ADOPTION OF A SYSTEMATIC DESIGN PROCESS: A STUDY OF COGNITIVE AND SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON DESIGN

DS 68-7: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED 11), Impacting Society through Engineering Design, Vol. 7: Human Behaviour in Design, Lyngby/Copenhagen, Denmark, 15.-19.08.2011

Year: 2011
Editor: Culley, S.J.; Hicks, B.J.; McAloone, T.C.; Howard, T.J. & Badke-Schaub, P.
Author: Morgan, Thea; Tryfonas, Theo
Series: ICED
Section: Human Behaviour in Design
Page(s): 320-329

Abstract

This paper presents an ethnographic case study of an engineering design team during the development and implementation of a systematic design process. Prior to this the team had used only adhoc and informal design strategies. The team was observed for 12 months after implementation of the new process, during which time two subsequent versions of the design process were developed and released in response to observations and team feedback. The findings of this study highlight the way in which cognitive and social factors may have a strong influence on the design process in teams, and should therefore be given greater consideration in the future development of design methods and processes as well as in design education.

Keywords: SOCIAL PROCESS; ENGINEERING DESIGN TEAMS; DESIGN METHODS; DESIGN COGNITION

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