First, some definitions. Engineering is the application of technical knowledge in the design of devices and systems that will perform to meet a specific function. Design is the use of creativity in the formulation of products to foster end-user desirability, acceptance, and ease of use.
At CircuitBread, we’re committed students of electronics with a lifelong interest in how technology can add value to our lives. One of the things we often consider is the relative importance of engineering versus design in a product or system. As someone interested in the field of electronics, and in building things, you may have thought about this yourself. The point is, many products, from simple to complex, can benefit from good design as much as smart engineering.
The Importance of Design
Since many products with electronic content have a user interface, the determination of an application-specific “look & feel” can be very important. The tactile sense of a simple switch, for example, can be enhanced via a click that alerts to its proper function. While you may not consider this important, think about the last time you flipped a silent wall switch and wondered if it was fully on or off.
Modern electronic products, or products with some electronic content that are used to control, enhance, protect, compliment, monitor, or initiate a function, also often involve a time commitment from the user in order to learn the interface. Admittedly, this may not be a large commitment if you’re developing a simple wall switch.
But there may come a day in your future when you are engineering a brand-new process control interface, or perhaps re-designing the audio controls for a car. How can you, as a student of electronics, begin to incorporate good design cues into the things you’re creating? How can you add design features that reduce the amount of time a user needs to learn your product? How can you make sure that using your new control interface won’t detract from a user’s safety?
Adding Good Design to your Engineering
One way to upgrade your work is to select components for your new device that combine functionality with elegant design, or at least features that make sense to the user. People, whether in the consumer, industrial, or military areas, appreciate products that work. But they also react positively to products that go beyond pure engineering.
Experience shows that the individual components that are included in a product or system can deliver both the required engineering performance along with design cues that can make customers react positively. A well-designed switch can not only provide solid on/off capability, but also positive operational feedback, enhance safety through color and lighting, and prevent gloved or slippery fingers from missing the mark via surface texturing.
Well-designed individual components can also add value to the perception of your product in the marketplace, and the likelihood of its inclusion on a purchase order. Our distributor friends over at OnlineComponents.com are ready to share their experience with many components that can add value through imaginative design.
Integrating Design into your Engineering
Combining good engineering with creative design can go a long way to improve a product’s chances for success. Some of the steps to remember as you move forward in your technical career include:
- Understand the problem and the assignment - is it a new product, a redesign, an upgrade, or a performance solution?
- Ask questions of both your customer, their customers, and anyone else who might be involved.
- Listen, listen, listen.
- Know the final end-user.
- Design forward – understand how the product will age, adapt to new uses, be repaired or be replaced.
Summary
If you’re on your own, congratulations! You’re both an engineer and a designer. Meaning you’ll have to challenge yourself to produce elegant designs. If you’re part of a larger team, now or in the future, you may have to fight for the resources you need to create memorable products. Either way, don’t forget that the final customer will be the ultimate judge of your success.
