A case study to support conceptual design decision making using context knowledge

Abstract

Conceptual design is the most important phase of the product life cylce as the decisions taken at conceptual design stage affect the downstreams phases (manufacture, assembly, use, maintenance, disposal) in terms of cost, quality and function performed by the product. This research takes a hoilistic view by incorporating the knowledge related to the whole context (from the viewpoint of product, user, product's life cycle and environment in which the product operates) of a design problem for the consideration of the designer at the conceptual design stage. The design context knowledge comprising knowledge from these different viewpoints is formalised and a new model and corresponding computational framework is proposed to support conceptual design decision making using this formalised context knowledge. This paper presents a case study to show the proof of the concept by selecting one concept among different design alternatives using design context knowledge thereby proactively supporting conceputal design decision making.