Engineering vs. UX Design
As you browse my portfolio, you might be asking yourself the question,
“How would a civil engineer apply their learned skills to a UX project…?”
Simply put, engineering is UX design!
Both disciplines focus on solving complex problems and creating efficient, user-centered solutions. In civil engineering, the primary goal is to design and construct infrastructure that meets the needs of the community while ensuring safety, functionality, and sustainability. Similarly, UX design aims to create digital products and interfaces that provide a seamless and intuitive experience for users, ensuring usability and accessibility.
To demonstrate the similarities between these fields, let’s look at one of my recent engineering projects through the lens of UX design below.
The Product
For this example we are going to be taking a look at a bridge replacement project. This bridge spans a medium sized river within the forest (the river is approximately 50’ wide) and is primarily used for logging operations to harvest timber for building homes.
The original bridge, made of creosote treated timber, has significantly exceeded its lifespan of 50 years. The goal of this project was to design a replacement bridge that improves the experience for all user groups, increases safety, and extend the lifespan of this crossing by 100 years (and meets the budget!)
Starting the Project
Before any real engineering happens, engineers must first understand the user’s goals, much like UX Design! This includes meeting and discussing pain points with user groups, on site meetings with stakeholders to walk the site and get eyes on what issues are at hand, and lots of reading code/laws to understand the constraints engineers must adhere to.
User Personas
User personas are the equivalent of “stakeholders” for engineering projects. This could include people who are financially involved, land owners, direct users, or simply neighbors. Since civil engineering projects have so much front-end exposure to the community, everyone in the peripherals of the project are considered in the design process. These groups of people are typically an extremely diverse set of people with vastly different walks of life, political views, ages, financial status, etc. This creates a challenge for engineers as we are the main people who balance the goals and opinions of each group. Engineers strive to make as many people happy as possible through complex problem solving skills, diplomacy, and creativity.
I will focus on 4 direct user groups (or personas):
Log truck driver’s are likely the most common user of this bridge. A log truck is an incredibly long vehicle that carries the harvested timber logs out of the forest and to the mill. He is having a hard time maneuvering his truck around the tight turns within the approach of the bridge. He tries his best, but his truck is always hitting the end of the guard rail. This user group wants to make sure their voice is heard so they can ensure their trips across the bridge are safe and as least tricky as possible.
Log Truck Drivers
Recreational Users
Public lands sees a lot of recreational users, from hikers and campers to motorists and swimmers. This user group includes all skill levels, so extra care must be taken to ensure this group stays safe and is informed on all risks involved in being on public lands. Recreationalists often do not know about active logging operations or that the bridge is not safe to jump off to swim. Also, safety considerations have greatly improved since the construction of the original bridge so an increased lane width and guard rail height would greatly benefit this user group.
Throughout history, numerous treaties between the US and Indigenous tribes have been violated or ignored, leading to the destruction of culturally significant sites and denying Indigenous peoples access to lands essential for cultural and spiritual practices. Today, the management of public lands must actively collaborate with Indigenous tribes to ensure they can continue to utilize their ancestral lands. Additionally, it is imperative that all work ceases immediately if any cultural resources or historical Native artifacts are discovered on site.
Indigenous Tribes
Wildlife must also be considered during the design process! Any damage or neglect that this bridge endures could ultimately affect the waterway, and in turn, the fish that reside in it. Since this bridge is so frequently used by recreationalists and heavy log trucks, there are several steep slopes that are eroding around the bridge approach which is depositing unwanted sediment into the river therefore negatively impacting fish habitat. Creosote is also a toxic chemical to fish, so during deconstruction and removal, extra care must be given to ensure no demolition material enters the waterway.
Wildlife
Pain Points
After analyzing the user groups above, several pain point have been established.
The turning radii of the roads leading up to the bridge are almost unusable to log truck drivers which often lead to strikes on the guard rails.
1
Safety features are lacking (signage, lane width, guard rail height, etc)
2
3
Several adjacent slopes are eroding, causing significant sediment deposit into the river and also creating a safety concern of the road fully washing out.
Designing the Solution
But wait, let’s back up a bit… You may be asking, “Why does this bridge need to be replaced exactly? Can’t the engineers build another route and abandon this bridge? Why not get forget about this project altogether? This seems like a lot of money…”
The answer to this is simple. The main goal of the land that the bridge resides on is to make money, but not money for private companies. It’s the state beneficiaries (IE tax payers, schools, hospitals, etc) that eventually receive this money. This bridge in particular sees some of the highest timber harvest volumes in the state, meaning it allows the state to generate a lot of revenue for the state beneficiaries. This ultimately means money for the operation of our state’s public schools and hospitals, and also so our public lands can be taken care of.
In other words, this bridge must stay. In terms of moving the location, it is often cheaper to utilize the existing infrastructure whenever possible to save money. This is all considered when creating initial sketches/mockups!
Please note: While I cannot share exact sketches of the bridge design as they are proprietary information, I can describe what the general design process looks like for engineers and how it relates to UX Design. Engineering design projects are typically broken out into completed milestone percentages (this is for the design phase only and does not include the construction phase).
30% Design
(Early Sketches)
The details:
30% design revolves around getting the existing site and the most basic elements of the proposed design “on paper.” In the case of this bridge, we geographically surveyed the site with instrumentation, put that data into AutoCAD to draft an existing site map, and started weighing the basics of design considerations.
Similar to the early sketch phase of wireframing, so many questions are explored in this phase to determine the best direction to follow. Questions like…
Is is feasible and cost effective to move the bridge location to improve the approach?
What material should we use for the bridge and how does each possible material effect our budget?
How are we to get the materials to the site and where are they stored?
We knew one of the biggest pain points of this bridge was the challenging approach to the bridge, so what would that entail for the rest of the design…?
and many, many more…
Any necessary site exploration/testing also happens during this phase, such as soil sampling for foundation work and flow measurements within the river to adjust for climate change. This gives engineers as much insight as possible into what kind of conditions they are ultimately working with.
The summary:
Reconnaissance in engineering is very similar to how UX designers create early sketches during the paper wireframing phase.
During this phase, engineers:
Analyze the existing site
Ask a LOT of questions
Perform on-site exploration and testing to find out as many details as possible
Weigh as many ideas as possible
60% Design
(Digital Wireframes)
The details:
During the 60% design phase, you and your team should have committed to a design direction and be building upon basic calculations to solidify your design.
Simulation takes place during this phase. Examples include simulating the wheel path of those long log trucks around the tight corners of the bridge approach and also simulating how modern, heavy storm events will impact the flow height of the river. These simulations can be thought of as usability testing as they directly affect the outcome of the final design. Instead of asking people for functionality feedback like in UX, engineers ask simulations!
I consider this phase an artful act of juggling with many moving parts to manage. For example, while simulating a large storm event, if the river comes too close to the bottom of the bridge then the bridge must be raised, but then the question arises, “How should we raise the adjoining road surface to meet the bridge approach? Perhaps we can we build a shallower bridge?” Sometimes these questions sound easier said than done because one question can create a cascading effect of problems to solve . It truly takes an incredibly keen sense of detail and problem solving skills to be a successful engineer.
The summary:
In this phase, simulations are conducted and mirror usability testing within UX Design.
Engineers use impressive problem solving skills to make lots of complex and intertwined details fit together as perfectly as possible.
90% Design
(Mockups)
The details:
By the time the 90% design phase is complete, calculations and details are to be finalized and ready for review. This phase is similar to creating mockups in the sense that the bulk of the work required to make the product function is done.
Within the bridge project it was established that the tight turns near the bridge approach will be remedied by raising the bridge, lengthening the bridge itself to improve the overall geometry of the approach, and using what little land there is available by expanding the turning radii as much as possible and rebuilding the eroding slopes as mechanically stabilized walls which will also solve the sedimentation issue. Details such as safety signage were finalized here as well.
Construction scheduling often is shaped during this phase, which sets forth the next set of phases for the project.
The summary:
Similar to how mockups are created, minute details are finalized during this phase, further refining and preparing the design for review
The next set of phases are planned out, preparing the project to be handed off to the next team.
100% Design
The details:
By 100% design completion, you and your team have received feedback on your design and have made the necessary changes. The drawings, the technical specifications, the cost estimate, etc. are all finalized. The contractor, who is the equivalent of the development team, should have all of the necessary information to construct the project in real life.
The short version:
The project has received feedback and the design has been refined to completion with all necessary info for handoff.
It is time to hand off the project to the contractors, who are the equivalent to the coders/developers in the world of UX.
Conclusions
I hope through this example, the similarities between UX design and civil engineering have been made both clear and intriguing! Both disciplines focus on solving complex problems and creating efficient, user-centered solutions. In civil engineering, the primary goal is to design and construct infrastructure that meets the needs of the community while ensuring safety, functionality, and sustainability. Similarly, UX design aims to create digital products and interfaces that provide a seamless and intuitive experience for users, ensuring usability and accessibility.
Additionally, both UX design and civil engineering require a deep understanding of user needs and behaviors. Civil engineers often engage with community stakeholders to gather input and feedback, much like UX designers conduct user research and testing to inform their designs. Both fields also demand strong analytical and project management skills, as professionals must balance various constraints, manage resources effectively, and collaborate with their respective multidisciplinary teams to deliver successful projects. By leveraging these shared skills and methodologies, a civil engineer can transition smoothly into UX design, applying their problem-solving abilities and user-focused approach to the digital realm.