1. A method for facilitating a process for designing an optical system using an optical design system implemented on a computer system, the method comprising the optical design system performing the steps of: generating a design state overview of the design of the optical system, the design state overview summarizing a current state and a target state of the design by describing a plurality of specifications for the optical system, the specification descriptions including target ranges for the specifications based on the target state of the design and further including current values for the specifications based on the current state of the design; displaying the design state overview; and updating the design state overview in response to the optical design system changing the current design for the optical system.