On the Complexity of the Designer-Artifact-user System (original) (raw)
Related papers
Understanding the complexity of design
2006
The powerful concept of complexity can be applied to help us understand not only modern engineering systems, but also the design of those systems, and artifacts in general. In this chapter we attempt to establish a two-pronged theoretical framework for understanding the complexity of design. By design we mean the activity of designing artifacts in general, not any specific class of artifact.
Harnessing complexity in design
Journal of Integrated Design and …, 2002
Large scale design problems involve complex systems. The complexity arises from the nature of the large interconnected systems and is escalated by the background, personal characteristics, and perspectives of the individuals working on the design team. It is ...
Futures, 2008
This paper is an attempt to discuss the concepts of complexity and complex social system and their relation with the concepts of design and design activity. It is argued that a design cannot appear as an emergent property out of such systems, since it presupposes intentionality. However, to a certain extent, complex (social) systems need to be governed by means of design. Even if design requires prediction, which in our opinion is impossible in strict sense in case of social systems, there are two important conditions for a “good design”, namely, to look at the past, and to look at the future. After this general discussion, the paper provides a few suggestions on how to do the former without prejudices, and presents an effective technique for doing the latter without illusions.
Futures, 2008
Design out of complexity This collection of papers is product of a one-day workshop entitled 'Design out of complexity' that was held at University College London in the summer of 2005. The general purpose of the workshop was to investigate associations and contradictions between complexity and design, in terms of concepts, theories, or methodologies, and propose a future research agenda on their relation. Let us first introduce the premises behind the meeting.
Complexity in engineering design and manufacturing
CIRP Annals - Manufacturing Technology, 2012
Increasing complexity continues to be one of the biggest challenges facing manufacturing today. It is manifested in products and manufacturing processes as well as company structures [162]. These systems operate in an environment of change and uncertainty. The subject of this keynote paper is related to the complexity of the artifactual world humans have created. The breadth of complexity research in engineering is reviewed for a broad readership and with particular emphasis on engineered products and manufacturing. Engineers are justly proud of the many inventions and manufacturing technologies for which they are responsible. In the past, Henry Ford's zero complexity approach to automobile production proved to be a breakthrough, with the assembly line and mass production that have revolutionised the industry. Since then, many manufacturers have attempted to compete using this model of reducing or eliminating real and perceived complexities. This as well as other reductionist approaches, which were critically successful at a period of time of the development of industrialization, have reached their limit. The methods used by engineers to design, produce, and operate systems in the mid-to late twentieth century are insufficient to deal with the challenges of the future. The fierce global competition has focused on innovation and creating high valueadded products at a competitive price in response to customer demands. The challenges facing industry now are characterized by design complexity that must be matched with a flexible and complex manufacturing system as well as advanced agile business processes. This is particularly true for manufacturers of high value, complex products that are multidisciplinary in nature. This is quite a broad category as most industrial and consumer products these days are complex. 1.1. Sources of complexity Modern complex products or equipment may have many thousands of parts and take hundreds of manufacturing and assembly steps to be produced. Most complex products and equipment now incorporate not only mechanical and electrical components but also software, control modules, and humanmachine interfaces. Some equipment is connected on-line to the World Wide Web and ''the internet of things'' [10] for real time reporting and diagnostics. Although these additions have made equipment more versatile and dependable, significant complexity has been introduced to the product design [64]. Manufacturers have often responded to the challenges of globalization with mergers, consolidations and acquisitions. Fig. 1 illustrates the drivers and enablers for manufacturing complexity. Economic, technological and social aspects are included. 1.2. Perspectives on complex systems Several different measures defining complexity have been proposed within the scientific disciplines. Such measures of complexity are generally context dependent. Colwell [27] defines thirty-two complexity types in twelve different disciplines and domains such as projects, structural, technical, computational, functional, and operational complexity. Systems complexity is invariably multi-dimensional. A complex system usually consists of a large number of members, elements or agents, which interact with one another and with the environment. They may generate CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology 61 (2012) 793-814
Embracing design in complexity
While designers willingly embrace the science of complex systems, most scientists rarely give design a second thought and thereby miss one of the most revolutionary aspects of the new science: design, in the context of policy, is an essential part of the experimental method of the new science of complex systems. Currently few scientists today know anything about design as a process for understanding, creating and managing complex systems; but by the end of this century, if not by the end of this decade, design will be required study for complex systems science, alongside mathematics, statistics, computation and other core topics. Many of the systems that we find hard to understand are socio-technical-systems systems of systems-with tightly coupled physical and social subsystems. Most of these systems are artificial, meaning that they are in part or whole man-made-they are designed (Simon 1969).
Investigation of Design Tools as Complexity Management Techniques
Volume 1: 36th Design Automation Conference, Parts A and B, 2010
Design tools which appear to manage complexity through their inherent behavior do not appear to have been developed specifically for complexity management. This research explores how complexity is managed within the design process through: the generation of complexity within the design process (sources), the techniques which were used to manage complexity (approaches), and the examination of design tools with respect to complexity. Mappings are developed between the sources, the approaches, and the tools with respect to phases of design. The mappings are propagated through these distinct, yet adjacent domains in order to study how the tools might be able to be used to manage complexity sources found in different stages of the design process. As expected, the highest value for each design tool is found in the stage of design in which the tool is traditionally been used. However, there are secondary ratings which suggest that design tools can be used in other stages of the design process to manage specific aspects of complexity.