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DECOMPOSITION AND RECOMPOSITION STRATEGIES OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERING DESIGN TEAMS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2021

Julie Milovanovic ,
John Gero  and
Kurt Becker
Julie Milovanovic*
Affiliation:
UMR AAU-CRENAU, Graduate School of Architecture of Nantes, Nantes, France;
John Gero
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science and School of Architecture, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, USA;
Kurt Becker
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Education, Utah State Univ
*
Milovanovic, Julie, AAU-CRENAU, Graduate School of Architecture, France, julie.milovanovic@crenau.archi.fr

Abstract

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Designers faced with complex design problems use decomposition strategies to tackle manageable sub-problems. Recomposition strategies aims at synthesizing sub-solutions into a unique design proposal. Design theory describes the design process as a combination of decomposition and recomposition strategies. In this paper, we explore dynamic patterns of decomposition and recomposition strategies of design teams. Data were collected from 9 teams of professional engineers. Using protocol analysis, we examined the dominance of decomposition and recomposition strategies over time and the correlations between each strategy and design processes such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation. We expected decomposition strategies to peak early in the design process and decay overtime. Instead, teams maintain decomposition and recomposition strategies consistently during the design process. We observed fast iteration of both strategies over a one hour-long design session. The research presented provides an empirical foundation to model the behaviour of professional engineering teams, and first insights to refine theoretical understanding of the use decomposition and recomposition strategies in design practice.

Keywords

Design cognitionSystems Engineering (SE)Design processProtocol analysisProblem decomposition
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 1: ICED21 , August 2021 , pp. 871 - 880
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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