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.
A modular design tool for visualizing complex multiscale systems
Egan, Paul; Cagan, Jonathan; Schunn, Christian; LeDuc, Philip
Type:
Year:
2013
Editor:
Udo Lindemann, Srinivasan V, Yong Se Kim, Sang Won Lee, John Clarkson, Gaetano Cascini
Author:
Series:
ICED
Institution:
1: Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, United States of America; 2: Dept. of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, United States of America
Page(s):
001-012
ISBN:
978-1-904670-52-0
ISSN:
2220-4334
Abstract:
As engineers design ever more complex systems, such as bionanotechnology, it is particularly difficult for engineers to navigate the influences of parameters to design across multiple scales. We introduce a software tool that contains graphical interface modules that display multiple inputs and outputs simultaneously in real-time, across multiple scales of interest. To assess the utility of real-time feedback in the tool, the tool is validated through user studies involving counterbalanced sequences of optimization tasks with varying complexity and either real-time or delayed feedback. Real-time feedback consistently improved a userâs ability to find better designs and the benefit increased as task complexity grew. Our scientific contribution is a greater understanding of how users search and understand complex design spaces. Users in the real-time condition were made fewer changes to designs each iteration and identifying such strategies could inform agent-based algorithms. Findings aid complex systems applications including virtual experiments, reverse engineering, and scientific discovery.
Keywords:
