Product design software is a beacon of technological advancement, giving designers the power to bring their ideas to life. These sophisticated tools have revolutionized the way products are conceptualized, developed, and made. Right now, we’ll delve into the key features and their impact on the design process.
What is software product design?
In essence, this software is a type of program where you can make a design for products digitally. The program allows designers, engineers, and manufacturers to create 2D or 3D models as the blueprint for building and testing the product before production.
We’ve gone a long way beyond just that, actually. These programs now have more features and tools, such as prototyping, rendering, simulation, collaboration, and even project management tools.
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What Software Do Product Designers Use?
There is a good deal of software that product designers, engineers, and manufacturers employ to create and develop the product according to their objectives. We cover five mainstay brands for your reference, as explained below.
1. Inventor
| Ratings | G2: 4.4/5 (420+ reviews), Capterra: 4.6/5 (260+ reviews) |
| Highlight | The comprehensive and professional-grade tools for product design |
| Pricing |
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Plus
- Professional-grade 3D mechanical design capabilities.
- Its document production capabilities are essential to creating accurate and detailed technical drawings.
- Supports freeform, parametric, and direct modeling approaches.
- Comprehensive solution, with sheet metal, frame design, tube & pipe, and cable & harness tools.
- Collaboration and Data Management feature.
Minus
- High system requirements.
- Limited compatibility, smooth compatibility to only Autodesk software.
- Harder to learn.
Overall, Autodesk Inventor is powerful and user-friendly 3D CAD software. However, people are concerned about the high system requirements it might need.
2. CATIA
| Ratings | G2: 4.2/5 (240+ reviews), Capterra: 4.6/5 (200+ reviews) |
| Highlight | The product design software with advanced features and capabilities. |
| Pricing |
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Plus
- Advanced surfacing Capabilities.
- Efficiently works even with massive assemblies.
- Collaboration and data management.
- Support automating, such as assembly constraints and weight distribution.
- Support offline design modifications.
Minus
- Aged and less intuitive user interface.
- Hard to learn.
- Requires high system.
- Expensive.
- There may be limited compatibility with non-Dassault software.
CATIA is a versatile product design software that offers advanced features. In general, its plus side is worth the minus side.
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3. SolidWorks
| Ratings | G2: 4.5/5 (35+ reviews), Capterra: 4.6/5 (720+ reviews) |
| Highlight | User-friendly interface with a comprehensive set of tools and advanced features |
| Pricing |
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Plus
- User-friendly interface.
- Has a large user community.
- Provides comprehensive features.
- Integrated tools; offering a large amount of tool sets.
- Drawing capabilities.
Minus
- Expensive.
- Steeper learning curve (demands more time to learn).
- SolidWorks requires high system resources.
- Limited compatibilities may occur for non-Dassault software.
- The ongoing licensing and maintenance costs can be significant for some businesses.
SolidWorks excels in popularity with the comprehensive software, amassing a large community as a result of it. However, generic concerns such as the price and limited compatibility are to be expected.
4. Fusion 360
| Ratings | G2: 4.5/5 (430+ reviews), Trust Radius: 7.6/10 (90+ reviews) |
| Highlight | Cloud-based platform with unique features and capabilities. |
| Pricing |
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Plus
- Cloud-based, easy real-time access anytime and anywhere.
- Offers a lot of solutions, including 3D CAD, electronics design, parametric modeling, simulation, also CAM.
- User-friendly interface.
- Affordable product design software.
- Seamless integration with other Autodesk products and third-party tools.
Minus
- Malware risks.
- Limited surfacing tools.
- Limited features (for advanced users).
- Limited offline capabilities.
Fusion 360 gets on our list because of its all-in-one engineering capabilities and ability to cater to a wide range of design needs. Additionally, the software is also known for its innovative features, ease of use, and the majority of great comments.
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5. Creo
| Ratings | G2: 4.1/5 (15+ reviews), Capterra: 4.4/5 (110+ reviews) |
| Highlight | A versatile product design tool for various industries and applications. |
| Pricing |
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Plus
- User-friendly interface (considered easy to use).
- Offers high scalability.
- Comprehensive solution, including 2D and 3D parametric modeling, good surfacing tool, and simulation.
Minus
- Lacks flexibility; harder to make quick design changes, adjust parameters, or accommodate variations.
- The software has accuracy issues.
- Lack of automation.
- User-based; the number of active users might be smaller than in other product design software.
The overall evaluation of Creo is mixed. Users highlight several positive aspects of the software however, some users have expressed concerns about its limitations and its complexity as a hurdle for beginners.
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Ready to Pick Your Product Design Software?
There are a lot of product design tools in the market, and choosing one requires extensive planning and budgeting. The scale and the projects influence what software do product designer uses. With our top 5 list, we hope you can find the one that suits you best.
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