<p>Engineers must consider the usage context of a product in order to both predict its technical performance and model customer preferences. An emerging body of work in Decision-based Design has elaborated various approaches for modeling the usage context in order to better predict customer choice behavior and select optimal product attributes. Building on this prior work, this study proposes a new method for formulating design optimization problems in which product attribute values can change contextual factors. Extending prior work&nbsp;on Usage Context-Based Design (UCBD), the Design for Coupled Usage Contexts framework incorporates an evolution function to connect product attributes to context attributes. An illustrative case study optimizing the safety and fuel efficiency of a passenger vehicle is presented to compare UCBD and the proposed framework. Results from the case study demonstrate the utility of the proposed method for understanding how phenomena such as the rebound effect and induced demand connect system-level outcomes to design changes. This study suggests that the Design for Coupled Usage Contexts framework is a promising tool to further explore as a way to support designers making decisions which involve these types of mechanisms. Further exploration should include additional case studies to investigate other coupling mechanisms and design tasks.</p>

Extending Usage Context-Based Design to Coupled Usage Contexts: A Vehicle Design Case Study

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IDETC-CIE/IDETC-CIE2021/volume/85369

ASME 2021 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences & Computers and Information in Engineering Conference (IDETC/CIE2021)

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