Table of Contents
What is soft engineering and what are its benefits
Soft engineering is a term used to describe the process of developing a system or application with minimum human intervention. It is done manually, through use of commonly available tools and resources. Soft engineering is more likely to be responsive to the needs of a client and more likely to be driven towards long-term goals than conventional (hard) engineering. It is important that soft engineers have good communication skills, so that they can translate technical requirements into user-oriented designs. Soft engineering is not a new concept and its benefits have long been recognised.
The main benefit of soft engineering is that it can provide implementations that are cheaper, quicker to implement and more responsive than hard engineering. The approach is often an effective way of addressing local needs at the same time as satisfying general requirements. A further benefit is that soft engineering allows a degree of inclusivity to be built into the planning process as it does not rely on technical experts.
How does one go about implementing soft engineering in their home
Soft engineering can be used to design and implement various systems in your home. The first thing you must do is to analyze what your needs are and how they can be fulfilled. For example, if you need better air conditioning, the correct way of doing it is by installing a better air conditioner, one that will not only satisfy your needs but also be energy-efficient. If you need a better sound system, the correct way is to buy speakers of higher quality and have it installed by experts. The problem with hard engineering however is that we do not often ask what our requirements actually are, we let the engineers build whatever engineering solution they think is best.
Another advantage of soft engineering is that it is adaptable. Why adaptable you may ask? This is because you get to choose the desired outcome when it comes to soft-engineering. Take for example a water pump, we can choose how powerful it must be, how electricity-efficient it should be and many other factors. With hard-engineering however you do not get this option so easily because of the pre-planned nature of these systems.
This is not to say that hard-engineering is not useful, it is. It might be the best way of building a car but in the case of soft-engineering we can take advantage of a pre-existing solution such as using things adapting to our needs. For example, lights which turn on when you enter your home or automatically turn off after a certain period of time.
The cost and time commitment associated with soft engineering projects
Soft engineering is considered as a more cost-effective approach to developing software and systems. Soft engineering often involves high quality development, good user interfaces and better low-level code. This is because the development teams involved in soft engineering are smaller, thus resulting in lesser time commitment and costs. Furthermore, the teams involved in soft engineering are more specialized and work on a problem specific basis rather than general white boarding tasks. This reduces the time and cost on general system development tasks, thus making soft engineering more effective.
Soft engineering is considered as a more cost-effective approach to developing software and systems. Soft engineering often involves high quality development, good user interfaces and better low-level code. This is because the development teams involved in soft engineering are smaller, thus resulting in lesser time commitment and costs. Furthermore, the teams involved in soft engineering are more specialized and work on a problem specific basis rather than general white boarding tasks. This reduces the time and cost on general system development tasks, thus making soft engineering more effective.
Pros and cons of soft engineering
Pros of Soft Engineering: a. The time and cost commitment is lesser compared to hard engineering. b. Requires less money and effort to implement, as one is not forced into the process of acquiring costly tools, programmers or equipment. c. Password protection can be done using routers or firewalls or by using the encryption capabilities present in most operating systems and software applications. d. Easy to upgrade and repair existing systems. e. Better security compared to hard engineering. f. Provides a better user interface compared to hard engineering, as one can see the results immediately. g. Offers better flexibility in adjusting and configuring the operating system to suit one’s needs.
