A.
1) Decide what the board should do.
2) Make a schematic that does that.
3) Decide the mounting issues.
4) Select the component packages.
5) Buy board layout software if you intend to do it yourself
6) Start placing the parts
7) Discover that they won't fit and loop back to 3
8) Finish placing
9) Start running the traces
10) Discover that you can't route as placed and loop back to 8
11) Finish routing
11) Check the proposed layout
12) Rip out large sections and loop back to 8
13) Check the improved version
14) Check it again
15) Make Gerber plots and an NC drill file
16) Check the Gerbers and drill file
17) Compose a README.TXT
18) Zip together the Gerber, NC drill and README.TXT
19) Get bids on making the board
20) Select a vendor and send off the files
21) Get a phone call from the vendor pointing out an error
22) Loop back to 11 and increase the ring on the vias etc
23) Get the boards from the FAB house.
24) Gather the parts needed
25) Discover that you can't get the MOSFET in a DPAK loop back to 4
26) Stuff the board
27) Apply power
28) Scrape the burning parts off your face
29) Replace the burned parts
30) Apply the right power the right way around this time
31) Begin debugging the board
32) Discover the errors that are not just part values
33) Loop back to 1
34) Prepair BOMs etc for the production build.
35) Fight off the accounting guy who wants to lower cost.
36) Make the pre-pre-production units
37) Correct the BOM and assembly drawings
38) Start testing the pre-pre-production units
39) Build the pre-production units
40) Do major testing
41) Discover that the specifications from marketing have changed
42) Loop back to 1
|