How to Invent Something - Creativity in Engineering

2 days ago

3 min read

You want to invent something. So you sit down, open a notebook and wait for a good idea.

Then you have an idea. Then another. Before long you have designed an app, a device, a subscription service and possibly a company.

The only thing you haven't decided is which problem you are solving.

Creativity in engineering can start with an unexpected connection, but turning that connection into something useful needs a little structure. Otherwise the excitement of the idea can carry you a long way in the wrong direction.

Here's how I would work through it.

Start with a person and a problem

Describe who needs something and what makes the current situation difficult.

“An app for maintenance” is a proposed format. “A technician loses time finding the current instructions for a job” is a problem you can investigate.

What do they do now? Where does that approach fall short? How often does it happen, and what is the consequence?

You might discover that the problem is different from the one you first imagined. Finding that out before building is useful progress.

Separate the requirement from your favourite solution

Write down what the result needs to achieve.

The technician needs the correct instructions, available where the work happens, with a clear indication of the current revision.

Those requirements do not automatically mean an app. A better document process, a different interface or an existing tool may solve the problem.

This is where it helps to be honest with yourself. Are you investigating the need, or looking for a reason to build the thing you already wanted to make?

You can still choose to build it as a learning project. Just be clear about which goal you are pursuing.

Create several different approaches

Before developing the first idea in detail, sketch a few alternatives.

Change the mechanism, the material, the sequence or the person performing the task. Ask whether you could remove the troublesome step entirely.

I used the VIGOR reminder while exploring design hurdles for 10Up: Variables, Inspiration, Goals, Open, Run. Identify what can change, look for inspiration, return to the goals, open up the options and mentally run through them.

The value is in giving different approaches a fair look before committing.

For more on that process, see how to work through design hurdles.

Put the options against the same constraints

Pick the criteria that matter for this problem.

Cost, access, reliability, usability and the effort to maintain the solution may all be relevant. Some will be requirements you must meet; others will be trade-offs.

Write down what you know and what you're guessing. A detailed drawing can make an untested idea look more certain than it is.

You don't need false precision. If you don't know whether an approach will work, make that uncertainty visible and decide how to test it.

Build the smallest useful test

A prototype should answer a question.

Can someone find the right instruction from this screen? Does the mechanism move through the required range? Will the material hold its shape?

A paper interface, a simple model or a controlled software test may answer that question before you build a polished version.

Choose what would count as success and what result would make you change direction. Then run the test in an appropriate environment and record what happened.

A prototype that exposes a weakness has done something useful. It has saved you from discovering the same weakness after much more work.

Let the evidence change the idea

The hardest part can be accepting that your favourite feature doesn't help.

Go back to the original problem and requirements. If removing a feature makes the solution simpler and still meets the need, that may be an improvement.

This is also why changing tools can help when you're stuck. A sketch, a model and a different design program each make some things easier to see.

I've written more about getting past a creativity block if you need another angle.

Give the next version a clear job

You don't need to solve the whole invention in one sitting.

Finish with a specific next step: speak to a user, compare two approaches, build a test or check a constraint.

Keep a record of why you made the decision so the next version starts with what you learned.

Engineering creativity becomes much more useful when an idea meets a real need and survives a fair test. Start there, leave room to change your mind and give yourself something small enough to actually try.