Final concepts selected are often not the most creative or innovative design within the solution space. The purpose of this research is to gain insight into the decisions made in concept selection. In particular, we study how designers link multiple decision-making elements together, including: actions (what people do), reasoning (why they do it), and design outcomes (an objective measure of engineering performance). Fifty-seven participants were tasked with solving a design challenge relating to a robotic gripper by selecting a design within a predefined design space. Each design had a corresponding measure (termed “success rate”) which enabled each designer’s performance to be quantified and compared against other designers. The task was hosted on an interactive interface in which design actions were collected. A post-task survey probed for the reasoning behind design actions. Characterization of decision-making behavior and reasoning is rooted in prior design research and design cognition literature. Design actions were quantified concerning the degree of design space explored and the decision-making strategies employed. Key results include design strategies such as optimization techniques, rational choices, and willingness to collaborate that influenced design outcomes. Although design heuristics validated design strategies performed, no correlations between factors considered resulted in improved outcomes. The takeaway from this work is the ability to assess the underlying dynamics when engineers select less innovative or creative solutions and recommend decision-making strategies that should be considered to improve design outcomes.

Connecting Design Actions, Reasoning, and Outcomes in Concept-Selection

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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