Alumni Stories. Rory West

Working on a small project for a wheelchair design & manufacturing company showed me the potential impact that working in medical devices could have. This led me to apply for the Medical Device Design MSc at NCAD. I moved back to Ireland to further develop my career in a field where human-centered design can really make a difference in our lives.

Name: Rory West

Current Career: Human Factors Engineer 

Graduation Years: 2012 & 2018

Disciplines: BDes Industrial Design (now called Product Design at NCAD) & MSc Medical Device Design

Location: Dublin

What career path did you want to follow as a child? 

Before I really understood that there were careers in Product Design, I always wanted to be an Architect.  

Why did you decide to study at National College of Art & Design?

I learned about Product Design late in secondary school. As soon as I discovered the same creative process I loved about architecture could be applied to the design of every day products I was hooked. I spoke with an NCAD industrial design alumnus who showed me the types of projects he worked. It was at that point I knew that Product Design was exactly what I wanted to study too. 

After graduating, I was able to work internationally in different industry sectors. This included working as a freelance graphic designer. Soon, I wanted to refocus my career in a creative field that allowed me to work 100% on more meaningful projects. I took the opportunity to work on a small project for a wheelchair design & manufacturing company. Here, I saw the impact simple design considerations could have on patient comfort and psychosocial wellness. This work experience showed me the potential impact that working in medical devices could have. This led me to apply for the Medical Device Design MSc at NCAD. I moved back to Ireland to further develop my career in a field where human-centered design can really make a difference in our lives.

How did you develop your career towards your current job or practice?

The Masters provided excellent training in the design processes applied to medical devices. From the initial stages of user research, through to concept development, risk management and validation testing, you quickly learn what is required to better meet user needs. You also learn all about design for manufacturing requirements.

This experience helped me to realise that the aspects of the design process that I had the most interest in were the ones that created the most meaningful impact for users. Identifying user needs and ensuring the final design meets all user requirements is a very specialist research discipline in itself. Human Factors Engineering focuses on the interface between the user and the device. The role of a Human Factors Engineer is to make that interface as simple and intuitive as possible, to minimise use error and to design a safe and effective device for the intended user. This is achieved by meticulous user research, identifying the intended users, what are their capabilities, what is the intended use environment and what is the intended use or purpose of the device. 

The Medical Device Design Masters programme covered a broad range of methods and specialist practices. This gave me the knowledge and experience to apply for jobs before completing my degree. It allowed me to gain employment quickly. I successfully stepped into a Human Factors job immediately after finishing the course.

What is the one experience during your time at NCAD that has informed you most in your career and work to date?

The most informative experience from my time at NCAD was in my undergraduate degree in Product Design. I was working on a real world learning project for Pfizer and Arthritis Ireland. We were asked to develop an everyday inclusive product that meets the needs of a person who may have dexterity or strength impairments caused by arthritis. 

We had the opportunity to work in small teams and to meet people with Arthritis. We spoke to them about their experience living with Arthritis and managing their condition on a daily basis. This primary research generated significant insight into the physical and psychosocial impact Arthritis has on the everyday lives of sufferers. It helped us develop the most essential requirements of a device that would suit their needs. Importantly, we were not asked to design products for the arthritis sufferer market segment, we were exploring Universal Design as a way to design better products to be used by everyone.

This taught me very important design considerations centered on empathy and understanding the user. It taught me never to lose focus on the intent of the product I’m developing or its intended users.

If you were chatting with current NCAD students today what is the one piece of advice you would offer?

Your peers, tutors and lecturers are the greatest resource you will have during your studies. Try to maximise every opportunity to interact and learn from them.

What new opportunities have developed for you as a result of changes in work practice during the Covid pandemic?

There is a lot more appetite amongst employers to offer remote or semi remote work. This opens up a much larger spectrum of potential international job opportunities for designers. Keep in mind, this also means that the jobs market competition is much greater too.