within the product design process Which goes through many stages, starting from developing initial design ideas to making the first samples of products, during these stages, the designer needs to embody his design ideas in a material form for display and study by the design team to develop these ideas and then present them to a sample of clients to measure their satisfaction with the proposed design ideas. Each designer has his own distinctive method to represent his design ideas, starting from manual sketches and passing through the work of models whose details vary in accuracy in relation to the different stages of the product design process. There are many methods used to make models, which do not deviate from being manual methods or digital methods. Manual methods in building models for products require high manual skills in implementation from cheap materials such as cardboard or foam. While others resort to the use of computers in building models for products, which is the trend most followed now, especially in light of the huge technological development in computer drawing and manufacturing programs. Therefore, the terms "models" and "prototypes" are used these days to describe any means of product representation, from concept sketches to physical models, CAD and virtual prototyping models, that help designers and consumers communicate about suggested ideas for products.
The research problem lies in the necessity of studying the different types of product models (physical and digital) and showing their impact on the design process.