Equipping Engineering Students With Design Capability

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. Steve Jobs

Physics and design made me love engineering and now we are bringing design back into engineering. Engineers must understand how to design products that both enrich the lives of people and elevate their experience as humans. Throughout my engineering education, I knew something was missing in the education. Instead of spending time in the classroom trying to get the best grades, I spent time in the library trying to find out what was missing. It was the greatest capability kept from engineering education.

It took me long but I finally did find it. I traveled to Denver, Colorado and there I had a eureka moment. I remember walking to the Barnes and Noble Bookstore and on one of the shelves was a book, Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs. I quickly grabbed the book and that started my journey into design: the missing capability in engineering education.

I had to buy every book that was written about Steve Jobs and Apple. I have found what made me interested in engineering in the first place. Without design, engineering was boring. Since what I was taught in engineering class was almost the same as what students of Physics were taught, why not just drop out of engineering and move to Physics? When I shared it with my dad, he dissuaded me from taking that step.

Since engineering education was boring, I decided to focus my attention and energies on something that would make it exciting for me: solving problems and coming up with solutions. Even though I didn’t have access to much information then, my membership of the Institute of Electrical Electronics Engineers as a student helped. Their student magazines, Potential, and Societies Journals helped a great deal.

When IDEO teamed up with Acumen to deliver the Human-Centered Design program, I sucked into that program and followed the course. I did it twice because I was passionate about it. And when I got to understand that Steve Jobs employs human-centered design to design Apple’s products, I immersed myself in it.

Stepping Down To Engineering Students

“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.” Steve Jobs

And now, we are bringing this product design capability to engineering in Nigeria and the world. Every 300-level (3rd year) engineering student will have the opportunity to practice and develop product, service, and experience design while still a student. They will have the opportunity to review the products of companies and work with those companies to design products that resonate with their customers.

When I analyzed most designed and made-in-Nigeria products, what I see are companies trying to make money not really satisfying the needs of the market. Designing products has gone beyond just the function of it. Every product design must embed some key elements into the design of the product.

Design has to be intentional to be impactful. You don’t do anything mistakenly. Every part of it is crafted with the intention of what they need to do. Coupled with other engineering knowledge, when students develop this capability we will certainly be on the way to building a more productive nation.

When companies request for engineering students from us, we make sure the students will be involved in projects that will utilize their skills. Engineering students on internships in some companies cannot act like secretaries or assistants; they have to put to work their engineering mindset and capabilities. They can only master those capabilities if they practice them continually. Our goal is to deliver value to companies while practicing it. It becomes a win-win.

Our vision is that these engineering students will facilitate the design of products in Nigeria that will meet needs and win awards globally. After more than a decade of practicing human-centered design, it’s time to step it down and make it a major part of engineering education in Nigeria and globally.

Three Focus of Great Products

I have been a student of design, most especially how companies create great products. I have studied Apple's design process. A good design has integrity: it functions well. However, a great design goes beyond just functioning.

We want engineering students to learn how to create great designs. Good can be the enemy of great. We don’t want engineering students to focus on creating good products; we want them to design great products. Jesus said, “The greatest among you is he that serves.” This means the greatest products serve the needs of people on three levels (mental, emotional, and will).

To create great companies, we need to have great products. And there is no way we can have great products in Nigeria except we have engineers who understand what it takes to design products to be great. Great products touch people ate different levels.

A great product delivers on three fundamental aspects:

1. Makes Customers Think Less: A truly exceptional product simplifies the user experience. It's intuitive, easy to navigate, and requires minimal cognitive effort. It doesn’t suffer from feature creeps that distract from the major focus of the product. Everything that will distract has been done away with. Products used to come with manuals, however Steve Jobs with his focus on simplicity, eliminated product manuals.

If your product makes people think, it is creating another problem for people. People are hiring your product to perform a certain task for them and not make them think again. Your product should do the thinking for them: that is why they bought your product. The product's interface and features are easy to understand and use and perform as expected, reducing the need for users to second-guess actions.

2. Makes Customers Feel Good About Themselves: Great products make customers feel good about themselves by creating an emotional connection. You have to design for emotions. Your product should be designed from a place of passion and excitement to connect deeply with the customer at an emotional level.

Products can significantly impact a customer's self-perception. Your product should boost people’s self-esteem. It should give them a sense of exclusivity by Tailoring the product experience to individual preferences and needs as well as a sense of belonging. It should boost their self-confidence. It empowers users to achieve goals, solve problems, or enhance their abilities.

3. Provides Customers with Capabilities: A great product expands a customer's abilities. You need to design a product to serve as a new capability so that people can be able to do and achieve more through your product. It should enable them to do the things they thought or used to be impossible. It should help customers accomplish tasks faster and with less effort and enable them to achieve more with less time and resources. By providing customers with capabilities you are giving them tools and features that enhance their abilities and make their lives easier.

To master these, engineers need to understand human needs, psychology, and behavior. By mastering these three dimensions, engineers can create products that will have a profound impact on customers' lives and foster long-term loyalty.

 If you are a company that needs product designers, you can request engineering students from us. We are building engineering capabilities for industries and making sure Nigerian engineering students are fully baked. send your request and interest in our program to ewb.nigeria@gmail.com