How safe is it?
The Safety criterion examines whether your product poses any risk of harm to its users, bystanders, or those involved in its manufacture and disposal, and whether those risks have been identified and addressed.
A strong answer demonstrates that known hazards have been identified systematically, that the design mitigates those hazards at source rather than relying solely on warnings or protective equipment, and that the product meets the relevant safety standards for its category and market. It considers safety across the full life cycle: manufacture, transport, use, and end of life. A weak answer addresses safety only as compliance, checking boxes rather than genuinely designing out risk.
Safety is the most fundamental criterion in the outer ring because failure here cannot be offset by strength elsewhere. A product that harms users, workers, or communities is not a good product regardless of its commercial performance or environmental credentials. Evaluating safety early, and iterating on the design to reduce risk, is both ethically necessary and commercially prudent.
