designtotarget

Designtotarget is a design and product development approach that emphasizes shaping the design process so that final outputs meet predefined targets across key metrics such as cost, performance, reliability, manufacturability, and user experience. The approach requires establishing targets early and maintaining traceability from design decisions to these targets throughout development.

The concept is generic and applicable across industries including consumer electronics, software, and industrial equipment. Targets are expressed as measurable criteria, such as a cost ceiling, a performance threshold, a sustainability quota, or a user satisfaction score. The method also requires decision records that document how each design choice moves toward or away from the targets, enabling clear rationale for compromises.

Process typically involves defining targets and constraints, translating targets into design rules and evaluation criteria, generating and screening concepts with rapid assessment against targets, building prototypes and testing, and iterating until the design remains within acceptable variances. Throughout, teams maintain traceability from requirements to the final product so that decisions can be reviewed and justified in relation to the targets.

Benefits of designtotarget include improved alignment with business goals, reduced scope creep, clearer cross-functional communication, and potentially shorter time to market due to early trade-off visibility. Limitations can include the risk of outdated targets, overemphasis on metrics at the expense of creativity, and the possibility of gaming metrics rather than achieving genuine value.

Designtotarget is related to concepts such as target costing, design for manufacturability, and design thinking, offering a practical framework for balancing multiple design objectives.