Title: Value models: coordinating artefacts for conceptual design

Authors: Massimo Panarotto; Marco Bertoni; Christian Johansson

Addresses: Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden ' Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden ' Blekinge Institute of Technology, Karlskrona, Sweden

Abstract: This paper contributes to the discussion on value models as decision support in early design. Emerging from data collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 professionals in 3 manufacturing companies, the paper highlights the limitation of current development practices to promote cross-functional knowledge sharing about the stakeholders' lifecycle expectations to be met. This limits the ability to make decisions about aspects of value that are difficult to assess and quantify. The objective of the paper is then to propose the use of value models as 'boundary objects' to increase shared awareness about the design intent, triggering negotiations towards more value-adding design decisions. This role of the value model as a boundary object is studied through design experiments, using a combination of protocol analysis and observation technique on the video-recorded material.

Keywords: value models; value driven design; boundary objects; engineering design; conceptual design; cross-functional collaboration.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2019.105490

International Journal of Product Development, 2019 Vol.23 No.4, pp.326 - 352

Received: 22 Jan 2019
Accepted: 08 Dec 2019
Published online: 02 Mar 2020 *

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