How can you communicate your design decisions to non-engineers?

With the help of proper drawings having plan, section and elevation. All the parts of the drawing shall be duly supported by notes showing comments, brief summary of material specifications such as reinforcement type, concrete type, cover, reference design code number and revision details (if any). Further with the help of the close WhatsApp group, having members from the Design Team, Execution Team and key members of the Project Management team of clients and contractors. In case of any feedback from the execution team, if any modifications needed in design/drawing needs to be immediately attended by the designer and revised drawings must be issued without any delay.

In today's world all projects are modelled using 3D software. The drawings are generally quite detailed and in some cases complicated. The best way is to include model snapshots in the construction work package along with a step wise description of the way the construction proceeds. It is not the intent here to tell the Contractor how to build it but more the end result. Construction work packages have to be prescriptive.

The key to project success, delivering on time, and achieving the required quality is understanding your team members' capabilities. You may have an engineer who needs support two to three times per day, and simultaneously, you will have other engineers whom you only need to meet every several days. This is very important in general and especially crucial in projects with tight schedules as you need to know to whom you have to delegate this critical task to deliver on time

Sketches, renderings, photographs of similar situations, verbal descriptions and any other non technical communication that can convey feelings or visual cues to show them what to expect. It has to convey true information but it cannot give so much information so as to overload the viewer. It should show enough that will create questions in their minds, thereby providing the experience of their involvement.

Non-engineers can have a skewed idea of structure. They can sometimes imagine something to be stronger or weaker than it is, let alone the complex load transfer components that make a system. Best way to handle this is simplified monochrome graphics with stress points highlighted in color. This will give a levelled ground for starting a discussion. Further knowing who you're dealing with along with and their reason of interest can help you develop a good thread of points to explain them mostly all structural decisions.

As a presenter, it is always needed to sell your idea weather this idea is a design with function or a design for leisure. I prefer the use of models to show ideas. Visualization is the main communication success and it keeps ideas alive in our minds.

The best ever way is to draw element (I prefer isometric simple sketches, that's how I do) and explain them how it works and what impact it will make if we not do it in proper way.

Written instructions have their place, particularly when following international standards, but there are times when your audience (a) doesn't need to get bogged down in the detail just yet, and/or (b) doesn't share your first language. In these cases, visual representations, be they photographs, diagrams, graphs, etc., can be an invaluable method of communicating effectively and concisely.

As an engineer, it is easy to get bogged down in the technical details of our designs. We spend our days solving complex problems and ensuring that our designs are safe, reliable, and efficient. However, it is important to remember that our clients are not engineers. They do not care about the nuances of our designs; they care about how to achieve their business goals. Making our clients successful is understanding their pain points and addressing those in a clear and concise way. If a client is concerned about the cost of a project, explain how your design will save them money in the long run. If a client is concerned about the timeline of a project, explain how your design can be completed on time without sacrificing quality.

It doesn't matter if you have set up the perfect slides, easiest of sentences, catchiest of pictures. Your audience need to pay attention to the slide deck and your words. So, I would say, start with: 1. A day prior, ask your audience to read the slide deck. 2. They won't do so. So you do your thing and explain as easy and simply as you can. 3. Let them ask, ask, ask and ask. Keep back up slides that explain the details and the formulae. With each question, anticipate how much detail would the person want depending on their role. 4. After you answer all their questions, present your conclusions and your decisions. They might disagree and they might have inputs. But you can always refer back to your background detailed back slides.

I completely echo this statement, although I would add this applies to any professional. Coming from architecture, explaining a design solution faces the same situation. The best trick I can describe overcoming this is to put yourself in the shoes of the client, but try replacing the word with ‘patient’ (if you’re not a doctor) or ‘customer’ (if you’re not a mechanic). Or simply, ask how you would explain any solution to your best client, Mom. You’d be amazed how much your clients’ pain points are more relatable when you are no longer the expert.

If you want to push your design decisions, here are a few tips: 1)Wear glasses, 2)Look smart, 3) Remember these phrases: 'I've calculated that...', 'All engineers do it this way,' 'Elon Musk does it this way,' 'Trust me, I'm an engineer; I know everything.'

One thing architects do quite well is take their clients on a journey, telling them the reasons why they made the decisions they did, and what the impact can be. As Structural engineers we can learn something from this and use graphical representations to help our clients understand the technical decisions we make. This could be sketching a construction sequence, or visually representing the deflection performance of different structural schemes, or many other methods.

Simplify complex technical jargon, use visual aids like sketches or diagrams, and focus on explaining the benefits and impact of design choices in understandable, relatable language.

Design decisions are normally taken when you understand that your existing design already meets relevant codes requirements and there are additional enhancements to the design that piles up the cost to the client. We have recently dealt with the same situation in Fire protection, air conditioning designs and sustainability requirements in water metering systems. Recommendations were discussed with client via meetings and correspondences through clear sketches and calculations to prove how much budget can be saved by removing additional components from the IFC design. This was so simple that even non engineers would agree to the design decisions we wanted to make. It depends how you present your proposal related to design decisions.

It is essential to employ non-technical tools and language. As an engineer, you are smart enough to recognize that the client priorities may differ from your personal preferences, so you should understand and address clients' interests and expectations. Utilizing visual aids, layman's terms, and relatable examples can bridge the communication gap, ensuring clarity and alignment with client needs.