The project manager should first meet with the sales and marketing teams to identify the requirements that were collected during the interview sessions with potential customers. This is because the project manager needs to understand the customer needs and expectations before proceeding with the design phase. The project manager can then use the requirements as the basis for developing the test cases and acceptance criteria for the equipment. Meeting with the sales and marketing teams is also consistent with the agile and hybrid methodologies, which emphasize customer collaboration and feedback. References:

PMP Examination Content Outline, page 8, task 1 under People domain: “Manage conflict among project stakeholders by analyzing the source and level of conflict and applying appropriate conflict resolution techniques.”

PMBOK Guide, page 141, section 5.2 Collect Requirements: “Collect Requirements is the process of determining, documenting, and managing stakeholder needs and requirements to meet project objectives.”

PMI-PBA Examination Content Outline, page 9, task 1 under Needs Assessment domain: “Assess proposed solutions to determine which solution best fits the business need, identify gaps and shortcomings in solutions, and determine necessary workarounds or changes to the solution.”

[Business Analysis for Practitioners: A Practice Guide], page 31, section 3.2.1 Elicitation Techniques: “Interviews are one of the most commonly used elicitation techniques. Interviews are used to obtain information on the current state, the desired future state, and any recognized gaps between the two states from the perspective of the interviewee.”