Design process improvement: A review of current practice

Abstract

There is always room for improvement in design. Maybe there is need for a better product, or for a better, more effective and economic, design process-the late delivery of new products has been shown to be the single largest contributor to the loss of company profits in the UK. Our own experience of working with automotive, aerospace and healthcare companies has shown that effective communication, management of change and process planning are essential ingredients for an effective product development process. This book aims to develop an understanding of these issues as a means to facilitate design process improvement. Part I contains a series of review articles written by a team of international experts on models of design, perspectives on design, design practice and design management. Part II provides an introduction to the wealth of academic research on these topics by presenting the activities of research centres from around the world. It is for: business leaders who want to understand the role of design management as a driver for commercial success; design managers who want to improve their company design procedures; designers who want to know how to design more efficiently; researchers who want to explore the field of design process improvement. An up-to-date source of information on design process improvement may be found at: http://www-edc.eng.cam.ac.uk/ designprocessbook © Springer-Verlag London Limited 2005.