Title: Experimental validation of the R³I design evaluation methodology

Authors: Graham Green

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, Scotland, UK

Abstract: How the validity of an emerging design method or methodology, such as relative reliability risk index (R3I), should be tested and demonstrated remains a vital question for the design research community. This paper provides a review of current thinking about the validation process and via a case study seeks to describe how an appropriate controlled experiment was developed to address the validation of a particular methodology. The experimental validation approach described here is shown to be linked to the impact model of research and is built upon the foundations of validation square. The results of this approach to validation suggest that a standard approach to validating emerging design methods is possible. This is illustrated here by demonstrating that an improvement in the quality of evaluating concept designs can be obtained when using the R³I evaluation methodology.

Keywords: engineering design; validation; concept design; design evaluation; relative reliability risk index; R3I; design research.

DOI: 10.1504/JDR.2011.039615

Journal of Design Research, 2011 Vol.9 No.1, pp.1 - 15

Published online: 16 Oct 2014 *

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