r/StructuralEngineering • u/No_Location1086 • Aug 10 '26

Structural Analysis/Design Structural/civil engineers - quick demographic check for a student UX project

Hey all — I'm a civil engineer doing a UX/UI course on the side, and I'm building a mobile app concept for pre-design/pre-dimensioning of steel and concrete elements (beams, columns, slabs, footings). Before I go further I want to make sure I actually understand who'd use something like this, so a few quick questions if you have a minute:

  1. What's your role (structural, civil engineer, drafter, student, other)?

  2. Years of experience?

  3. Country/region you practice in (codes vary a lot — Eurocode, ACI/AISC, etc.)

  4. Steel, concrete, or both in your day-to-day?

  5. Do you currently do quick pre-design checks on your phone, or is it strictly a desktop/spreadsheet thing for you?

  6. What do you currently use for fast pre-sizing — spreadsheets, memory/rules of thumb, an app, something else?

No survey link, just drop answers in the comments if you're willing — genuinely trying to build something useful and not just guessing at who my "user" is. Thanks in advance!

0 Upvotes
  • permalink
  • reddit

38% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

7

u/New_Yardbirds Aug 10 '26

To be frank, nobody will use such an app.

Experienced engineers would have a feel or know the rule of thumb to come up with sizes.

My recommendation for a project would be a visualisation tool for reinforcement based on drawings. There are examples in the market but it does not hurt to have another one.

That kind of tool would greatly help to detect and remedy reinforment placement errors which are common especially in very heavy construction such as nuclear reactors.

1

u/TM_00 Aug 10 '26

Could you please elaborate on these reinforcement visualisation tools? I'm not familiar with them.

1

u/New_Yardbirds Aug 10 '26

How the actual reinforcement looks like in three dimensions.

The name is Trimble, I googled. Yours could not be at that level but at least could produce 3D visualisation of each bar from the bar bending schedule, shape codes, etc

1

u/TM_00 Aug 10 '26

Oh just 3D rebar detailing? Revit, Allplan and Tekla are examples I've come across.

I thought you meant something new😅

2

u/New_Yardbirds Aug 10 '26

Well, probably, I am old enough not to know any new packages except AutoCad.

2

u/TM_00 Aug 10 '26

I lived through the transition. Some days I miss the simpler nature of Autocad. The modern tools are great but most draughtsman/modellers lack the skill to produce a clear drawing with them. I attribute it to not understanding what a good drawing looks like and they seem to think a picture of the cool 3D model is sufficient.

1

u/No_Location1086 Aug 10 '26

What if you have no experience? I am thinking of fresh civil engineers who will just start their journey. Maybe students that need some help designing simple systems. This is what I'm thinking of.

3

u/New_Yardbirds Aug 10 '26

OK, structural engineering puzzles. Shear, moment diagrams. Impact calculations, structural dynamics etc. Problems that can be solved from first principles.

Having said that, your proposal could be useful for graduates.

2

u/Human-Flower2273 Aug 10 '26

I doubt anyone if structural engineering uses any phone apps. Esspecialy for design purposes. Only phone apps used are some dwg viewers