Design Review Checklist

Elements of Design Reviews

At the conclusion of each phase of product development, a formal, documented, systematic and critical review of design results should be planned and conducted. It should be appropriate to the design phase and the product type.

(a) Items Pertaining to Customer Needs and Satisfaction

  1. comparison of customer needs expressed in the product specification with technical specifications for materials, products and processes;
  2. validation of the design through prototype tests;
  3. ability to perform under expected conditions of use and environment;
  4. unintended uses and misuses;
  5. safety and environmental compatibility;
  6. compliance with regulatory requirements, national and international Standards and organization practices;
  7. comparisons with competitive designs;
  8. comparisons with similar designs, especially analysis of the history of internal and external problems to avoid repeating problems.

(b) Items Pertaining to Product Specification

  1. dependability and serviceability requirements;
  2. permissible tolerances and comparison with process capabilities;
  3. product acceptance criteria;
  4. installability, ease of assembly, storage needs, shelf-life and disposability;
  5. benign failure and fail-safe characteristics;
  6. aesthetic specifications and acceptance criteria;
  7. failure mode and effect analysis, and fault tree analysis;
  8. ability to diagnose and correct problems;
  9. labelling, warnings, identification, traceability requirements;
  10. review and use of standard parts.

(c) Items Pertaining to Process Specification

  1. ability to produce product conforming to the design, including special process needs, mechanization, automation, assembly and installation of components;
  2. capability to inspect and test the design, including special inspection and test requirements;
  3. specification of materials, components and sub-assemblies, including approved supplies and sub-contractors as well as availability;
  4. packaging, handling, storage and shelf-life requirements, especially safety factors relating to incoming and outgoing items.
Source: ISO 9004.1 - Quality Management and Quality System Elements - Part 1: Guidelines.
Last revised 19th December, 1999, David Radcliffe