Why Do Some Engineering Teams Grow Faster Than Others?
Two fields of science that seem unrelated until you actually work in both. People assume one is about machines and the other is about humans. But having worked in both, Iโve learned that their overlap is exactly what drives higher productivity, faster delivery, and stronger engineering teams.
โข Computer Science โ how computation and systems work: representing data, building scalable solutions, and creating reliable software.
โข Instructional Design โ how people learn: analysing needs, structuring information
๐ช๐ต๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ ๐๐ผ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐๐น?
1. ๐๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ = ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ
Designing an API or service shapes how engineers build a mental model of it. The system becomes a learning journey in itself, guiding people through complexity and reducing cognitive load.
When the structure is clear, teams understand it faster, onboard quicker, and delivery speeds up.
2. ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ-๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด
With an instructional-design mindset, reviews become shared problem-solving, not gatekeeping. Structured, constructive feedback reduces repeated mistakes and builds shared understanding, meaning faster iteration and cleaner code.
3. ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ช๐ง ๐ฉ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ถ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ
Engineering time is often wasted navigating confusing tools instead of writing meaningful code. Human-centred design reduces friction, minimises errors, and frees engineers to focus on valuable work, boosting team productivity.
4. ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข๐ถ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ
AI onboarding assistants, adaptive documentation, and intelligent debugging only work when the information is presented the way people learn. This helps engineers upskill faster, rely less on senior teammates, and accelerate team growth and autonomy.
5. ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ถ๐จ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด
Clear thinking beats guesswork: identify the root cause, test assumptions, remove noise, and explain the reasoning.
Engineers who can articulate their thought process solve problems faster and help others solve them too. This strengthens team velocity and shared knowledge.
Computer Science gives you the technical foundation.
Instructional Design gives you human clarity. Blend them, and productivity rises, delivery speeds up, and teams scale their skills.