The Importance of Honoring the Design Process
With Fall semester just around the corner, BYU engineering students entering their senior year have their Capstone class to look forward to. This two-semester class is an opportunity for seniors to work on a team with a seasoned engineer to help solve an actual, real world problem! In order to help seniors prepare for their Capstone projects, I recently spoke with Darrell Goff, an electrical engineer and experienced Capstone Coach, who gave insight on the role of the design process in Capstone Projects and in engineering projects in general.
Figure 1. Darrell Goff, an electrical engineer and adjunct faculty in BYU’s College of Engineering.
The Critical Role of the Design Process in Capstone
The design process is key to engineering projects because honoring the process will set students up for success.
Figure 2. An example of the design process, produced by the BYU Mechanical Engineering department. [1]
Goff shared that one of the most important things that is overlooked in the design process is understanding the user needs. He added that so many people skip that step and “jump right into the technology because it’s fun.” However, he then said that if teams “slow down and really understand what the user needs are…that will guide the entire development.”
To put the importance of this in perspective, Goff shared that several years ago, a few engineers in his software company created databases before designing anything for the user interface. Then they made the user interface to match a given database. Every time this happened, customers were confused by the user interface and the system was not usable. By failing to understand the user needs first, they did not make a usable nor desired product. Going forward, Goff had these engineers meet with the customer, seek to understand the user needs (which could include helping the customer to understand his or her needs), and then put a user interface in front of them with fake data. Once the user interface meets the need, Goff said that 60% of the work is done.
In connection with the importance of understanding the user needs, Goff said that he has seen his students waste the most time in the design process when they start designing before they truly understand the customer’s needs. However, when students and engineers alike seek to understand the user needs and then outline the necessary workflow and functional requirements needed, they can output something functional in a timely and effective manner. Without that process, Goff mentioned that he and his own company “would have spun their wheels for weeks” on a project had they not taken the time to honor the design process.
For BYU capstone students, their project’s sponsor will help them to understand the needs of the project. Furthermore, in their weekly meeting with their sponsors, they can ensure that they are all on the same page. Goff further stated that sponsors “don’t always have everything down and more stuff will come up.” By continually seeking to understand the user's needs, teams of students and engineers alike will set themselves up to design an innovative product that will meet the specified requirements. More than that, by learning to honor the design process now, they will set themselves up for success on future projects in their careers.
Ideation
After understanding the user's need, the next step in the design process is brainstorming solutions to meet the need. Goff remarked that for brainstorming, “you sit around for two hours, joke, laugh, ideate, and write on whiteboards; the whole number one rule of brainstorming is there’s no negative feedback… I always start off with, ‘guys, you can say that a monkey flies to the moon and shoots darts.’” He then said that “the whole idea is that funny things sometimes spawn real ideas… and so if you keep the energy up in the room, it’s a ton of fun.” This shows that humor sparks the imagination of a team, serving as a catalyst for brainstorming an endless number of ideas. The possibilities should be endless when students brainstorm for their capstone project and when full-time engineers ideate for their projects.
An energetic environment can facilitate incredible innovation. With a capstone team several years ago, Goff’s team of students started off with 80 potential solutions for a project. His team initially planned to run with an idea that even Goff believed was the right path. Though they wanted to quickly pursue that one solution, Goff told his students to honor the design process by not narrowing down to one option so early on. He told them that they had “to have at least three viable options.” The outcome was that they ended up “going a totally different direction than they would have otherwise,” which ended up leading to a product that met the user's needs. By being open to multiple ideas, they set themselves up to pursue a path that they would not have otherwise considered.
Defining (and Redefining) the Design and Prototyping
Once a team understands the user’s need and has narrowed down their options, students will then begin to define their design and prototype. An important part of this is understanding the workflow of a product, which is integral to students and engineers staying on task and on schedule. In Goff’s own career as an engineer, he told me that he asks questions such as “what does the surgeon do? The operating room tech opens up the package, they put the device on the tray, and then the surgeon will pick it up… So we walk through the entire workflow.” As students consider and document the workflow, they will come to understand the functional requirements that will lead to an eventual design that meets their user’s needs. Then, as students develop a design based on the workflow and functional requirements, Goff remarked that teams can “always reference back” to the user’s need, workflow, and functional requirements to check whether or not they are on track. He added that as they do this, teams will “Sometimes…invent a new idea…which is great, and you want that.” New ideas in the process of designing and prototyping may lead to an even faster and more efficient workflow, along with modifications that better meet the necessary specifications.
Dealing with Setbacks
As teams work on projects, something they must understand is that there will be setbacks. Goff shared that it will be easier for teams to deal with setbacks if they have done the work to understand the user’s needs, workflow, and functional requirements. Another thing that Goff mentioned with regards to dealing with setbacks is mindset. If teams stay positive in the face of setbacks, it will be easy to recover. Furthermore, as they move forward, a team should ask what has been addressed and what should be addressed to continue to “keep the larger vision in mind,” said Goff.
Iterations
As different teams work on their respective projects, each team will go through varying numbers of iterations. This will come as teams overcome setbacks and redefine the design to better meet the bigger vision. For one team that Goff had a few years ago, they went through 50 iterations, partly because “the customer needs weren't fully defined.” Some teams may only have resources to do one iteration for their specific project. As such, the number of iterations will certainly vary from one project to another. No matter how many iterations a project may require, as teams stay focused on a project’s vision and take control, they will engineer a successful product.
The Team Dynamic
Figure 3. Goff’s most recent capstone team. From left to right, Darrell Goff, Joel Kartchner, Ethan Erickson, Joshua Potter, Connor Mabey, Logan Taylor, and Collin Lambert.
An effective team is critical to making the design process work. The best team dynamic, according to Goff, is when a team outlines what they are going to do and everyone agrees. Furthermore, a great team will monitor progress and ensure that tasks are being fulfilled. And an important part of being on a team is “being solicitous of feedback and open to feedback,” said Goff. When a team first meets one another, there is excitement, followed by the realization that they are all very different. If Goff can tell that team members are just being polite, he will intentionally do things to help his team experience some friction. This helps the team to “understand each other a little bit better and then they really work well.” And when team members understand one another, both their strengths and weaknesses, it will lead to a more effective team.
In Goff’s own career, he and a coworker butted heads for ten years. However, he “finally understood there was stuff that he could do to change the situation,” and he did. Now, he and that coworker work together well. Team members can also overcome contention by being open to feedback and realizing that criticism is “just information,” said Goff. When team members get feedback, they may interpret it as emotionally charged. Goff’s point is that feedback should not be interpreted in that way. And if it is, team members can ask themselves questions such as “what am I doing that’s communicating that?…what am I doing that's making people interpret that?” As teams learn to see feedback as just data, they will avoid conflict and work more effectively on their project.
Final Thoughts
For anyone working on projects with a team, key lessons can be learned from Darrell Goff's experience as a capstone coach." As engineers honor the design process by seeking to understand their customer’s needs, ideating, defining and redefining the product’s design and prototyping, and running as many iterations as needed, they will effectively design a product in a timely manner that meets the user’s needs. And as teams of engineers work to overcome setbacks and any internal struggles by accepting feedback, they will work more effectively on their project. Ultimately, good team dynamics mixed with honoring the design process will lead to a product that meets the desired outcomes.
REFERNCES
[1] "ME Basic Design Process R1.4." Brigham Young University, Department of Mechanical Engineering, n.d., https://www.me.byu.edu/00000173-91ad-df84-a573-dffd43be0000/me-basic-design-process-r1-4-pdf. Accessed 9 June 2025.
To cite this article:
Hardman, Nicholas. “The Importance of Honoring the Design Process.” The BYU Design Review, 9 June 2025, https://www.designreview.byu.edu/collections/the-importance-of-honoring-the-design-process.
