The retrieval of structured design knowledge

Design rationale is an effective way of capturing knowledge, since it records the issues addressed, the options considered, and the arguments used when specific decisions are made during the design process. Design rationale is generally captured by identifying elements and their dependencies, i.e. in a structured way. Current retrieval methods focus mainly on either the classification of rationale or on keyword-based searches of records. Keyword-based retrieval is reasonably effective as the information in design rationale records is mainly described using text. However, most of the current keyword-based retrieval methods discard the implicit structures of these records, resulting either in poor precision of retrieval or in isolated pieces of information that are difficult to understand. This ongoing research aims to go beyond keyword-based retrieval by developing methods and tools to facilitate the provision of useful design knowledge in new design projects. Our first step is to understand the structured information derived from the relationship between lumps of text held in different nodes in the design rationale captured via a software tool currently used in industry, and study how this information can be utilised to improve retrieval performance. Specifically, methods for utilising various structured information are developed and implemented on a prototype keyword-based retrieval system developed in our earlier work. The implementation and evaluation of these methods shows that the structured information can be utilised in a number of ways, such as filtering the results and providing more complete information. This allows the retrieval system to present results that are easy to understand, and which closely match designers' queries. Like design rationale, other methods for representing design knowledge also in essence involve structured information and thus the methods proposed can be generalised to be adapted and applied for the retrieval of other kinds of design knowledge. Copyright © 2002-2012 The Design Society. All rights reserved.

Unified modelling in support of organization design and change

The aim of this research is to provide a unified modelling-based method to help with the evaluation of organization design and change decisions. Relevant literature regarding model-driven organization design and change is described. This helps identify the requirements for a new modelling methodology. Such a methodology is developed and described. The three phases of the developed method include the following. First, the use of CIMOSA-based multi-perspective enterprise modelling to understand and capture the most enduring characteristics of process-oriented organizations and externalize various types of requirement knowledge about any target organization. Second, the use of causal loop diagrams to identify dynamic causal impacts and effects related to the issues and constraints on the organization under study. Third, the use of simulation modelling to quantify the effects of each issue in terms of organizational performance. The design and case study application of a unified modelling method based on CIMOSA (computer integrated manufacturing open systems architecture) enterprise modelling, causal loop diagrams, and simulation modelling, is explored to illustrate its potential to support systematic organization design and change. Further application of the proposed methodology in various company and industry sectors, especially in manufacturing sectors, would be helpful to illustrate complementary uses and relative benefits and drawbacks of the methodology in different types of organization. The proposed unified modelling-based method provides a systematic way of enabling key aspects of organization design and change. The case company, its relevant data, and developed models help to explore and validate the proposed method. The application of CIMOSA-based unified modelling method and integrated application of these three modelling techniques within a single solution space constitutes an advance on previous best practice. Also, the purpose and application domain of the proposed method offers an addition to knowledge. © IMechE 2009.

Facets of prior experience and the effectiveness of inclusive design

Research in inclusive design has shown the importance of prior experience for the usability of interactive products. Prior experience, however, is an ill-defined and inconsistently used construct. A number of different definitions and operationalisations of experience exist, but the differing power of these operationalisations to predict the usability of products for older users has rarely been investigated systematically. This study seeks to fill that gap. It is argued that the construct of experience has at least three components. It is proposed that two of these components, exposure and competence, are directly relevant for the current discussion about prior experience in inclusive design and that they can predict to different degrees the usability of a product for older users. In an empirical study, these facets of expertise are each operationalised on three levels of specificity and their impact on usability is assessed. The results show that measures of competence predict usability variables more strongly than measures of exposure and that levels of medium and high specificity are the best predictors. The application of inclusive design principles to a redesigned version of a ticket vending machine-although not resulting in a difference of overall usability-changed the impact of prior experience on usability measures implying an enhanced inclusiveness of the redesign with regard to prior experience. The implications of these findings for the effectiveness of inclusive design for older users are discussed. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

A conceptual client-designer framework: Inspiring the development of inclusive design interactive techniques

The adoption of inclusive design approach into design practice is compatible to the needs of an ageing society. However, tools and methods that promote inclusivity during new product development are scarcely used in industry. This paper is part of a research project that investigates ways to accommodate inclusive design into the design process in industrial context. The present paper is based on the finds from the observations and interviews with industrial designers and interviews with stakeholders. The outcomes from the study supported a better understanding of the client-designer dynamic as well as the stages in the design process where information related to inclusive design could be introduced. The findings were essential to inspire the development of an inclusive design interactive technique to be used by clients and designers. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Enhancing and developing the practical optimisation capabilities and intelligence of automatic design software

In the modern engineering design cycle the use of computational tools becomes a neces- sity. The complexity of the engineering systems under consideration for design increases dramatically as the demands for advanced and innovative design concepts and engineering products is expanding. At the same time the advancements in the available technology in terms of computational resources and power, as well as the intelligence of the design software, accommodate these demands and make them a viable approach towards the chal- lenge of real-world engineering problems. This class of design optimisation problems is by nature multi-disciplinary. In the present work we establish enhanced optimisation capabil- ities within the Nimrod/O tool for massively distributed execution of computational tasks through cluster and computational grid resources, and develop the potential to combine and benefit from all the possible available technological advancements, both software and hardware. We develop the interface between a Free Form Deformation geometry manage- ment in-house code with the 2D airfoil aerodynamic efficiency evaluation tool XFoil, and the well established multi-objective heuristic optimisation algorithm NSGA-II. A simple airfoil design problem has been defined to demonstrate the functionality of the design sys- tem, but also to accommodate a framework for future developments and testing with other state-of-the-art optimisation algorithms such as the Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) and the Multi-Objective Tabu Search (MOTS) techniques. Ultimately, heav- ily computationally expensive industrial design cases can be realised within the presented framework that could not be investigated before. © 2012 by the authors. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.

Enhancing and developing the practical optimisation capabilities and intelligence of automatic design software

In the modern engineering design cycle the use of computational tools becomes a necessity. The complexity of the engineering systems under consideration for design increases dramatically as the demands for advanced and innovative design concepts and engineering products is expanding. At the same time the advancements in the available technology in terms of computational resources and power, as well as the intelligence of the design software, accommodate these demands and make them a viable approach towards the challenge of real-world engineering problems. This class of design optimisation problems is by nature multi-disciplinary. In the present work we establish enhanced optimisation capabilities within the Nimrod/O tool for massively distributed execution of computational tasks through cluster and computational grid resources, and develop the potential to combine and benefit from all the possible available technological advancements, both software and hardware. We develop the interface between a Free Form Deformation geometry management in-house code with the 2D airfoil aerodynamic efficiency evaluation tool XFoil, and the well established multi-objective heuristic optimisation algorithm NSGA-II. A simple airfoil design problem has been defined to demonstrate the functionality of the design system, but also to accommodate a framework for future developments and testing with other state-of-the-art optimisation algorithms such as the Multi-Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) and the Multi-Objective Tabu Search (MOTS) techniques. Ultimately, heavily computationally expensive industrial design cases can be realised within the presented framework that could not be investigated before. ©2012 AIAA.

ICE Manual of Structural Design

Part of the ICE manuals series, ICE manual of structural design is the essential reference for all structural engineers involved in the design of buildings and other structures.