Engineering and Design are two very similar designs when it comes to product creation. Andrew Cousins explores the division between the two fields and offers some ideas on how to be a more well-rounded problem solver.
All in Design Philosophy
Product Development Lessons from the NES Controller
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Controller is an icon of the 1980’s and a symbol of the video gaming industry. This article describes the history of Nintendo as it relates to the NES and derives general product development lessons from the design of the NES Controller.
Crafting iconic products: The Power of a Branded approach in Product Design
In product design, UX gets a lot of attention—and for good reason. Making products that are intuitive, efficient, and user-friendly is crucial. But there’s one more thing that can contribute significantly to designing exceptional products and ignoring it means missing out on creating products that are truly iconic. Let’s talk branding.
Minimalism in Design– Understanding Your Scope
The relationship between scope and minimalism doesn’t hold true in every case, but if you observe brands, you will definitely notice a pattern: the minimalism in their logos and their products frequently corresponds to their scope.
This Concept Changed the Way I Think About Ideation
This article presents an idea that has high influenced my way of thinking about design. The article is centered on ideation and focuses primarily on how to do it well. It introduces the concept of design space, design exploration, and the trade off curve.
Why Study the Design Process?
Why would you undertake a deep study of engineering design, or the design process, when you could go about design on your own and learn from your own experience? There is value to be gained from studying design, and I want to add my own take on why studying design is an important complement to hands-on experience.
Engineering with an Impact
Making a lasting change is my biggest goal in life, and I hope to share in this article the things that I have learned about how to be an engineer with impact. In voicing what has helped me to be more impactful in my undergraduate career up to this point, I hope you can gain more insight into what you can do from day to day to do the same.
Inversion: The Power of Thinking Backwards
The idea of solving a maze backwards is an example of what I consider the most powerful thinking technique out there: inversion. Inversion means flipping the problem on its head; you look at the opposite of the problem you actually want to solve, and then you use the insights you gain to help answer the original question.
Cushions, Keyboards, and a Customized MRI - Lessons in Human Centered Design
You, as the designer, want people to like your work. Especially if you have already done the work. And especially if you have reason to believe your idea is what’s best. But familiarity and comfort remain, for better or for worse, critical considerations in product design.
What is Systems Design? Part 3: The Case for Model Based Systems Engineering
Here in Part 3 we tackle the challenge of performing systems design at various points on the system design spectrum in a planned and coordinated manner such that all designs, small and large, are properly specified, decomposed, allocated, tested, and integrated into a desirable and successful complete system.
Innovate (Safely) and Thrive
In a spurt of spontaneity, I found myself at BYU’s Cougar Skate event a few weeks back. I’d never been rink skating before, but my previous experiences with inline and ice skating left me with enough confidence that I didn’t look up any tutorials before heading for the Wilkinson Student Center. Though, I think my tailbone would’ve thanked me if I had.
Origami Design: A Fuzzy Boundary Between Art and Science
Origami is an ancient Japanese art form which had its roots over a thousand years ago in ancient Japan. Only in the last century’s intellectual revolution has it transformed into a more scientific and fully developed art form. We can see origami under scrutiny as an art form, and as a scientific and mathematical method of design. In any design, it is important to see from both angles.
Everyone Can Teach You Something About Design: Lessons From the Amazon
As we sit on the shore of the Amazon River, watching the sun go down, we reflect on the time we have spent in Brazil and the things we learned. We learned about culture, the kindness of the people, the toll that 36 straight hours of travel takes on your body, and the dolphins that inhabit the river. One of the most important lessons we learned was that everyone can teach you something about design, and the importance of humility as a designer.
What is Systems Design?
A lot of adjectives get placed before the noun “design.” This article starts tackling the special meaning and nuances when we use the term “systems design.”
Optimizing vs Satisficing: Tips for Product Design and Designing Your Life
Should I optimize my choices or satisfice them? What is satisficing? Find out more about these choices in design and find out how you can become the best in the world at something.
What the Music Industry Teaches us About Creative Collaboration
The music scene is one of the most collaborative and communal industries - from writing and performing to producing and touring. Such collaborative products have proven that “the [chord] is greater than the sum of the [notes]”.
What is the circular economy? How do I design for it?
At the rate humans are using ecological resources, we would need 1.7 earths to achieve sustainability [1]. The major problem here is that we only have one earth. The circular economy aims to reduce the need for the extraction of new resources.
Understanding the Impact of Products: An Introduction to the 11 Social Impact Categories
Every single product that has been made, is currently being made, or will be made has economic, environmental, and social impacts. How can we design to have better impacts and what are social impacts? Read on to find out.
Should we design things we don’t understand?
Over the last few years you have probably heard the words machine learning (ML) and AI thrown around more and more. Using tools like Microsoft Azure Learning Studio you can get an ML algorithm running in a few minutes without ever writing any code. Is it ethical to design products with tools I don’t fully understand?
Haste Makes Waste, But Not Always
It can be extremely difficult to know how much time to spend on a particular design task. Do it too quickly and you might waste time and money. Do it too slowly and stakeholders will conclude that progress has stopped. This article gives eight things to practice as you learn to strike a good balance between spending too much versus too little time reaching development milestones.