Computerization profoundly impacted all aspects of design. Not only has is transformed design processes and design economics, it has transformed the nature of the products that can be created. CAD allows teams of designers and other professionals to collaborate in new ways, to visualize different alternatives and try out different options, to keep options open longer and design different alternatives in parallel and pick up problems sooner. The design software that designers use has moved from being a tool to being an intelligent environment that can guide and inform the design process.It has also made it possible to communicate design ideas and concepts to others more effectively, whether they are marketers, finance directors, focus groups, and other so-called ‘silent designers’—other non-designers who determine design outcomes. These technologies can be put—with suitable adjustments and refinements—in the hands of non-designers, including consumers and end-users, to allow them to co-design products by interacting directly with highly flexible manufacturing systems. Instead of designing for consumers, CAD systems will enable design by consumers.
