Ask 10 engineers what the difference between product design and industrial prototype design is, and you’re likely to get 10 different answers. Several might be a variation on “There is no difference.” The rest will have different ideas depending on their background, experience, and their own position and job title. It’s difficult to definitively say whether there’s a right or wrong answer, but distinctions between product design and industrial prototype design exist. Drawing out and understanding those distinctions can be useful to your experience in working with a manufacturer partner, or even with your own colleagues, so let’s examine them further.