Integrating social product development to improve design communication in engineering design

工程设计需要协调一致的高层整合和错综复杂的互动，包括重要的跨部门合作、知识共享以及设计、工程和品牌等相关领域专家之间的交流。因此，工程设计的过程变得越来越知识密集和高度协作，涉及具有不同技术和社会背景的利益攸关方网络，他们共同设计产品，并要求所有相关各方之间持续和可靠的信息和知识流动。设计沟通是指参与工程设计的利益相关者之间的信息和知识的传递，其有效性是确保工程设计项目成功的关键，也是保证利益相关者之间相互理解的关键。社交产品开发(SPD)使用称为SPD租户的社交和协作方法(例如，众包、开放创新和基于云的设计)来获取和共享信息和知识，并作为希望在工程设计中吸引多学科利益相关者的公司的共同创造机制。到目前为止，大多数SPD文献都集中在产品开发的产品构思阶段，在这个阶段，可以低成本地从外部利益相关者那里获取想法。然而，人们对公司如何将SPD租户融入工程设计知之甚少，在工程设计中，最初的产品想法被转化为最终设计。本研究计划包含三个相互关联和互补的项目，将促进我们对以下方面的理解：(1)参与工程设计的公司和多学科专家参与SPD计划的动机，(2)公司如何将SPD租户纳入其工程设计活动，以及(3)设计和开发以人为中心的SPD平台，为在加拿大运营的SPD软件公司提供基于证据的建议。该计划将提供：(1)根据利益相关者的动机差异预测他们在使用SPD租户时在工程设计活动中的行为的分类模型，(2)设计沟通方法和SPD战略，以增加公司与参与工程设计的利益相关者的参与和接触，(3)识别多学科利益相关者专业知识的算法，(4)自动捕获和提取工程设计活动知识的软件，以及(5)SPD平台和综合评估工具，使公司能够选择最合适的SPD租户(S)用于其工程设计流程。这些交付成果将在加拿大公司中带来更持续的社会和协作创新文化-认识到加拿大工业部推动“加拿大制造业的商业化和增长”的目标，并将帮助加拿大制造业增加其对国家GDP的1740亿美元的贡献。

Engineering design requires coordinated high-level integration and intricate interactions, including significant trans-sectoral cooperation, knowledge sharing, and communication between experts in interrelated fields, such as design, engineering, and branding. The process of engineering design has, therefore, become increasingly knowledge intensive and highly collaborative, involving networks of stakeholders with different technical and social backgrounds who co-design products and require continuous and reliable information and knowledge flows between all involved. Design communication refers to the transmission of information and knowledge between stakeholders involved in engineering design; its effectiveness is crucial in ensuring the success of engineering design projects and in guaranteeing mutual understanding between stakeholders. Social Product Development (SPD) uses social and collaborative methods known as SPD tenants (e.g., crowdsourcing, open innovation, and cloud-based design) to capture and share information and knowledge and acts as a co-creation mechanism for companies wishing to engage multi-disciplinary stakeholders in engineering design. Most SPD literature, to date, has focused on the product ideation phase of product development where ideas can be captured at low cost from external stakeholders. Far less is known, however, about how companies integrate SPD tenants into engineering design, where initial product ideas are transformed into final designs. This research program encompasses three interconnected and complementary projects that will advance our understanding of: (1) the motivations for companies and multi-disciplinary experts involved in engineering design to engage with SPD initiatives, (2) how companies integrate SPD tenants into their engineering design activities, and (3) designing and developing human-centered SPD platforms, providing evidence-based recommendations to SPD software companies operating in Canada. The program will deliver: (1) a classification model that predicts stakeholders' behaviors in engineering design activities when using SPD tenants based on their motivational differences, (2) a design communication methodology and SPD strategy to increase company participation and engagement with stakeholders involved in engineering design; (3) algorithms for identifying the expertise of multi-disciplinary stakeholders, (4) software to automatically capture and extract knowledge from engineering design activities; and (5) an SPD platform, and integrated assessment tool, that enables companies to select the most appropriate SPD tenant(s) to use in their engineering design processes. These deliverables will lead to a more sustained social and collaborative innovation culture in Canadian companies - recognizing Industry Canada's goal of driving "commercialization and growth in the Canadian manufacturing sector" and will help Canadian manufacturing grow its $174 billion contribution to national GDP.