Electrical engineers design, develop, test, and manage the manufacturing of electrical equipment, from electric motors and navigation systems to power generation equipment and the electrical components of machines and personal devices.
Electrical engineering is an immensely broad field with job roles in a dizzying array of industries. From electric power generation and distribution to cars to smartphones, electrical engineers are integral parts of thousands of companies.
“Especially in today’s age, electrical engineering is integrated into almost everything we do because of the takeover of technology,” Angela Foss, associate dean of operations and innovation for Southern New Hampshire University’s “Nowadays, those applications are everywhere in every industry.”
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), electrical engineers typically:
While the basic electrical engineer job description is fairly standard across a wide range of electrical engineering jobs, where an electrical engineer works can vary significantly.
“There is a lot of variety in an electrical engineer’s job — from talking to a customer about the requirements of a project to designing the product, coordinating with manufacturing to get it made, ensuring quality assurance testing goes well and making sure the product is delivered to the customer on time,” said Monali Mujumdar, an electrical engineer for E Source.
From the article: -do-electrical-engineers-do
Here is the official FDA regulation for design controls pertaining to design inputs, as found in Part 820.30(c):
Each manufacturer shall establish and maintain procedures to ensure that design requirements relating to a device are appropriate and address the intended use of the device, including the needs of the user and patient. The procedures shall include a mechanism for addressing incomplete, ambiguous, or conflicting requirements. The design input requirements shall be documented and shall be reviewed and approved by a designated individual(s). The approval, including the date and signature of the individual(s) approving the requirements, shall be documented.
ISO 13485:2016 also covers this topic in section 7.3.3 Design and Development Inputs:
Inputs relating to product requirements shall be determined and records maintained. These inputs shall include:
a) functional, performance, and safety requirements, according to the intended use,
b) applicable statutory and regulatory requirements,
c) where applicable, information derived from previous similar designs,
d) other requirements essential for design and development, and
e) output(s) of risk management
These inputs shall be reviewed and approved.
Requirements shall be complete, unambiguous, and not in conflict with each other.
There are several terms used interchangeably when referring to design inputs:
Medical device product development should be a holistic process that builds upon itself as the project progresses.
Rushing the product to the market isn’t a recommended best practice in medical device development. Spending time in design inputs will really benefit your project. In device development, establishing design inputs can easily take up to 20% of the entire project timeline.
Writing design inputs takes practice and dedication. Also, design inputs should not just be the responsibility of one person. It’s a team effort. When a team is involved, you get the benefit of everyone’s opinions and experience.
You also should consider all sorts of other sources to help you define design inputs:
It’s important to remember that user needs should be established first in order to inform design inputs. Your goals when defining design inputs include:
You have to consider all types of sources and resources for design inputs. Your design inputs need to be comprehensive, covering all aspects of your medical device.
It’s difficult to predict the success of a new product. Even the largest, most mature companies have created products that fail to gain market acceptance and profitability. And as we’ve seen in numerous industries, product success can’t be guaranteed by financial investment or process optimization.
With the need to move fast in the light therapy market and an inability to guarantee success through any means, we continue to seek ways to manage the inherent risk in product development.
There is a gap between user wants and user needs and while it is easy to assume that the difference might not be clear, taking an empathetic approach creates a finer line between the two. Although Creative Directors are problem-solvers at their core, they achieve this by building data-based frameworks for visualizing how best to serve their target audience.
It is no longer about market data assessment and sales hands-off alone; there is a need to properly distinguish between user needs and wants while choosing how best to attend to those needs and paying just enough attention to user wants. Understanding the user metrics for this analysis and insight might seem daunting, especially when the aim is to improve product experience directly, but taking a design-thinking approach helps make better sense of the process.
Popularized by IDEO, Design Thinking is a human-centered, empathy-first approach to creativity and innovation. Its underlying principle focuses on user needs, aspirations, wishes, concerns, and frustrations in attempting to solve their problems. Interestingly, Design Thinking focuses on the most important view from which problem-solving should be approached; the users. When problem-solving is approached from a user’s point of view, it allows for uncovering novel insights into the product’s user flow, thereby finding the right solution to the right problem.
The Design Thinking process is quite similar to the Agile methodology of Product Management; as a matter of fact, Design Thinking helps to materialize the otherwise abstract concept by allowing ease of iteration and faster user-testing processes. Implementing design thinking in product management makes it easy to consider expedient user experience factors. Top on the list includes:
Companies employing design thinking are allowed to release products more often, gather meaningful customer feedback, and validate a product’s use and vision in a marketplace while sustaining a high level of customer satisfaction, as one release builds on another to add features customers desire most.
Implementing design thinking into product development can be broken down into 5 steps:
Most of the companies jump straight to point #4, which is a terrible mistake.
To make things clear, structure your tasks: build up a framework, define both focus points and sticking points of your research, and remember that most questions have two answers — the one that appeals to business and speaks to a customer.
Think like a detective when starting a product development cycle, and ask these questions:
Who is going to use your product? What are their habits and preferences? It is essential to understand real user needs and how they are addressed without your product. Define the key problems and set your sights on them. What’s the context of use? What is their motivation behind using your product, and how can you inspire them to make the most out of it?
Think big. What is the place of your product in the ecosystem? Sometimes it may be just a part of greater service. Keep in mind the environment of use since it creates a general customer experience.
Whether you like it or not, time is vital for your project. “Done” is better than “perfect.” That’s why it’s important to keep the scope of your project in mind, to limit it to essential things for a quick market release.
What is the real value of the product for your customer and your business? What issues does it address, and in what way? Why did you create it, and what’s its role in the company development?
These questions are essential for creating a general perception of the main problem you are solving for your client: it’s so easy to get side-tracked with a load of on-demand, seemingly effortless tasks. Besides, it’s impossible to solve a problem that doesn’t exist, so why carry an extra burden? When details are pushing you to the limit, take an imaginary step back and see the problem from a different angle. Visualize the role of a certain detail in the general canvas of your work. It does not mean you have to bury your project under piles of documentation. We all know that red tape is more about restricting rather than making things easy, and freedom is essential at the initial stages of any project. This is how innovation is born; under conditions of free thought, bright vision, and sheer inspiration.
The health and wellness industry isn’t lacking eager customers who want to improve their overall well-being—we have the numbers to prove it. In 2020, the global health and wellness market reached a value of $ 3.31 Billion and is expected to reach $ 4.24 Billion by 2026. It’s clear people are seeking ways to reduce lifestyle-related diseases and slow down the aging process.
While many companies stay in their comfort zone, they ignore the needs and challenges their customers face. However, by trying to understand user experience, companies can improve the overall customer experience and reduce costs. One of the most promising ways to understand a customer’s experience is by design thinking.
While many companies stay in their comfort zone, they’re ignoring the needs and challenges their customers face. However, by trying to understand user experience, companies can not only improve the overall customer experience, but reduce costs. One of the most promising ways to understand a customer’s experience is by design thinking.
As said in Harvard Business Review, design thinking is “a set of principles...empathy with users, a discipline of prototyping, and tolerance for failure chief among them—is the best tool we have for creating those kinds of interactions and developing a responsive, flexible organizational culture.” But what does that actually mean?
Unlike traditional methods of problem-solving, design thinking focuses heavily on understanding customers before focusing on solutions. By knowing the customer's challenges and experiences, a more personalized and well-thought solution can be made.
For example, Kaiyan's Aduro 7+1 face mask for light therapy was created via design thinking. Instead of simply creating a mask for professional use, we went through various prototypes and tests to understand the customer's needs and the challenges they may face. Users commented on needing an adjustable fit, so we added an adjustable velcro head strap for improved comfort.
But there’s more to it than that. With design thinking, there are a specific set of principles we follow when creating a product.
Design thinking focuses on user experience
To develop empathy with users, the design team needs to understand the needs and desires of users. If not, there’s a likely chance they’ll create a product that no one wants. Using emotional language to describe products and users will help cement the utility of the product itself. It’s about creating a feeling from the product. For example, using a certain type of light therapy device for anti-aging can make a person feel energetic and youthful.
Examine complex problems through models
Creating models gives space to explore and understand the product on a tangible level. Physical models, also known as design artifacts, help define the customer journey map and their interactions with the product.
Explore solutions through prototypes
Before launching a product, a prototype is created to explore possible problems and resolve them. Creating prototypes allows you to test the product out beforehand, understanding how it's used in the real world.
Failing forward
While design thinking doesn't encourage failure, it's normal for a product to need multiple adjustments before it's ready for launch. With each learning curve, the product becomes more improved and customized to the target market.
And this is what we do at Kaiyan Medical. Our light therapy devices are developed through design thinking and expert engineering; we focus on understanding the customer's needs and desires, and ensure they're met.
If you’re considering developing a private label light therapy device, our medical-grade, high-quality devices are the best for your business. We are eager to work with like-minded partners using design thinking to develop effective, safe, and valuable products that harness that power of light.
An industrial designer develops the concepts for manufactured products, such as machines, medical devices, toys, electronics, and more. They combine art, business, and engineering to make products that people use every day. They work in offices in a variety of industries. Although they design manufactured products, only about 29% of industrial designers are employed directly by manufacturers.
An industrial designer will typically do the following:
Industrial designers generally focus on a particular product category. For example, some design medical equipment, while others work on consumer electronics products. Other designers develop ideas for new bicycles, furniture, housewares, or snowboards. They imagine how consumers might use a product and test different designs with consumers to see how each design looks and works.
Industrial designers often work with engineers, production experts, and marketing specialists to find out if their designs are feasible and to apply their colleagues’ professional expertise to their designs. For example, industrial designers may work with marketing specialists to develop plans to market new product designs to consumers.
Original article from careerexplorer.com
