A successful product must be well designed. Its design minimizes manufacturing costs, is functional, and works to maximize durability. Just as students are constructing prototype designs in the classroom, commercial designers and engineers typically build prototypes in their own shops to achieve the lowest possible cost, while performing at the highest possible efficiency. These notebooks can be examined by the instructor to get an idea of any PDT member's standing in the project. Most researchers in design consider the management, control, and transformation of information to be a major component of the design process.
Notebooks provide the means to achieve the needed level of information organization.
As such, they should reflect the sort of design effort undertaken and the types of information being utilized. Notebooks typically include items such as specifications, constraints, design notes and ideas, sketches, client information, meeting notes, calculations, schedules, scripts of presentations, etc. A type of section division is recommended with this information. Teachers must allow the PDTs and individual students to use their own judgement in deciding on their own most effective means of organization. Group structure is best documented here, with individual responsibilities stated.