30% more productive with PCB design: faster onboarding with intuitive software
In episode 33 of The Printed Circuit Podcast, host Steph Chavez welcomed Jerry Suiter, Senior Systems Architect Director at Siemens, to delve into the critical evolution of PCB design tools. As the engineering industry navigates a significant generational shift, Siemens is proactively addressing the imperative for intuitive user experiences that cater effectively to both seasoned power users and the new generation of engineers entering the workforce.
The evolving landscape of engineering: adapting to a changing workforce
The engineering field is undergoing a profound transformation. We are witnessing a notable demographic shift where the rate of experienced engineers retiring often exceeds the influx of new talent. This dynamic is fundamentally reshaping expectations for engineers, who are increasingly required to broaden their skill sets and assume responsibilities that were traditionally compartmentalized.
As Chavez observes, “In the past, engineers were often seen as specialists… just like designers are the same way.” However, modern engineers are increasingly versatile professionals. Suiter adds that these new engineers are “quite different in their demographic” and must rapidly and efficiently master new tools to keep pace with today’s accelerated design processes.
Chavez aptly describes this as “cross-pollinating,” where engineers must adapt to tighter schedules and constrained budgets, necessitating effective operation across various domains. This translates into a demand for increased productivity with fewer resources, requiring engineers to be effective almost immediately upon entering the workforce. As Suiter points out, companies expect new hires to be productive quickly, with less time allocated for extensive training. This underscores the critical need for intuitive software that empowers engineers to achieve proficiency rapidly, particularly in environments where immediate mentorship may not always be available.
Understanding user experience in engineering software
What constitutes a positive user experience (UX) in engineering software? It transcends mere aesthetics; it is fundamentally about empowering users to configure and optimize their tools for peak performance. Suiter highlights that UX encompasses any feature or characteristic that enables users to adjust settings to their preferred output. He points to seemingly granular details, such as the ability to toggle between light and dark modes, as integral elements that “make up the entire user experience.”
Beyond personalization, advanced technologies are now playing a pivotal role. Suiter explains that AI is being leveraged to aid users “using those complex products of hundreds of commands to give them the right feature at the right time based on their design process.” This predictive assistance is designed to help engineers navigate sophisticated software environments more efficiently, reducing cognitive load and accelerating task completion.
Both Chavez and Suiter emphasize that personalization and customization are not merely conveniences; they are potent catalysts for innovation and productivity within design processes. As Chavez puts it, having a “cockpit that has that personal feel to it” provides a superior opportunity for innovation. Suiter further stresses the importance of customizable tools, noting that users expect to “tailor the solution” to meet their specific needs. This capability for intuitive customization, akin to the familiar experience of arranging applications on a smartphone, allows the software to adapt to the engineer’s workflow, rather than forcing the engineer to adapt to the software’s inherent structure.
Siemens’ commitment to intuitive user experience
So, how did Siemens strategically arrive at the decision to invest significantly in a more intuitive user experience? Suiter explains that the company observed a clear demographic trend: experienced PCB users were retiring, while a new generation of engineers were entering the workforce. Recognizing this critical shift, Suiter’s team understood they had to “make an investment to build a solution that met the needs of those future users of our products.” This proactive approach ensures Siemens’ tools remain relevant and highly effective for the evolving engineering landscape.
A primary objective for this investment, as Suiter highlights, was to enable new users to achieve productivity as rapidly as possible. “When we talk to our customers, especially executives, they’re telling us, hey, we’re hiring a lot of new users into the workforce to work on electronic design, and they need to be productive. We can’t wait for them to learn your tool.” This sentiment also extends to infrequent users, who, much like new hires, cannot afford to spend days or weeks relearning a tool after an extended hiatus. This investment is crucial because, as Suiter points out, engineers utilizing simulation tools often lack the luxury of time to constantly learn and relearn complex software. They require the ability to achieve their objectives as quickly and efficiently as possible. He emphasizes that a “new user experience really facilitates and enables those users to be as productive as possible, as quick as possible,” even if they return to a tool after several months.
The impact of this strategic investment is already demonstrably evident. Chavez enthusiastically notes that the “new UX that we [Siemens] released is totally amazing…It’s a game changer in my opinion.” He adds that it “embraces the engineer and the designer to be so much more effective in their task at hand.” Chavez further emphasizes that this intuitive software empowers engineers to “get up to speed so much…faster and be more innovative in the way we attack the designs,” thereby fostering opportunities for greater creativity. Suiter concurs, highlighting that the ultimate goal is for engineers to focus on “optimizing your electronics design; you’re being more creative, you’re thinking about what you’re doing and want to achieve instead of how to do that.” This positive feedback, reinforced by extensive beta programs and rigorous user input, demonstrates Siemens’ commitment to empowering engineers across all roles with tools that are not only powerful but also exceptionally intuitive and user-friendly.
Obtaining real-world user feedback
Ensuring that new software truly addresses the complex needs of its users necessitates robust and diverse feedback mechanisms. Suiter’s team at Siemens employed a multi-faceted approach to gather real-world input on their five new beta programs. This strategy included actively engaging existing customers, specifically seeking out recently hired engineers to evaluate the software from a fresh perspective. In a particularly insightful move, they also partnered with universities, inviting soon-to-be graduates to test the newly developed software as genuine new users, providing invaluable insights from those with minimal prior tool exposure.
This diverse feedback was crucial for what Suiter describes as A-B testing, a methodology that allowed the team to “compare the solution that they have in the previous user experience and the new solution” to quantitatively assess improvements. The results were compelling: in some cases, a remarkable 30% increase in productivity was observed, particularly within schematic design workflows. This significant gain enabled users to achieve proficiency and complete their initial hardware designs substantially faster.
Chavez underscores the profound implications of this productivity enhancement, especially within engineering teams where a considerable portion of the workforce might be new to a particular tool or utilize it infrequently. He highlights the “opportunity cost” saved by intuitive software, which dramatically mitigates the time expenditure associated with re-teaching or re-orienting engineers. This acceleration allows them to achieve productivity much faster than in previous years, directly fostering innovation and creativity.
The feedback process also illuminated key areas for further enhancement. Power users, for instance, articulated a desire for deeper levels of customization. Suiter explains that Siemens responded by investing in robust customization capabilities, enabling users to effortlessly bring frequently utilized commands to the forefront and relegate fewer common ones. This ensures that all users, from novices to experts, can meticulously tailor the software to their precise operational needs, effectively transforming every user into a “power user.” This continuous investment in user experience, directly informed by comprehensive feedback, ensures Siemens’ tools constantly evolve to meet and exceed the rigorous demands of the modern engineering workflow.
Want to see the new UX for yourself? Watch this video:
