Product Design: Engineering Design 101

If you are product designer or an engineer that needs to fabricate or manufacture something YOU need to know the product design process inside and out. While people like product design books that are all pictures with little substance it does not serve them in industry and the book after glancing at it will gather dust on the shelf; this book provides a balance of aesthetics and content to keep you both entertained and provide you with the key tools you will need in industry.

Being a product designer or an engineer is ‘serious fun’ in the fact that you are set to sea in your own life-raft, being your knowledge to both produce performant designs that meet the client’s needs but also the tools to cover your liability when you design and manufacture products. Foolish mistakes will otherwise ruin your career, your life and the life of others; through following stringently the product design process you can cover your liability but also produce designs that work as expected.

This book provides you with the tools you need to know when you start off as a product designer or engineer and a much-needed reference to put in your office for quick lookup. It is designed to be also concise, a book with more words will not benefit you when you are in need. Explanations have been kept simple, case studies have been added to reinforce your understanding and help you learn from historic failures so you don’t make them.

This book covers first the top-level process and then drills down into the granular detail of product design specifications, industrial standards and best practices. Rational methods along with creative techniques are also covered to try and make the tacit (hidden), explicit and informative.

Hopefully you will have this book a long time and may use it as a student in academia through into industry when stuck.
This book follows the concept of balancing aesthetics, function and performance; as should you in your design activities; enjoy!

The book covers the complete product design process;

The product design process used by product designers and design engineers
Client needs
Research methods
Product design specification
Conceptual design methodology
Rational methods
Prototyping
Final design outputs
Sustainability and other design considerations
Manufacturing and shipping