When designing a product, designers face challenges from many different camps both within the company and externally. Good designers and good designs handle these challenges and create products that add value and delight for the people that use them. This series will take some of the products we, as designers, are most familiar with, tear them down, and like any good arm-chair quarterback, analyse them for their successes, failures and compromises. I did not design any of these products, nor is Core77 being paid by these companies for these articles. In fact, we didn't tell them of our plans. So, if you work for Techtronic Industries (Ryobi) or Makita, surprise! For this first installment, we are looking at you.

Being a good arm-chair quarterback, I am going to express my opinion, make blanket statements and form some assumptions about things for which I have no direct knowledge. That inevitably means I am going to be wrong sometimes. If you see it different, leave us a comment. This is meant to be a conversation. If you designed either of these products or even just work for either of these companies, think before you decide to comment. This is not worth getting a visit from HR or some pissed off middle manager. #VoiceOfExperience

If you have found your way to this page because you want to buy one of these products and need an expert opinion on which of these drills is right for you, sorry, these are not the articles you are looking for (but maybe you can get some guidance from our friends at ProToolReviews). #JediHandWave. Here at Core77, we are going to examine these products from a designer's perspective. Which of these drills performs better, runs longer or can stand up to the rigors of life in your toolbox? Who knows! I didn't use them except to take the other apart in some bizarre act of consumer product assisted suicide. Our focus is on the design considerations that were made and should have been made when designing these products.

(Now on to the carnage)