Develop and design manufactured products, such as cars, home appliances, and children's toys. Combine artistic talent with research on product use, marketing, and materials to create the most functional and appealing product design.
U.S. Workers
30,250
Median Salary
$79,450
10-Year Growth
+3.2%
Annual Openings
2,500
Typical entry: Bachelor's degree
16 of 17 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Research production specifications, costs, production materials and manufacturing methods and provide cost estimates and itemized production requirements.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can research production specifications, materials and methods and generate cost estimates and itemized production requirements accurately given access to current data and BOM systems.
Participate in new product planning or market research, including studying the potential need for new products.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can conduct market research, analyze demand signals, model scenarios, and contribute substantively to new product planning with data-driven insights.
Design graphic material for use as ornamentation, illustration, or advertising on manufactured materials and packaging or containers.
AI: Fully automatable - AI image and layout tools can create high-quality ornamentation, illustrations, and packaging graphics and iterate to production-ready designs.
Read publications, attend showings, and study competing products and design styles and motifs to obtain perspective and generate design concepts.
AI: Fully automatable - AI can ingest publications, imagery, and show content at scale to analyze trends and generate design concepts and perspectives.
Prepare sketches of ideas, detailed drawings, illustrations, artwork, or blueprints, using drafting instruments, paints and brushes, or computer-aided design equipment.
AI: Partial - AI and CAD tools can prepare sketches, detailed drawings, illustrations, and blueprints digitally, but tasks requiring physical drafting instruments or manual painting still require humans.
Confer with engineering, marketing, production, or sales departments, or with customers, to establish and evaluate design concepts for manufactured products.
AI: Partial - AI can generate and evaluate design concepts and draft talking points to support stakeholder discussions, but cannot fully replace the nuanced negotiation and judgment of in-person conferences.
Modify and refine designs, using working models, to conform with customer specifications, production limitations, or changes in design trends.
AI: Partial - AI tools can modify and refine digital models and propose adjustments based on specifications and trends, but physical working-model iteration and complex trade‑offs still require human oversight.
Direct and coordinate the fabrication of models or samples and the drafting of working drawings and specification sheets from sketches.
AI: Partial - AI can produce working drawings and specification sheets from sketches and assist coordination, but directing and coordinating physical fabrication and on‑site logistics remains human-led.
Evaluate feasibility of design ideas, based on factors such as appearance, safety, function, serviceability, budget, production costs/methods, and market characteristics.
AI: Partial - AI can simulate performance, estimate costs, and assess many feasibility factors, but final safety judgments, regulatory decisions, and market-sensitive tradeoffs need human validation.
Present designs and reports to customers or design committees for approval and discuss need for modification.
AI: Partial - AI can prepare presentations and participate in meetings to present designs and respond to queries, yet persuading stakeholders and handling real‑time approvals typically requires human interaction and authority.
Develop manufacturing procedures and monitor the manufacture of their designs in a factory to improve operations and product quality.
AI: Partial - AI can develop manufacturing procedures, optimize processes, and monitor production via sensors and digital twins, but implementing changes and managing shop‑floor realities still require human supervision.
Investigate product characteristics such as the product's safety and handling qualities, its market appeal, how efficiently it can be produced, and ways of distributing, using and maintaining it.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze product safety data, simulate handling, and evaluate market appeal and production efficiency, but hands‑on testing, contextual field studies, and some judgment calls limit full automation.
Coordinate the look and function of product lines.
AI: Partial - AI can generate cohesive design systems and propose coordinated look/function across product lines but cannot fully manage stakeholder decisions and implementation in the real world.
Supervise assistants' work throughout the design process.
AI: Partial - AI can monitor, review, and provide feedback on assistants' work but cannot fully replace human management, motivation, and conflict resolution.
Advise corporations on issues involving corporate image projects or problems.
AI: Partial - AI can analyze brand data and produce strategic recommendations for corporate image projects but lacks the stakeholder relationships and judgement to fully own advisory roles.
Develop industrial standards and regulatory guidelines.
AI: Partial - AI can research precedent, draft standards and regulatory language, and model impacts, but cannot enact, negotiate, or politically authorize formal industrial standards alone.
Fabricate models or samples in paper, wood, glass, fabric, plastic, metal, or other materials, using hand or power tools.
AI: Not automatable - Fabricating physical models or samples with hand or power tools is a manual task that AI alone cannot perform without physical robotic systems and human oversight.