Sienko Lecture

I have stated previously but wish to reiterate my interest in user design.  I'm originally a Psychology major and so, it should probably come to no one's surprise that I'm highly interested in this field.  However, I also enjoy building, designing, or creating something so it should also come to no one's surprise that I also enjoy engineering.  I highlight this point because after I attended a talk by Kathleen Sienko on her experiences designing medical devices for those in global health, I was struck by how complicated  and careful the design process must be for her and others in her profession.

From my very limited experience, the design process usually starts with interviewing the client to understand their needs, drafting prototypes, perhaps gathering more feedback from the client, producing several more prototypes, perhaps talking with the client again, and repeating the cycle until a final product is created.  Although her work generally follow the same model, she highlighted the complex issue of her work in which they are only able to test their prototypes once when they visit their global clients since such trips are so expensive. In essence, her prototypes must be finished by the time they reach their clients.  However, being able to fulfill that expectation is almost impossible since there will always be a need to create another prototype to address issues that were overlooked or not foreseen before.

The complexity and pressure that Sienko and her team face when they design their products for their clients represents the barrier that many others face when endeavoring to create medical devices for global health.  However, I think their process makes them better engineers and teaches them valuable concepts that I hope can be used to help both their clients and other engineers learn how to make their design process more efficient.