Design Review 2005/2006—The ever increasing maturity of design research papers and case studies

Abstract

This paper reviews the growing maturity of publications in the Journal of Engineering Design over the period 2005 to 2006. This maturity has been explored in terms of its depth of design research content, together with its continued increasing relevance to global industry practices. Not surprisingly, it follows the author’s comparable review of papers published in the Journal of Engineering Design on Product Development over the decade and up to 2004.

1. Introduction

Over the past 17 years as its editor, I have been privileged to have seen the Journal of Engineering Design develop into one of the two leading international journals related specifically to Engineering Design. I have now rightly bowed out to a highly respected editor in the form of Professor Alex Duffy who will bring both his own fantastic dynamic and influence to the future direction of the Journal.

Over the 17 years the journal has never failed generally to publish papers of excellent quality and has been increasingly overwhelmed with demands from authors wishing to publish in its pages; even with the increased number of editions allowed by the publishers Taylor & Francis. My only regret over these years has been the failure to increase significantly the proportion of industrial papers to the journal. It has not been for the want of trying.

So over the past couple of years since my last review of papers in the Journal of Engineering Design in 2004, it has been a pleasure to note the continuing advances made in both the range, depth and content of published papers over these last two editions in 2005 and 2006. As a progressive reviewer, I have deliberately not addressed each paper published over this period (even though they were all worthy). But instead I have attempted to draw out the distinctive nature and trends of maturity across a number of design research sectors that, generally speaking, have the potential to significantly influence design practices in Industry.

2. Aesthetic Design/Concept Generation

For too long aesthetic design has been in the shadow of engineering design research, but there is clear evidence that the design cultures of art and science have converged considerably in the research field over the past two years, given the extent of journal publications.

From the Design 2004 ICED Conference the best young design research paper by Kurvinen (2005) was published in JED and illustrated that even with the design of a Stone Crusher, the design not only served manufacturing in the process industries but gave the final product a new functionality and aesthetic touch. As a consequence of the various projects, some engineers have “seen the light” and do not want to work without industrial design or industrial designers anymore.

Giannini et al. (2006) took a fascinating design research approach by establishing, despite available sophisticated modelling tools, an innovative software approach in computer aided industrial design. Current CAD tools offered functionality mostly based on low level geometric elements, whereas their approach explored the possible relationships between shape geometry and aesthetic character.

In relation to the automotive industry, Söderman (2005) of Volvo Technology presented a fascinating study in which virtual reality representations of a car were compared with concept sketches and a real car as a means for customer evaluations–thereby attempting to offset the need for numerous costly prototypes. The study indicated that the different product representations mattered to the participants’ understanding of the car, even though there were similarities between the participants with the different product representations.

In contrast, Colombo et al. (2005) researched and produced a couple of important case studies regarding a methodological approach to evaluating product ergonomics and safety based on the use of virtual tools. It was concerned with the accommodation of human considerations in supporting the design process. It would appear to have been applicable within all industrial contexts where virtual prototyping was a technology normally adopted.

An industrial design group paper by Pernot et al. (2005) focussed on computer support of the industrial design element of product design. It focussed on free form shape design and proposed deformation features as the means of defining and modifying the shape of objects. They also proposed a classification of the free form deformation features and a method for handling compound shape features.

3. Design for Robustness & Reliability

A continuing and rich vein of research over this past decade (but also maintained over the past couple of years), has been associated with design tools on robustness. Whilst it may be a matter of opinion, it continues to have probably the greatest impact on improving industry design practices.

Booker et al. (2005) continue to provide excellent research outputs with significant relevance to Industry. This latest paper identifies the key issues related to assembly quality and the assembly variability analysis presented has proved useful in the identification of potential variability and process capability problems at the design stage.

Nepal et al. (2006) continue on the same theme on establishing an enhanced design for quality framework (using a fuzzy theory based structured procedure) but with an emphasis on modular design concepts. The proposed framework provides a set of structured and well guided optimisation, sensitivity analysis and fuzzy logic steps.

Söderberg et al. (2006) present a first class analysis tool that allows non-rigid parts and assemblies to be evaluated by the designer in terms of detecting design and assembly solutions that are sensitive to variation and could cause later production problems. In particular, their research output allows designers and production engineers the opportunity to evaluate and improve different types of locating, clamping and joining schemes with respect to non-rigid deformation.

H. Mizuyama (2005) of Japan introduces an approach that captures the design process for a system as a sequence of investments under uncertainty and enhances its economic performance by correctly choosing the scope in which experiment-based robustness enhancement can be performed. The approach is well illustrated by an example that shows the proposed approach is capable of properly guiding the decision making and achieving a higher economic performance for the design.

Tsai (2005) recognises in his paper that due to the increased complexity of modern systems, availability is increasingly emphasised. His paper looks within his model at the issue of considering reliability and maintainability much earlier in the design process and making a trade-off against costs.

Two papers by Smith et al. (2005) from the Cambridge design research group extend the desire of Tsai by recognising the shortcomings in current design procedures. Firstly, they introduce an excellent concept modelling approach which strongly emphasises reliability aspects. The paper shows that concepts themselves can be unreliable, but that this unreliability can be determined and addressed early in the design process. Their second paper involves a method for assessing the robustness of mechanical designs before manufacture takes place. Based on their testing, the method can show which design is more robust amongst a choice of concepts, but at present cannot say by how much robustness is changed.

4. Product Development Challenges

Over the past few years authors have shown increasing research interests across the wider subject of new product development rather than just the design process. The papers selected below provide an indication of the extensive scope of this research activity.

The paper by Osteras et al. (2006) deals with product performance and specification within a new product development scenario. A model has been researched and established for defining the specification at component level that ensures the desired objectives at the business level are achieved in the context of a new product development programme.

In contrast, Tavčar et al. (2005) refreshingly discuss the specifics of communication and work within a virtual product development team on a global basis. It highlights the necessity for intense communication and specific communication skills where managing creativity, conflict resolution, life cycle thinking, project management and trust are key factors in a new product development environment.

The enhancement of product development by automating the process and data management systems has been explored by Lee et al. (2005) in their paper and motivated their research. A systematic approach was adopted based on the deployment of extensible mark-up language together with object technology to form an interface between knowledge-based and relational–based systems. The novel approach would appear to have been successful in supporting responsively a new product development programme in Industry.

Kumar et al. (2006) have researched on the experiences of an entrepreneurial business operation with respect to the innovative product development challenges whilst bringing a concept design to market. Whilst lean product development thinking was found to be central to the success story, a significant factor was that over and above management attention, the voice of the customer was heard at every stage of the development programme; including membership of the project team throughout.

5. Design decision strategies/methodologies

Standard machine design methods are not sufficient to design a precision machine with the increasing demand for high precision systems says Mekid (2005) in his paper. The opinion is expressed that the consideration of all physical phenomena, usually considered as second-order problems, become extremely important with high precision systems. Via examples of real physical phenomena and modelling problems, the author makes a persuasive argument with a specific design methodology to machines that converge to the desired product without consuming extra time and cost.

In contrast, Redelinghuys et al. (2006) have presented a generic and interesting approach for the measurement of creativity of either individuals or teams cooperating in new product development. This is clearly a challenging subject, yet their REV methodology, when applied in the field of technology transfer, appears to vividly portray the creative performance of R&D teams.

Following on from a reference to Ferrãro et al. (2006) in my previous review, where the embryo of a new Design for Recycling methodology was discussed, the above team have developed the methodology extensively and applied it to a specific automotive industry application. This has resulted in a new innovative software tool that provides the identification of economically optimum recycling strategies for achieving given recycling and reuse rates that should be highly advantageous to industry in general.

The paper by Alonso-Rasgado et al. (2006) describes a novel design process for total care product creation—a process that concentrates on achieving a close collaboration between the customer and supplier as the two parties engage in an iterative time absorbing procedure involving needs, expectations and solution exploration. The process appears from the potential benefits highlighted to integrate hardware and service support into a robust methodology that facilitates the design and decision making process at each stage in a rapid and simplified manner.

6. Evolutionary Case Studies

Over the past few years of engineering design research, I believe that specific innovative case studies on the application of sound design research provide considerable benefit to the Industrial reader, but also provide significant encouragement to the academic researcher to publish specific case study material. Previously, many academic researchers would appear to have formed the opinion that engineering design case studies were not quite “respectable” in a learned research journal.

However, with the increasing emphasis on knowledge transfer and exploitability of research across the world, this last section of my review attempts to explore some papers that highlight the tremendous advantages of a more case base approach.

Marxt et al. (2005) have provided a fascinating discussion paper that touches the spectrum of technology that the professional and academic design communities use. Based on the terminologies from exponents of the design science communities as well as other communities, the paper acts as a backcloth to this section and attempts to challenge the view on what “design” means. Similarly, the paper highlights both the accord and differences between terms such as design, product development and innovation over recent years and attempts to derive implications for organising research practice in a broader context for the future.

In a similar vein Sapuan et al. (2006) in their paper have made a study of the state of the art of concurrent engineering techniques specifically in the automotive industry. Particular attention was given to IT tools such as CAD, Finite Element and expert systems. Based on research papers from both Industry and Academia they concluded that concurrent engineering techniques were very powerful in achieving successful products in the automotive industry – whether OEM’s or first/second tier suppliers.

A fascinating and challenging study by Vajna et al. (2005) was presented on the application of an autogeneric design theory (ADT) to parts of an automotive engine system, where ADT was presented as an evolutionary view of the design process. The key elements of ADT would appear to adopt and transfer terms and procedures of natural evolution into design theory. All procedures, sub-processes and activities in the design process are identified with evolutionary operations of recombination, mutation, gene transfer and selection, etc.

McCallum et al. (2005) researched into the design and manufacture of tactile maps (for visually impaired people) applying the ink jet process using a unique design methodology by which design improvements could be made to tactile maps and the ink jet system used to produce them. The design methodology centred on balancing the primary subsystems of printhead, ink and substrate via a triumvirate visual design tool in conjunction with a design matrix for comparing system outputs and inputs. The design methodology showed how the system and outputs could be improved significantly and effectively for the map user, particularly with the knowledge of the haptic design requirements integrated in the methodology.

An unusual but highly interesting and fascinating aspect of design research was explored in the paper by Siu (2005), whereby he addresses the subject of pleasurable products and userfitness. He addresses the different needs and preferences of products by end users and what brings them different kinds and levels of satisfaction. His research focuses on public space furniture in Hong Kong and forms a case study of some importance. Whilst his conclusions are not absolute, the paper teases out the responsibilities of any designer to more fully understand the issues and variability that make up the right levels of userfitness for the individual.

7. Conclusions

Whilst I have limited the review to distinctive areas of research, the global diversity and depth of design research continues to amaze me as the subject of engineering design continues to gain increasing respectability on the wider academic community. In my opinion from the review, there is much to be delighted with and much to commend to industry on the relevance of engineering design research to the practices within Industry.