them did for Joy Clymer, who's not even a product designer--she's a medical transcriptionist. But she had an idea for a product:

[Clymer] wanted a neat and simple way to transport deviled eggs to get-togethers. She had taken a dozen deviled eggs to a barbecue in a pie pan covered with plastic. By the time she arrived, they were a mess. Joy knew there had to be a better way, but she couldn't find a proper container in the stores, so she decided to invent one....

She brought her idea to product developers Davison International, and the result was the "Party on the Go" food/dessert travel caddy seen above. Following its invention it was licensed by Davison collaborator Xtraordinary Home Products (XHP), and subsequently featured on QVC, which virtually guarantees massive sales and, you know, cha-ching!

So, guys and gals--if a medical transcriptionist saw a market hole and filled it herself, surely a trained product designer can do it as well, no? Put those thinking caps on!