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 Model of Information Processing and Interactions in Teams Developing Technical Systems
Tomislav Martinec
Type:
Year:
2019
Author:
Supervisor:
Mario Štorga
Institution:
University of Zagreb Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture
Page(s):
213
Website:
Abstract:
Teamwork is often regarded as a critical operation element of product development
organisations, whereas an efficient team-based approach to engineering design activities is a
prerequisite for the success of technical systems development projects. Design team members
thus need assistance in the form of methods and tools that will facilitate collaboration during
team design activities, inasmuch as researchers and project managers require support in
developing and prescribing the most appropriate and efficient methods and tools for the
particular design tasks.
The research reported in the thesis aims at improving the understanding of designing in teams,
primarily in the stage of conceptual design and from the perspective of information processing.
A more specific research aim has been formed as follows: to review, develop and test models
of team design activity in the development of technical systems, which will build on
information processing and interactions appearing in team design activities in the conceptual
design stage of the development. The main purpose of these models is to enhance decisionmaking and planning of technical systems development, by enabling both capturing and
generating data sets that reflect process patterns distinctive for specific team compositions and
working processes.
A state-transition-based theoretical and mathematical models have been developed and used to
experimentally investigate the patterns of design operations performed during two types of team
conceptual design activities – ideation and concept review – as well as two types of engineering
design projects – adaptive and innovative. The presented work builds on the perception of
design problems as ill-defined and implies that conceptual design activities involve the
simultaneous development of problems and solutions through the usage of three distinctive
design operations: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The three design operations have been
defined as fine-grain design information-processing acts performed by design teams when
exploring the content of both the problem space and the solution space. Moreover, design
operations have been conceptualised as transitions between states of the explored design space,
thus providing a basis for the state-transition model.
The developed models and the accompanying computational tool fulfilled the purpose of
supporting research activity. The results of the protocol analysis and computational simulation
studies indicate that the model can be used to identify, analyse and simulate sequences of design
operations which are distinctive for specific working processes, such as divergent and
convergent team conceptual design activities, as well as for a systematic approach to conceptual
design. The experimental findings which could have been compared to the insight from the
available literature have been found aligned with the current understanding of designing in
teams. Based on the listed findings, it can be argued that the developed state-transition model
provides more flexibility when it comes to capturing and comparing the patterns of analysis,
synthesis and evaluation design operations in the problem and the solution space and offers the
potential of improving design process understanding through either protocol analysis or
computational studies of team conceptual design activity.
organisations, whereas an efficient team-based approach to engineering design activities is a
prerequisite for the success of technical systems development projects. Design team members
thus need assistance in the form of methods and tools that will facilitate collaboration during
team design activities, inasmuch as researchers and project managers require support in
developing and prescribing the most appropriate and efficient methods and tools for the
particular design tasks.
The research reported in the thesis aims at improving the understanding of designing in teams,
primarily in the stage of conceptual design and from the perspective of information processing.
A more specific research aim has been formed as follows: to review, develop and test models
of team design activity in the development of technical systems, which will build on
information processing and interactions appearing in team design activities in the conceptual
design stage of the development. The main purpose of these models is to enhance decisionmaking and planning of technical systems development, by enabling both capturing and
generating data sets that reflect process patterns distinctive for specific team compositions and
working processes.
A state-transition-based theoretical and mathematical models have been developed and used to
experimentally investigate the patterns of design operations performed during two types of team
conceptual design activities – ideation and concept review – as well as two types of engineering
design projects – adaptive and innovative. The presented work builds on the perception of
design problems as ill-defined and implies that conceptual design activities involve the
simultaneous development of problems and solutions through the usage of three distinctive
design operations: analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. The three design operations have been
defined as fine-grain design information-processing acts performed by design teams when
exploring the content of both the problem space and the solution space. Moreover, design
operations have been conceptualised as transitions between states of the explored design space,
thus providing a basis for the state-transition model.
The developed models and the accompanying computational tool fulfilled the purpose of
supporting research activity. The results of the protocol analysis and computational simulation
studies indicate that the model can be used to identify, analyse and simulate sequences of design
operations which are distinctive for specific working processes, such as divergent and
convergent team conceptual design activities, as well as for a systematic approach to conceptual
design. The experimental findings which could have been compared to the insight from the
available literature have been found aligned with the current understanding of designing in
teams. Based on the listed findings, it can be argued that the developed state-transition model
provides more flexibility when it comes to capturing and comparing the patterns of analysis,
synthesis and evaluation design operations in the problem and the solution space and offers the
potential of improving design process understanding through either protocol analysis or
computational studies of team conceptual design activity.
Keywords:
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