My Design Engineering Guidelines

• Prototype, prototype, prototype,.......
• Prototyping includes white board sketching, hand sketches, quick solid models, physical prototypes, or rapid prototypes
• Functional prototypes should be simplified as much as possible.  They might not resemble the final concept at all, don't waste any time on aesthetics at first.  Other people will expect it to look better but it is not worth the time if the idea doesn't work first.
• Prototype to find out how something doesn't work, not to show how it does work.
• Truly listen to and evaluate all the input you are given.  That does not mean you have to act on it but it helps people feel involved and another perspective always helps.
• Simplify everything into it's most basic elements first.  It almost always boils down to friction, leverage, bending, or free body diagrams.
• Everything is a spring, everything.
• Beware of under and over constraining parts in assemblies.  Either one leads to problems.
• Solving a problem is good, being able to explain the solution is great.
• Everything on a drawing has to have a tolerance, no matter how 'obvious' it is.
• When brainstorming, propose every crazy idea that comes into your mind, and just as importantly, realize that others may be doing the same.
• When brainstorming, every concept does not have to solve every aspect of the problem.  It may only solve one and have fatal flaws in many areas but it is still worth throwing out there.  Those other constraints may go away or be solved in some unforeseeable way.
• Simple is always better
• Always be willing to throw out an idea for something better, no matter how invested you are in it
• Get feedback / input from everyone involved in the life-cycle of the eventual product, sales, service, assembly, repair,.....they will think of things you haven't even considered.
• Consider the entire life-cycle of the product from day one.  It has to get manufactured, assembled, tested, and repaired.  
• To be continued.....