A method of designing a ball bearing includes providing a value of a shaft outside diameter and a load. An inside diameter of a bearing inner ring is determined based on the value of the shaft outside diameter. A ball size having a specific ball diameter is selected and a number of the balls of the selected standard ball size required to support the load is determined. A pitch diameter of a pitch circle of the ball bearing is determined based on the determined number of balls of the selected ball size. A suitability factor is calculated for the particular value of the pitch diameter and the particular pitch diameter is validated as suitable when the suitability factor is between calculated upper and lower limits.