Design is an inseparable part of your product and must always be approached as such.

Strategy is the first pillar of the efficient product. The strategic role of design manifests itself through many virtues, among which we can emphasise the following three:

• Design is not something that you can leave aside and think of later. The lifeline of the product starts with finding an answer to the crucial question: what problem the product is going to solve? Design is always part of this question, and, just as well, part of the answer. 
• The experience that the product presents to its users is only part of its design. Having started with why, design follows the hows and whats of the product throughout its lifeline. It defines the inner workings of the product, the details of the manufacturing process, and the matters of its retirement and recycling.
• The well-thought-through design can make all the difference for the success or failure of the product, both aesthetically and financially.

Leaving the design question for later or viewing it outside of the product always results in a worse product that there might have been. From the implementation details awkwardly showing up through the user experience, to expensive maintenance, to poor recyclability, badly designed products contaminate the lives of their users, the balance sheets of their makers, and, ultimately, the beauty of this world.