Mario Štorga

The design ontology: foundation for the design knowledge exchange and management

The article presents the research of the nature, building and practical role of a Design Ontology as a potential framework for the more efficient product development (PD) data-, information- and knowledge- description, -explanation, -understanding and -reusing. In the methodology for development of the ontology two steps could be identified: empirical research and computer implementation. Empirical research has included domain documentation analysis (Genetic Design Model System developed by Mortensen 1999), identification of the key concepts and relations between them, and categorisation of the concepts and relations into taxonomies. As an epistemological foundation for the concepts formalisation, The Suggested Upper Merged Ontology (SUMO) proposed by IEEE, was reused. As the result of the previously described process, the ontology content has been categorised into six main subcategories divided between physical and abstract world. As a next step the computer thesaurus has been created. Using the thesauri, the knowledge evolved during the PD has been described, and the set of the created concepts and relations instances has been used for the ontology model consistency checking and refinement. The Design Ontology was evaluated through test product examples and based on this evaluation and proposed implementation framework further research steps are proposed.

Merged ontology for engineering design: Contrasting empirical and theoretical approaches to develop engineering ontologies

Abstract This paper presents a comparison of two previous and separate efforts to develop an ontology in the engineering design domain, together with an ontology proposal from which ontologies for a specific application may be derived. The research contrasts an empirical, user-centered approach to developing the ontology engineering design integrated taxonomies (EDIT) with a theoretical approach in which concepts and relations are elicited from engineering design theories design ontology (DO). The limitations and advantages of each approach are discussed. The research methodology adopted is to map the ontology through examining each of the concepts and relations contained within each of the ontologies DO and EDIT with respect to the other. The comparison process results in an examination of both ontologies, with a few changes resulting from this. The importance of the two different approaches, one that is theoretically sound and another that is applicable, is recognized and argued. Finally, the merged ontology for engineering design is proposed as a template ontology that can be tailored by researchers and practitioners for a specific context.

Visualisation of the organisation knowledge structure evolution

Purpose – The paper aims to provide a methodology by which organisational knowledge can be extracted and visualised dynamically over time, providing a glimpse into the knowledge evolution processes that occur within organisations. Design/methodology/approach – Recursive analysis of email interactions is offered as a case to account for the knowledge structure evolution related to the different programs of international non-governmental organization (INGO). Several methods are used: analysis of the network expansion to see whether the process is random or uniform is performed, visualisation of the network configuration changes throughout studied time period; and the statistical examination of network formation. Findings – The results of the presented study indicate that content structure of electronic knowledge networks exhibits hierarchical and centralised tendencies. The social network analysis results suggest that INGO exhibits non-hierarchical and decentralized structure of the individuals contributing to the discussion lists. Research limitations/implications – By providing the means to carry out network evolution analysis of content structure dynamics and social interactions, the presented work provides a means for probabilistically modelling patterns of organisational knowledge evolution. Practical implications – The approach allows the exploration of the dynamics of tacit to explicit knowledge, from individual to the group and from informal groups to the whole organisation. Originality/value – By displaying the large collection of the key phrases that reflected the evolution of the organisational knowledge structure over the time, organisational emails are placed in meaningful context explaining the language of the organisation and context of knowledge structure evolution.

Grammatical Evolution of Technical Processes

The aim of this thesis is to provide a support to the beginning of the conceptual development phase by offering designers the possibility to computationally synthesise technical processes in order to obtain operand transformation variants in the respect to known technological principles. To accomplish the aim the following objectives had to be met: a theoretical objective which considered the development of a method for generation of operand transformation variants; and an empirical objective as the implementation of the method as a computational tool built to a stage that allows verification of the research results. First, it was necessary to understand the phenomenon of problem solving and cognitive aspects of synthesis as a part of the problem solving activity. Then, the state-of-the-art review on the Computational Design Synthesis (CDS) [2] was conducted the purpose of which was the determination of theoretical and methodological background of the current research projects and the comparison and the systematization of those in order to focus this research. The efforts where turned to the exploration of the existent mathematical concepts which could be used for the modelling of technical processes and related synthesis method. Based on the findings from the field of CDS it was concluded to conceive the method as a knowledgebased with the solution emerging as a result of successive application of production rules in which the knowledge about technical processes and working principles is formalised. The theoretical objective concluded with the main scientific contribution of this thesis: (1) the creation of multigraph based formal model of technical process, (2) the definition of graphgrammar based formal model of technical process synthesis, (3) addition of stochastic search to technical process synthesis by applying grammatical evolution [3]. Within the empirical objective a computational tool was realised on the foundations of the developed method. During the research it was found that knowledge about technical processes still does not exists in the accessible open taxonomies or ontologies as per se, which required to propose (4) knowledge formalisation suggestions when defining the graph grammar of technical processes.

Multifaceted assessment of ideation: using networks to link ideation and design activity

Ideation is core to the innovation process, and has been the subject of study across a range of fields, from psychology to engineering. However, despite substantial progress in outcome-based descriptions of idea generation, research has often resulted in more questions than answers. For example, open questions remain with respect to the differences in behaviour related to ideation between novices and experts, the change in rates of ideation over time in different design teams, and the changing role of ideation from conceptual to detailed design. In each of these cases, robust explanation has proved elusive due to difficulties in characterising the ideation process itself. This paper discusses a major new approach for elucidating ideation and its related design processes through direct observation. A novel network visualisation approach is demonstrated in practice for the first time. This uses network analysis to link ideas dynamically to both the engineering context and the wider design process. This linking analysis gives a substantial new insight into what drives ideation and how previously inscrutable results can potentially be explained by linking ideation into other design processes.

Formal modelling of technical processes and technical process synthesis

The computational design synthesis approach considered in this paper, proposes directed multigraph and graph grammar-based models of technical processes and technical process synthesis. The theory of technical systems, which is adopted as a theoretical foundation for this work, assumes a teleological viewpoint bringing together the purpose of technical systems and fulfilment of customer demands and societal needs. These demands and needs are met by means of a technical process inside which the operands are transformed with the assistance of a technical system to achieve a desired state. Formal models of technical processes and technical process synthesis establish the foundation for further application of search algorithms to support early engineering design. The engineering knowledge about technical processes is provided within a set of graph grammar rules. As the result of the proposed approach, the designer is enabled to consider different operand transformations in an expedient fashion with the possibility of the generation of novel alternatives. The proposed approach is illustrated through an example of the design of a stiffened panel assembly line involving welding and riveting as two basic principles.

Experimental design research : Approaches, perspectives, applications

This book presents a new, multidisciplinary perspective on and paradigm for integrative experimental design research. It addresses various perspectives on methods, analysis and overall research app ...

A dynamic approach to real-time performance measurement in design projects

ABSTRACT Recent developments in engineering design management point to the need for more dynamic, fine-grain measurement approaches able to deal with multi-dimensional, cross-level process performance in product design. Thus, this paper proposes a new approach to the measurement and management of individual and teamwork performance in engineering design projects. This integrates multiple, previously disparate, aspects of design management and performance measurement theory in a single framework. Further, a fully realised performance measurement approach is developed, which complements existing management strategies. This framework is synthesised from an extensive review and illustrated via an in-depth case study. As such, this work contributes to performance measurement theory in engineering design and has significant implications for both engineering design research and industry.

An Introduction to Experimental Design Research

Design research brings together influences from the whole gamut of social, psychological, and more technical sciences to create a tradition of empirical study stretching back over 50 years (Horvath 2004; Cross 2007). A growing part of this empirical tradition is experimental, which has gained in importance as the field has matured. As in other evolving disciplines, e.g. behavioural psychology, this maturation brings with it ever-greater scientific and methodological demands (Reiser 1939; Dorst 2008). In particular, the experimental paradigm holds distinct and significant challenges for the modern design researcher. Thus, this book brings together leading researchers from across design research in order to provide the reader with a foundation in experimental design research; an appreciation of possible experimental perspectives; and insight into how experiments can be used to build robust and significant scientific knowledge. This chapter sets the stage for these discussions by introducing experimental design research, outlining the various types of experimental approach, and explaining the role of this book in the wider methodological context.

Idea assessment and selection in product innovation – the empirical research results

The process of innovation takes significant resources, and therefore it is of great importance for companies that want to recognize the ideas with high innovation capacity as early as possible, and in a transparent manner, with the least necessary amount of expert knowledge. Current research indicates that companies often carry out the selection of ideas ad hoc or intuitively, and that only a small number of companies have defined the methods for ideas assessment and evaluation. In doing so, such problems as imprecise definition of the variables used in the evaluation process of the capacities of ideas, undefined metrics and interaction variables will arise. In order to determine the practical points of view in this area, a study was conducted in the form of a survey on a representative sample of Croatian companies which have product innovation in their production program. The survey is aimed at determining what motivates companies to innovate, and the ways in which companies carry out the assessment and selection of ideas. Through a thorough study of the literature, a set of variables that are commonly used in the idea capacities assessment for product development have been defined, and the survey tried to establish the practical significance of individual variables for the participants of the process. This paper presents the results of the study.