Industrial designers have extensive training in art, as well as training in basic engineering, manufacturing and fabrication processes, and marketing practices. The product's human interfaces should be safe, easy to use, and intuitive. Each feature should be shaped so that it communicates its function to the user. Form and features have a large impact on tooling and production costs, so they must be considered jointly by the team. Product designs should communicate the corporate design philosophy and mission through the visual qualities of the products.
Industrial design is costly and the value per dollar spent is often difficult to quantity.
The value becomes obvious, however, when one experiences the results. When the purchaser intuitively understands a product's function, and senses the quality of its construction and the integrity of the company that produced it, these subliminal messages are normally the result of good industrial design. Industrial designers usually become involved in a development project almost at the outset. Enthusiasm within the development team increases when industrial designers develop an attractive concept early in the project. When members have a real concept to work towards, the effort ceases to be a purely cerebral exercise, and instead, comes alive with personal meaning.