Design work
Product Concierge

Ideas don't ship.
Products do.

Design, program management, and manufacturing expertise for companies building physical products.

How I work →
Sketching
About Tangible

You'll work directly with me, start to finish.

Industrial designer by training. Hardware PM by necessity. Twenty years of moving between the design studio and the factory floor, and I still find both equally interesting.

I work with companies at every stage, from a napkin sketch to a global platform launch. The common thread is always a physical product that needs to get made.

More about me →
DFM Reviews

I review your design against your manufacturing process, materials, tolerances, supplier constraints, and give you a clear, ranked list of what needs to change before you cut steel.

No vague feedback. Specific findings, specific fixes. One of the highest-return investments you can make before tooling commitment.

Fractional PM

Senior product management on a part-time basis. Roadmap, stage gates, cross-functional coordination, launch execution. Structured as a defined monthly engagement so you always know what you're getting.

Right for teams that need product leadership but aren't ready for a full-time hire.

NPI Support

I've run NPI programs at every scale, a startup's first product to $100M+ platform launches. Own the program or plug in at a critical stage. Either way you get someone who's done it before and knows where it tends to go wrong.

Product detail
IP Development

From idea through functional definition, Industrial Design, and IP-ready documentation. Solutions that work, can be manufactured, and are worth defending, not just rendered.

I've been through this from the inventor side many times. I know what the documentation needs to look like and how to work with patent counsel effectively.

3D CAD & Prototyping

SolidWorks modeling from early surfacing through prototype-ready output. Every decision made with manufacturing in mind. Output includes 3D print files, CNC geometry, or supplier-ready drawings, depending on where you are.

Pre-Production

Design approval and production readiness are not the same thing. BOM validation, tooling review, supplier readiness, quality criteria, closing the gap before you commit to a run.

Skipping this step is where hardware programs get expensive.

Tim Haley
Tim Haley
Industrial Designer, Hardware PM, maker of things
Portage, Michigan

I started Tangible in 2008 as a consulting practice alongside my career. Over time it became the thread that connected everything, a way to work directly on the kinds of problems I find genuinely interesting.

My background is in Industrial Design, but I've spent most of my career in work that doesn't fit that box neatly. Global product programs, cross-functional teams, patent briefs, factory floors. Design was the entry point. The rest followed.

What I care about is the process of turning an idea into something real. That involves a lot of unglamorous work, tolerance stacks, supplier negotiations, tooling reviews, and I've come to genuinely enjoy that part. The details are where products succeed or fail.

I travel when I can. It's where a lot of my thinking happens, away from the screen, in places that work differently than home. It makes me a better collaborator and a better designer.

If you're building something physical and want someone who can engage at multiple levels, not just hand over a document and move on, that's what Tangible is for.

Education
Purdue University
Industrial Design, 2002
Based in
Portage, Michigan, available remotely
Categories
Aerospace
B2B
Consumer
Furniture
Industrial
Packaging
Pharmaceutical
Recognition
GOOD Design Awards
JPMA Innovation Award
Parents Magazine Award
Visionary Silver
20+ design & utility patents
Working

Where I have worked.

2024–2026
Product Manager, Heavy Duty / B2B
Colson Group USA, St. Joe, MI
2023–2024
Product Manager, Advanced Technology
DexKo Global, Elkhart, IN
2019–2023
Product Design Manager, Global Food & Consumer
Newell Brands, Kalamazoo, MI
2018–2019
Product Design Manager, Global Mobility & Home
Newell Brands, Kalamazoo, MI
2016–2018
Principal Product Designer
Newell Brands, Kalamazoo, MI
2014–2016
Senior Product Designer
Newell Brands, Kalamazoo, MI
2013
Adjunct Instructor, Design for Business
Illinois Institute of Technology
2008–2013
Sabbatical & Product Consulting
Independent
2007–2008
Furniture & Lighting Designer
Sears Holdings, Chicago, IL
2005–2007
Conceptual CPG Designer, Advanced Surfacing
Vessel Ideation, Chicago, IL
2004–2005
CPG Designer
Pactiv, Chicago, IL
2002–2004
Rigid Bottle Designer
Graham Packaging, York, PA
Contact

Tell me what you're building.

I respond to every message personally. If it sounds like a fit, we'll set up a call.

Get in touch