✅ What this stage is about
Product design turns concepts into real, buildable solutions.
The Product Designs stage captures the detail behind what you're making—from how it looks and works, to how it will be built and tested. This phase brings together engineering drawings, 3D CAD, materials choices, and design-for-manufacture insights. It's where decisions are locked in, risks are reviewed, and the final product takes form.
📘 What you’ll learn
- What your product will look like, how it functions, and what it contains
- Which features and systems have been finalised for production
- What trade-offs have been made between performance, cost, and usability
- How your product will be assembled, tested, and delivered
- Whether all design files and outputs meet spec, compliance, and build-readiness
🛠️ Tools and methods
This stage builds and documents the full physical and digital design:
| Activity | Purpose |
| 3D CAD development (final) | Create production-ready models with correct tolerances |
| 2D/Engineering drawings | Document exact specs, dimensions, and materials |
| Bill of Materials (BOM) | List all parts, assemblies, and sourcing details |
| Design for Manufacture (DFM) | Ensure parts and processes are efficient and scalable |
| Tolerance + fit analysis | Validate how parts interact and perform physically |
| Assembly methods | Define how the product is put together (manual, automated) |
| Routing & instructions | Provide documentation for builds, setup, and QA |
| Quality control planning | Link design to test criteria and visual checks |
- CAD and drawings must align with all upstream insight and downstream testing needs
- Use design reviews, version control, and file naming standards to maintain clarity
⚠️ Watch-outs
- Assuming CAD = final design—always validate through prototyping
- Skipping tolerance checks or DFM reviews
- Not aligning drawings with suppliers or assembly teams
- Forgetting to update downstream documents after changes
💡 Tips from the field
“We thought our model was ready—until the supplier flagged an unreachable internal clip. DFM review saved a whole tooling rework.”– Product Engineer, Consumer Hardware Startup
💡 Real-world readiness comes from stress-testing designs before they hit the factory.
🔗 Helpful links & resources
- Design-to-Manufacture Toolkit
- Download: Engineering Drawing Checklist
- Template: Assembly Instruction Sheet
- Article: From CAD to Build: How to Finalise Product Designs
- Follow-on: Evaluate
✍️ Quick self-check
🎨 Visual concept (optional)
Illustration: A clean workspace showing a CAD model, 2D drawing sheet, exploded assembly diagram, and BOM. Sticky notes highlight: “Check tolerance stack”, “Supplier review done”, “Final version – v3.2”.
Visual shows how product design turns refined ideas into real-world, manufacturable assets—ready for testing and production.