Development and Validation of Design Ideation Models for Conceptual Engineering Design

本研究项目的目的是产生评估工程设计思想生成方法有效性所需的知识，并区分其必要和多余的组成部分。本研究将高度受控的实验室实验和认知科学的原子过程模型与设计研究的设计实验相结合。不同于使用一个完整的想法生成方法进行实验，每个方法将被分解成其关键的“创意”组件，并通过测试其组件的有效性和它们之间的相互作用来预测其整体有效性。实验室实验将分别研究关键的创意组件，而设计实验将通过改变其组成组件来检查组件之间的相互作用及其与结果的关系。对于思维成分为何有效以及如何有效的解释，将从认知科学中已经可用的原子过程和结构的公认模型中进行研究。有效性将根据四个指标来评估：流畅性、质量、多样性和产生的设计概念的新颖性。研究结果将通过结合和修改现有模型中的几个元素，整合成一个设计构思模型。提出的构思模型将通过在工业环境中的最终实验进行验证。本研究将得出两个重要的结果：(1)可以从理论和应用实践两方面解释的实证研究数据；(2)一个关于概念设计理论的概念方面的额外研究问题的系统。理解构思过程与设计结果的关系将有助于公司确定在给定条件下使用哪种方法以及如何组成设计团队。这项工作也将帮助教育工作者找到更好的设计综合教学方法。

The objective of this research project is to produce the knowledge needed to evaluate the effectiveness of engineering design idea generation methods and to distinguish between their necessary and superfluous components. This research will combine the highly controlled lab experiments and atomic process models from cognitive science with design experiments from design research. Instead of conducting experiments by using an idea generation method in its entirety, each method will be decomposed into its key "ideation" components and its overall effectiveness predicted by testing the effectiveness of its components and their mutual interactions. Lab experiments will be directed at studying key ideation components individually, while the design experiments will examine interaction between components and their relation to outcome by mutating their constituent components. Explanations for why and how ideation components are effective will be researched from accepted models of atomic processes and structures already available in cognitive science. Effectiveness will be evaluated in terms of four measures: fluency, quality, variety, and novelty of design concepts generated. The results of the study will be consolidated into a model of design ideation by combining and modifying several elements from existing models. The proposed ideation model will be validated through final experiments in industry settings.Two important results should emerge from this research: (1) data from the empirical studies that can be interpreted in terms of both theory and applied practices, and (2) a system for pursuing additional research questions about ideational aspects of conceptual design theory. An understanding of the relationship of ideation processes to design outcome will help companies determine which method to use under given conditions and how to constitute design teams. This work will also help educators in finding better ways of teaching design synthesis.