Practice 02

Product Design & Development

I design physical products that can actually be made. Industrial design, CAD, prototyping, ergonomics and CMF, carried through DFM, tooling and first article.

Function drives form. I design against the process that will build it, and I pressure-test geometry against tooling and cost before it becomes a rendering.

Process

01

Assessment

Output · A product assessment

What it is, what it costs, what it takes to make, and whether it should exist. Run before design starts.
02

Concept

Output · Sketch and CAD directions

Form explored against ergonomics and the process that will build it, not in isolation from it.
03

Prototype

Output · Printed and machined parts

Real parts in real hands. Formlabs and FDM for fit and feel, before anything is committed to tooling.
04

Design for manufacture

Output · A PRD, a bill of materials, and a technical asset folder

Draft angles, wall sections, tolerances, materials and finish specified against a named process and a named supplier.
05

First article

Output · Approved samples and an inspection standard

The part is not done when the CAD is done. It is done when the first article passes.

Methodology

Human-centred design: Start from the person and the use case, then let the constraints of manufacture shape the answer rather than compromise it late.
Design for manufacture: Geometry pressure-tested against tooling, cost and volume before it becomes a rendering. Tooling amortisation decides more form than aesthetics do.
CMF specification: Colour, material and finish specified to a standard a factory can hit repeatedly, not to a render.
AQL inspection: Sampling standards agreed before production, so quality is a number both sides signed rather than an argument after the fact.