Why catching hardware mistakes late hurts so much

A schematic mistake is usually cheap to fix, but a mistake discovered after you’ve ordered boards, scheduled certification testing, or committed to production can get very expensive and push your timeline way off track.

Sometimes those early choices can’t be corrected without a full board redesign.

They also tend to show up right when the schedule’s tight and the money’s already committed.

Why design reviews matter

When I was first hired as a microchip design engineer at TI, presenting a design review in front of experienced engineers was intimidating.

Pretty quickly I realized something important though.

Design reviews help you find problems before they turn into expensive setbacks.

That lesson is exactly why we offer structured design reviews today.

The issues that cause real damage usually aren’t obvious

These reviews focus on problems that don’t just break a prototype. They’re the problems that show up later and cost real money.

Boards that fail EMI testing because layout choices can’t be patched.

Products that work fine on the bench, then become unreliable in real-world conditions because of grounding, power integrity, thermal headroom, or ESD paths.

Prototypes that assemble smoothly in low volume, then turn into yield problems and rework headaches once production ramps.

Most teams don’t realize those risks are already baked into the design until they’re staring at failed test results or shelves of product that can’t ship.

What a structured review really does

A structured design review helps you spot problems early in development, when fixes are still fast and inexpensive.

It gives you objective feedback on choices that affect certification, reliability, manufacturability, and long-term support.