After years in Fusion 360, these are the mistakes I see over and over — from students to working designers:

1. Not using components from the start.

If you're modeling everything as bodies in a single component, you're setting yourself up for pain. The moment you need to move or reuse parts, everything breaks. Start with components. Always.

2. Ignoring the timeline.

The timeline is Fusion's superpower. If you're suppressing features instead of editing them, or if your timeline is a tangled mess of random operations, you're fighting the tool instead of using it.

3. Over-constraining sketches… or under-constraining them.

Fully constrained sketches (the lock icon) are non-negotiable for anything you plan to modify later. If your sketch moves when you drag it, it's not done yet.

4. Not setting up your design intent with parameters.

Hardcoding dimensions = rebuilding from scratch every time something changes. Use parameters. Name them clearly. Your future self will thank you.

5. Skipping joints and going straight to "Align."

Align is a crutch. Joints define how parts move relative to each other. If you want assemblies that actually simulate and animate correctly, learn joints properly.

These sound basic, but I guarantee most Fusion 360 users are making at least two of them right now.

Inside Fusion Unlocked, I break down the right workflows for all of this — beginner through advanced. Guides, dos and don'ts, deep dives into every corner of the software.