What are the key challenges facing product designers in the 21^st century?

Lack of scale
Working using traditional design methods on a 2D monitor can make it difficult to get a true sense of scale. This is particularly true for larger datasets, i.e. a full automotive/aerospace assembly

Physical prototype can be costly
When design teams are ready to review an iteration of their product, they’ll do so using clay models. This approach can be incredibly expensive per model. As a result, they’ll create smaller scale versions to save on cost, meaning design teams may not be able to get a true representation of a product design

A disconnected approach to design
Teams typically work in a linear fashion; one designer will work on a product and will then pass this into another colleague so they can start their work. This could lead to the same team working on different versions of the same product, leading to workflow issues and increasing total design time for a product.
This is particularly true early in the design phase, specifically during early conceptual planning.

No single source to create a full model from start to finish
Until now, design teams have had to use a range of software options to create their product designs from scratch. This means a lot of preparation and export of the same dataset, which can be incredibly time consuming.
On top of this, if designers want to load the product into current XR solutions for a design review, they have to re-prepare and export into their XR application of choice.