It's All About You (Really)

During my senior year, I took two engineering classes that broadened my perspective on how to apply what I had learned in math and science with real world issues and problems. During both semesters, my teacher discussed a lot of concepts: problem solving, design, prototyping, mechanics principles, CAD, and budget proposals. 

What my teacher emphasized most, however, was the principle of "human-centered design," the foundation of nearly every engineering project. I had never heard the term before, but learned that it's all about the user. You, seriously. And, it's about putting the user first. Why?

Could you imagine creating a new device or gadget for a friend without ever discussing with the person what they wanted? It would put you, as the engineer, in the business of guessing, and likely creating something that is not super helpful to them. The user experience and feedback is even more important if you want to create multiple products and start a business.

How do you define human-centered design? I found an interesting article from the Harvard Business School article summaries the process well:  

This concept might seem obvious, but one challenge that happens to anyone trying to create something is that you might be fixing the wrong thing, or creating a solution that simply doesn't work for the user. While there’s a multitude of reasons why startups fail, a common problem is that the new company is creating a product that the user doesn't necessarily need, or the product doesn't meet the user's expectations. 

Here’s the best way to implement human-centered design: 

Focus on clarifying and ideateing and take those two steps and go back to who you are designing for and ask them what they think and what they would suggest. Then go back to the ideateing stage and repeat this cycle until there are only minor changes left before developing. 

This might seem simple enough, but I am warning you that the desire to develop (build something) can be so tantalizing that you start to tell yourself “this seems good enough, this solves their problem” when in reality it is just one idea.

I had one of the most important lessons taught to me by my engineering teacher who told me not to get stuck on just one idea; rather, always stay fluid in what you're creating. Keeping this mentality of being willing to change your idea at the drop of a hat is crucial in human-centered design as you have to be willing to change the design/idea if you come up with a better one. 

I have seen first hand how much human-centered design can improve your projects, so if you are willing to, you should try it on your next project and you can see the benefits for yourself.