Cognitive processes in design

Malhotra, Ashok; Thomas, John; Carroll, John M.; Miller, Lance A.

doi:10.1016/s0020-7373(80)80013-7

Cited by 114 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Schon (1983) referred to similar behavior among architects and engineers as "iteratively uncovering phenomena and seeking explanations." Similar observations have now been reported in studies of mechanical engineering (Ullman et al, 1988), software design (Malhotra et al, 1980), and consumer product design (Ballay, 1987), lending credence to the generality of the description in Figures 3 and 4.…”

Section: Individual Designerssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Other "naturalists" had reached similar conclusions at about the same time (e.g., Curtis, Krasner & Iscoe, 1988). Since then, the literature on design activity has begun to grow, as exemplified by Ullman et al (1988) in mechanical engineering, Schon (1983) in architecture and structural design, and Malhotra et al (1980) and Guindon (1992) in software development.…”

Section: Naturalist Methodsmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…Second, people tend to be poor at stating their needs in terms that translate easily into design objectives (Rouse, 1986). They are much better at recognizing satisfactory solutions than they are at specifying them (Guindon, 1992;Malhotra et al, 1980). This relates to a third reason.…”

Section: Design Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Automated Information Management for Designers: Functional Requirements for Computer Based Associates That Support Access and Use of Technical Information in Design

Cody¹,

Rouse²,

Boff³

1993

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Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour per response. including the time for reviewing instructions. searching existing data sources. gatherq a•nd maintaining the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words)The purpose of this program was to analyze the process of complex system design to determine why designers often fail to consider potentially valuable technical information in making design decisions.Based on this analysis, the goal was to define functional requirements for a new class of supports that will enhance designers' access and use of such information.Termed Designer's Associates, these supports derive from a thorough understanding of designer's tasks and the services that intelligent computing technologies make possible.14. The purpose of this program was to analyze the process of complex system design to determine why designers often fail to consider potentially valuable technical information in making design decisions. Based on this analysis, the goal was to define functional requirements for a new class of supports that will enhance designers' access and use of such information. Termed Designer's Associates, these supports derive from a thorough understanding of designers' tasks and the services that intelligent computing technologies make possible.Relevant design information exists in a variety of places, expressed in many forms, of varying quality, etc. It includes both system-specific and system-independent elements. Information also tends to be distributed across "data islands," making availability a problem. The designer may not be aware of, misinterpret, or not value relevant information that could improve his decisions. For better or worse, each designer assesses the costs and benefits associated with information access, and acts in accord with this evaluation. A poor evaluation can effectively block information from affecting design choices. The surrounding milieu, which is composed of co-workers, organizations and technology, can interfere with access and use in a variety of direct and subtle ways.One approach for improving information access and utilization is through use of a new concept in intelligent computer-based supports called "mixed-initiative support systems." In these systems, decision-making authority and task performance can be delegated to machine intelligence to augment human performance. Based on successful application of mixed-initiative systems in the aviation and process control domains, we examine the prospects for applying this technology to information access and use in design. We consider technological needs, system architecture, and how such a support system might be evaluated. The effort involved our examining the processes by which complex systems evolve, with most examples taken from military aircraft and aircr...

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Section: Individual Designerssupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Naturalist Methodsmentioning

confidence: 91%

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Automated Information Management for Designers: Functional Requirements for Computer Based Associates That Support Access and Use of Technical Information in Design

Cody¹,

Rouse²,

Boff³

1993

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“…Some examples of these studies conducted in different domains are the following: architectural design: Eastman (1969), one of the first empirical design studies; software design: Adelson & Soloway (1985), Guindon, Krasner & Curtis (1987), Malhotra, Thomas, Carroll, & Miller (1980), Hoc (1988a), Jeffries, Turner, Polson & Atwood (1981) and Ratcliff & Siddiqi (1985); mechanical design: Ullman, Staufer & Dietterich (1987) and Whitefield (1986); computational geometry algorithm design: Kant (1985); traffic signal setting: Bisseret, Figeac-Létang & Falzon (1988); text composition: Hayes & Flower (1980).…”

Section: Relevance Of the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

More or less following a plan during design: opportunistic deviations in specification

Visser

1990

International Journal of Man-Machine Studies

123

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To cite this version:Willemien Visser.More or less following a plan during design: opportunistic deviations in specification.International journal of man-machine studies, Elsevier;Elsevier -Academic Press, 1990 Abstract. An observational study was conducted on a mechanical engineer throughout his task of defining the functional specifications for the computerized control part of an automated machine tool installation. The engineer described his activity as following a hierarchically structured plan. The actual activity is in fact opportunistically organized. The engineer follows his plan as long as it is cognitively cost-effective. As soon as other actions are more interesting, he abandons his plan to proceed to these actions. This paper analyzes when and how these alternative-to-the-plan actions come up. Quantitative results are presented with regard to the degree of plan deviation, the design components and the definitional aspects which are most concerned by these deviations, and the deviation patterns. Qualitative results concern their nature. An explanatory framework for plan deviation is proposed in the context of a blackboard model. Plan deviation is supposed to occur if the control, according to certain selection criteria, selects an alternative-to-theplanned-action proposal rather than the planned-action proposal. Implications of these results for assistance tools are discussed briefly.

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“…The context of the current state of a design, design element properties and design organization determined relevant issues of the design problem [2], [32], [21]. Designers revisited the problem as new context-based information emerged [1], [12], [51].…”

Section: Continual Restructuringmentioning

confidence: 99%

A qualitative empirical evaluation of design decisions

Zannier

Maurer

2005

SIGSOFT Softw. Eng. Notes

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In this paper, we motivate examining software design decision making and provide the process by which the examination will occur. The objective is to provide qualitative results indicative of rational or naturalistic software design decision making. In a rational decision a decision maker evaluates decision alternatives and potential outcomes for each alternative using a utility function and probabilities of the outcome of each alternative. The utility function assigns a value to each possible alternative based on its outcome. The goal of rational decision making is selecting the optimal alternative. A naturalistic decision manifests itself in dynamic and continually changing conditions, embodies real-time reactions to these changes, embraces ill-defined tasks, and has a goal of selecting a satisfactory alternative. The proposed empirical qualitative study consists of inductive and deductive interviewing and deductive observations.

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Cognitive processes in design

Cited by 114 publications

References 8 publications

Automated Information Management for Designers: Functional Requirements for Computer Based Associates That Support Access and Use of Technical Information in Design

Automated Information Management for Designers: Functional Requirements for Computer Based Associates That Support Access and Use of Technical Information in Design

More or less following a plan during design: opportunistic deviations in specification

A qualitative empirical evaluation of design decisions

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