Anna Belhassen on Why User Empathy Is the Ultimate Competitive Edge in Product Engineering

The field of product design and engineering can all too often lean heavily into precision and demand. And while technical conversations must always be front and center of every discussion, there are those, albeit few and far between, who believe true innovation should begin with listening.

Anna Belhassen is a product engineer and designer who stands out for believing wholeheartedly in this deceptively simple principle: “Real innovation never begins with the technology itself. I think it begins with truly listening to people,” she says.

“You need to have a profound understanding of the user’s needs and emotions. Then you can transform that solid engineering into products capable of meaningfully improving their lives.”

Belhassen has built a career bridging high-stakes medical devices, luxury consumer goods, and cutting-edge electronics.

From an early age, she says her path was shaped by personal experience: “I grew up in London with French parents, and had to watch as two of my grandparents struggled with Parkinson’s disease,” she recalls with emotion.

“It was heart-wrenching to watch their lives overtaken by a neural disease, which later robbed them completely of movement in old age. It was that which sparked my passion for neurotechnology. I decided I wanted to create brain implants that could restore function so no one else would have to go through the same experience.”

It was this motivation that led her to Imperial College London, where she completed an integrated BEng and MEng in Biomedical Engineering.

While she was at university, she founded the first Neurotechnology Society, establishing a multidisciplinary platform that brought together students, researchers, clinicians, and entrepreneurs.

The society hosted a weekly speaker series featuring experts from the Francis Crick Institute, Mintneuro, Neuralink, and Kernel, as well as hackathons and symposia that drew hundreds of participants from the UK and around the world. It remains active today and has expanded its reach into US institutions.

Belhassen’s contributions have earned recognition. She holds memberships in leading professional bodies. These include the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES), and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES).

She is also a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA).

As well as this she has judged hackathons and contributed to peer review processes, while continuing to speak and run workshops on miniaturization and manufacturing.

It is a signature of Belhassen’s approach that it has always extended beyond pure technical solutions: “When I went to university, I found out that product design wasn’t just about fixing problems functionally,” she explains. “I learned about the solutions we needed to make everything feel more intuitive, comfortable, and even beautiful in daily use. What you need is a blend of engineering rigor and deep human understanding.”

This philosophy is evident across her portfolio. For her Master’s thesis at Imperial’s Next Generation Neural Interfaces Lab, supervised by Professor Timothy Constandinou, Belhassen developed a wireless, injectable sub-scalp neuromonitoring implant for EEG sensing. Traditional devices for epilepsy patients often relied on bulky external recorders that made sleeping and everyday activities uncomfortable. Users described the hardware as stigmatising, itchy and disruptive.

Belhassen decided it was more important to start with conversations rather than schematics: “Before I touch CAD software or run simulations, I first talk to the people who will actually live with the product,” she says.

“I identify their pain points and needs. What frustrates them? What small joys could we amplify?”

Her approach resulted in the creation of a discreet implant that allowed patients to transfer data after a seizure simply by tapping their phone to their head via near-field communication.

Belhassen explains her methodology: “My whole ethos was I wanted the technology to disappear. When it came to the engineering, I wanted it to deliver a clinical-grade performance while restoring a sense of normalcy and control to users.”

Belhassen’s project has influenced subsequent research and design approaches, with elements gaining traction in both the UK and the United States.

Her work on assistive technology for Paralympic sports further illustrates this user-centered methodology. Collaborating with the International Wheelchair and

Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS), Belhassen designed a piezoresistive sensor mat to detect fouls in wheelchair fencing when more than 50% of a wheelchair athlete's body weight lifts off the seat. The challenge was formidable: the mat needed to remain sensitive while withstanding sweat, intense movement, and repeated use.

Belhassen recalls: “It took at least five or six iterations under tight deadlines when we worked on it.

“The main issue we were facing was how to implement the electronics in a mat that goes underneath someone who is exercising and sweating.”

Her final design was deployed at the 2022 Wheelchair Fencing World Cup, where it was a huge hit with the athletes. They expressed their gratitude for a system that replaced subjective visual judgments with objective metrics.

The project, which won Best Second-Year Group Project at Imperial, was also presented at the IWAS 2023 Conference in Cairo.

Belhassen’s versatility also shines in commercial contexts where she has been able to transfer her expertise.

She interned at Victoria Beckham Beauty before the brand’s first major product launch. There, Belhassen engineered mechanical features for packaging, including for the now-signature Smokey Eye Brick eyeshadow palette. Her design contributed to a

luxurious unboxing experience – the satisfying click, the weight, the emotional reward – that helped establish the palette as a long-term bestseller, still winning awards years later.

Belhassen’s take on the design was: “I believe packaging is about making sure the product feels really luxurious when you open it.

“I am not exaggerating when I say we obsessed over how it would feel in a woman’s hands! That is so important. And that user-centric precision helped create an experience for the customer that continues to resonate years later.”

Belhassen also believes her international experience has sharpened this cross-cultural sensitivity.

She has been an intern in Sweden with Teenage Engineering and then in Singapore with Treat Therapeutics. In addition, Belhassen has completed internships in London with Elwood Technologies and in the United States.

Belhassen believes this has exposed her to varying design expectations: “I’ve witnessed how design expectations shift dramatically across cultures, and this is a very important thing to incorporate when you are working on a project.

“You need to consider what feels luxurious and intuitive in one market might feel cold or overly complicated in another, and that won’t sell.

“I genuinely believe that having this kind of global perspective allows me to bring fresh, culturally attuned insights to every challenge.”

Belhassen has also worked at Apple, where she has served as a Product Design Engineer Intern on the iPhone team. During her internship, she was appointed the directly responsible individual for critical mechanical components of the device. This included the camera button and flex assemblies on future-generation hardware.

Working across industrial design, electrical engineering, reliability, and operations, Belhassen has contributed to products that reach millions of users daily: “User feedback reports directly informed all the iterative improvements we made,” she says.

“And I can honestly say it reinforced my belief in designing for real human experiences at a massive scale.”

Throughout her career, Belhassen has maintained a daily ritual that anchors her work: “Every single day, often multiple times, I pause and ask: ‘What experience am I creating for the person who will hold this product?’”

This question, she believes, separates good engineering from exceptional design: “Technical excellence is table stakes, she reveals. “I believe empathy is the ultimate competitive advantage because users don’t just buy functionality. They also want products that feel like they were designed for them.”

But what about the impact of AI? There is no doubt it accelerates analysis and iteration. Belhassen argues that human understanding becomes the decisive factor: “When someone picks up a device and thinks, ‘They really get me,’ that emotional connection drives loyalty, word-of-mouth, and long-term success.”

Bernardo Aceituno, Co-Founder and President of StackAI, a colleague of Belhassen’s, believes her work reflects a broader conviction: “Many engineers can optimize isolated technical metrics; far fewer can design technologies with a clear understanding of how they will ultimately function in real-world environments.

“I believe her work reflects the type of multidisciplinary thinking that is increasingly valuable in modern technology development. Her ability to integrate engineering depth with practical application represents the kind of perspective that benefits

innovation-focused environments.”

Belhassen’s approach is to incorporate rigorous engineering and deep empathy, and together they create a lasting impact. Whether designing for epilepsy patients seeking dignity in daily monitoring, Paralympic athletes needing fair competition, or global consumers opening a luxury product, she returns to the same principle.

“My personal mission is to ensure the people I design for feel heard – down to the smallest detail,” she says. “When a user picks up something I’ve engineered and thinks, ‘They really got it,’ that’s everything.”

About the Author

Sashindra Suresh is an experienced writer specializing in artificial intelligence, software development, and emerging technologies. With a strong ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear, engaging insights, she has contributed to a wide range of publications and platforms. Her work focuses on making cutting-edge innovations accessible to both industry professionals and curious readers alike.