Working as a product designer: behind the scenes with Tamim Daoudi

Behind every everyday object lies a long process of thinking, experimenting and making decisions that often go unseen. A product designer’s job is not just about drawing attractive objects: it is about imagining solutions that are relevant, useful and sustainable. To understand the profession better, we went behind the scenes with Tamim Daoudi, a product designer who shares his view of a job that keeps evolving.

Tamim Daoudi describes product design as a fine balance between creativity and constraints. “We often start from a concrete problem,” he explains. It might be a user need that is poorly met, a technical constraint to solve or a wish to make an object more environmentally responsible. The designer first analyses the context: who will use the product, in what conditions and with what expectations? This research phase is essential and accounts for a large part of the work.
Then comes the time for ideas. Sketches, moodboards, inspiration, references… Tamim stresses the importance of exploring several directions before choosing one. “You mustn’t fall in love with your first idea,” he says with a smile. A product designer has to be able to question their own choices and accept feedback, whether it comes from users, engineers or clients. The work is rarely done alone: collaboration and dialogue are at the heart of the job.
Once the concept has been approved, it is time to make it physical. Models, prototypes and 3D prints put the idea to the test of reality. For Tamim, this stage is decisive: “That’s where the product starts to speak.” The prototype reveals problems that are invisible on paper: ergonomics, proportions, strength. Each test refines the project, sometimes sends it back a step, until the best possible version is found.

The product designer also acts as a mediator between different stakeholders. They have to translate technical constraints into aesthetic solutions while meeting cost, production and lead-time requirements. Tamim points out that this versatility is both demanding and stimulating. “You are constantly learning: about materials and industrial processes , but also about how people use things and how they behave.”

Today, the profession is deeply shaped by environmental issues. Tamim increasingly builds ecological impact into his projects: choice of materials, durability, repairability. For him, product designers bear a real responsibility for the way objects are designed and consumed.
Behind the scenes, a product designer’s daily life is made up of trials, errors, discussions and patience. But it is also a job driven by passion, where seeing an idea become a real object remains immensely satisfying. Tamim Daoudi’s career reveals a discreet but essential profession, at the crossroads of creativity, technology and meaning.