Knowledge Base Repository
In addition to research papers, the Design Society is developing several valuable resources for those interested in the study of design. These include a repository of PhD theses, a library of case studies and transcripts of design activities, and an archive of our newsletters. Please note that these resources are accessible exclusively to Design Society members.
Supporting Design Rationale Retrieval for Design Knowledge Re-Use
Wang, Hongwei; Johnson, Aylmer; Bracewell, Rob
Type:
Year:
2009
Editor:
Norell Bergendahl, M.; Grimheden, M.; Leifer, L.; Skogstad, P.; Lindemann, U.
Author:
Series:
ICED
Section:
Design Information and Knowledge
Page(s):
335-346
Abstract:
Current retrieval methods of design rationale focus mainly on either the classification of rationale or on key-word based searches of records. The pitfalls of these methods are obvious. First, a classification scheme imposes a large burden on experts. Second, key-word based searches require the designers to understand, at least to some extent, what they are seeking. This ongoing research aims to develop methods and tools for designers to facilitate the re-use of design rationale captured via a software tool currently used in industry. Our first step is to improve the key-word based search by providing better human-computer interaction. Specifically, the improved retrieval is implemented by a novel combination of three methods as discussed in the paper. A software prototype has been developed to demonstrate the proposed approach, as well as to research into how it can be integrated into the design rationale capture tool. Preliminary evaluation shows the prototype can provide good supports to designers especially when they do not know exactly what to search for. Some problems encountered during this work are also identified in the evaluation, leading to a discussion of our future work.
Keywords:
