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.
Using embedded design structures to unravel a complex decision in a product development system
McKay, Alison; Sammonds, George; Ahmed-Kristensen, Saeema; Irnazarow, Aleksandra; Robinson, Mark
Type:
Year:
2017
Editor:
Anja Maier, Stanko Škec, Harrison Kim, Michael Kokkolaras, Josef Oehmen, Georges Fadel, Filippo Salustri, Mike Van der Loos
Author:
Series:
ICED
Institution:
1: University of Leeds, United Kingdom; 2: Imperial College London, United Kingdom; 3: Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
Section:
Human Behaviour in Design
Page(s):
149-158
ISBN:
978-1-904670-96-4
ISSN:
2220-4342
Abstract:
Early design decisions have an impact on downstream product development processes. Poor decisions can reduce efficiency and effectiveness, and have a detrimental effect on product quality, delivery time, and cost. However, the range of tools suitable for use in early design is limited, in part because of ambiguity in available design definitions. This paper reports research that investigated the role of complex decision making in a quality incident that occurred in the development of a complex product system. A case study approach with document analysis and semi-structured interviews was used. Data were analysed using lenses from both social sciences and engineering design. In this paper, we report the use of embedded design structures to gain insights into the downstream consequences of design decisions. Results indicate that embedded product, process and supply network structures have the potential to underpin a new generation of design tools for considering downstream complexities arising from early design choices. Such tools could both improve the quality of design decisions and support improved management of development processes by highlighting areas of future risk.
Keywords:
