Tuesday, October 22, 2013

A Human Centered Engineer

From Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All by Tom Kelley and David Kelley:

"Being human centered is at the core of our innovation process.  Deep empathy for people makes our observations powerful sources of inspiration.  We aim to understand why people do what they currently do, with the goal of understanding what they might do in the future.  Our first-person experiences help us form personal connections with the people for whom we're innovating.  We've washed other people's clothes by hand in their sinks, stayed as guests in housing projects, stood beside surgeons in operating rooms, and calmed agitated passengers in airport security lines - all to build empathy.  An empathic approach fuels our process by ensuring we never forget we're designing for real people.  As a result, we uncover insights and opportunities for truly creative solutions.  We've collaborated with thousands of clients to leverage the power of empathy, creating everything from easy-to-use lifesaving heart defibrillators to debit cards that help customers save for retirement."


The book has a key point that educators and engineers need to understand - - the goal of engineering is to "seek the sweet spot of feasibility, viability, and desirability" while taking into account the real needs and desires of your customers.  We need to get much better at teaching engineers this process and mindset.

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