August 5, 2026

Setting people up for success

Part 1

The other more practical reason we review hardware projects specifically is because it sets people up for success!

When you work on a software project, you have a strict feedback loop that shows you exactly how your software will deploy, whether or not it works, any rendering quirks, etc.

Hardware is very different! Until you actually get your design made in real life, it’s hard to gauge how well your project will actually work in real the real world.

Will my case fit together? Are my traces routed correctly? etc. are all questions you may have trouble finding the answer to when you’re starting hardware for the first time!

Fortunately for us, these questions are mostly answerable with the tools available to us today! CAD models to check tolerances, calculations, simulations, and manufacturer-specified design guidelines etc. Going through all of these usually gets us a pretty good estimate of how things will work in real life, at least initially.

Ultimately, reviewing is really just making sure that people are actually using these tools! That they have enough of their project designed and shipped so that when it comes time to order all of their parts and it arrives at their doorstep, they can actually build it and end up with a working project.

In other words, we are making sure people are set up for success.

If we approved every single submission that came through, over half of them just wouldn’t even work. We would be doing a disservice to people trying to learn hardware.

We’re kind like the person who checks your seatbelt before you go on a rollercoaster!