Title: The influence of documenting assumed values of product properties on the number of iterations in the design process - first observations

Authors: Alfred Sadlauer; Peter Hehenberger; Klaus Zeman

Addresses: Institute of Mechatronic Design and Production, Johannes Kepler University, 4040 Linz, Austria ' Institute of Mechatronic Design and Production, Johannes Kepler University, 4040 Linz, Austria ' Institute of Mechatronic Design and Production, Johannes Kepler University, 4040 Linz, Austria

Abstract: Iterations are an integral part of the product design process and can become necessary when there are inconsistencies between the requirements and the solution at hand. However, not all iterations are beneficial - some are unnecessary, for example, those arising from inappropriate return points. The identification of potentially wrong assumptions about product properties can indicate promising iteration return points. This paper presents the results of survey of product development engineers about iterations and assumed values of properties in their work. Additionally, we conducted a design experiment to further analyse the influence of documenting assumed values of properties on the number of iterations, the ratio of unnecessary to useful iterations and task success. Based on the results, we recommend a network-based documentation of assumptions with meta-information about confidence in the assumptions to aid identification and prioritisation of potential iteration return points.

Keywords: product property assumptions; design iterations; assumptions management; iteration return points; assumed values; design process; product design; network-based documentation; meta-information.

DOI: 10.1504/IJITM.2017.080951

International Journal of Information Technology and Management, 2017 Vol.16 No.1, pp.73 - 90

Received: 18 Oct 2014
Accepted: 02 Sep 2015
Published online: 13 Dec 2016 *

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