Engineering Design Communication

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Engineering Design Communication
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And, WHAT Does Communication Have To Do With
Engineering Design?
A tree falling in the forest makes no sound
when there is no one to hear it.
The very best engineering design solution ever
created will be of no benefit to society if the
designer does not successfully communicate it
to the user.
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It Effects Success
Your success as an engineer, your happiness as a
person, and your satisfaction with life are more
dependent on your ability to COMMUNICATE than on
any other ability you have or will have.
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Communication means

• mastering the arts of
• Speaking, and
• Writing
• with richness and terseness,
• period!

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Spoken Communication

• Phone (efficient, limited)
• Conversation (fluid, informal, personal,
  stimulate thought)
• Impromptu talks (just in time, focus thought)
• Prepared Presentations (captive audience,
  implied importance)

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Written Communication

• Notes (your communication with yourself can
  become evidence later!)
• E-mail-IM-web-blog intranet internet (easy,
  efficient, casual, NOT secure!)
• Memo Letter (paper, fax more permanent and
  formal)
• Proposals (asks, white papers, quad charts,
  full proposals)
• Reports (progress, final -- quad charts here
  too!)
• Specifications (highly structured, legal aspects)
• Instructions (how to, consumer focused)

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Richness Terseness in Communication Use As
many Words as Necessary and No More

• Big decisions are usually made based on brief,
  but rich, communication.
• You are always competing for small slices of
  time.
• Respect your listeners/readers time.
• Always put the main points up front and
  organize the details for easy access.
• Never gloss over but start simply and refine.

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What is Communication?
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Really, What is Communication?
Whats missing from this picture?
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NOISE
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Communication ALWAYS includes NOISE
The challenge is to reduce the noise relative to
the message in order to get the desired result
(i.e., increase the S/N ratio).
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So, Whats This Noise Thing?

• Anything that causes the
• receiver
• to be distracted from
• the message

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And What Does Noise Do If You Do Not Control It?

• Limits confidence
• in you and your message

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Examples of NOISE in Speaking

• Mumbling, speaking too softly
• Speaking tooooo slooooowly or to fast
• Being boring and monotonous
• High UPM factor (umms/minute)
• Being a statue or a pacer
• Blocking the screen
• Adoring your visuals
• Rambling
• Poor grammar usage Foxworthy Factor
• Using irrelevant humor

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Examples of NOISEin Writing

• Confusing organization
• Poor grammar, spelling usage
• Sloppy formatting
• Inconsistency in style structure
• Inappropriate use of jargon
• Poor tables, charts, graphs
• Ponderous prose
• Inaccurate data
• Too little white space
• Unnecessary redundancy

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Summary The Principles

• Know your stuff
• Know your audience
• Keep focus
• Control noise

and READ the handout Communication