Comparing Engineering Design Methods: a Protocol Analysis-Based Design Cognition Approach

本奖项的研究目的是确定不同工程设计方法的认知差异。对基于科学证据的工程设计的理解仍处于起步阶段。方法是利用设计认知中正在开发的协议研究，使用基于Gero？设计的功能-行为-结构本体。个人将学习一系列的设计方法。设计团队将被组成，并被分配开放式的设计任务。设计团队将使用协议方法进行研究，同时使用一种教授的方法。最终的设计方案将被评估。协议将使用原则编码方案进行分割和编码。由此产生的编码和随后的链接图将使用包括聚类和马尔可夫链分析在内的统计技术来分析认知结构。此外，还将计算链接图的熵分析和熵随时间的变化。这些分析的结果将成为比较所研究的工程设计方法之间认知差异的基础。工程设计认知行为与设计成果之间的相关性将被开展。可交付成果将包括：以不同设计方法的团队设计会议视频形式呈现的工程设计行为的经验数据；设计会议记录；编码数据;linkographs;以及分析的结果。它们表示从数据到高度处理的信息的不同粒度级别。如果成功，这项研究的结果将通过提供一个原则性的方法和一个可以用来比较方法和模型的结果基础，为工程设计科学提供支持。该奖项将展示使用工程设计领域知识分析工程设计协议的分析技术，这些技术可以在整个工程设计领域使用。研究结果将为工程设计工具和技术的评价提供基础。

The research objective of this award is to determine the cognitive differences of different engineering design methods. The understanding of engineering design based on scientific evidence is still in its infancy. The approach is to utilize protocol studies, under development in design cognition, using on a principled coding scheme founded on Gero?s Function-Behavior-Structure ontology of designing. Individuals will be taught a range of design methods. Design teams will be formed and given open-ended design tasks. Design teams will be studied using the protocol method while employing one of the taught methods. The resulting design proposals will be evaluated. The protocols will be segmented and coded using the principled coding scheme. The resulting codings and the ensuing linkographs will be analyzed for cognitive structures using statistical techniques including clustering and Markov chain analysis. In addition, entropy analyses of the linkographs and the change in entropy over time will be calculated. The results from these analyses will form the basis of the comparison of the cognitive differences between the engineering design methods studied. A correlation between engineering design cognitive behavior and design outcomes will be carried out. Deliverables will include: empirical data on engineering design behavior in the form of videos of design sessions of teams using different design methods; transcriptions of the design sessions; coded data; linkographs; and the results of the analyses. These represent different levels of granularity from data through to highly processed information.If successful, the results of this research will provide support for a science of engineering design by providing a principled method and a base of results that can be utilized to compare methods and models. The award will demonstrate analytical techniques for the analysis of engineering design protocols using engineering design domain knowledge, techniques which can be used across the entire domain of engineering design. The results will provide the foundation for the evaluation of engineering design tools and techniques.