Relating Design Process to Quality: A Virtual Design of Experiments Approach

This paper focuses on better understanding how design processes affect outcomes in mechanical engineering design. Following a general design research methodology, process data were collected from student design journals and tested for association with design quality as measured by an external evaluation using a virtual design of experiments approach. The results indicate that more time spent on system-level design (including problem generation, idea generation, and analysis activity) and on concept-level problem definition activity associate positively with design quality, while more time spent on concept-level idea generation, detailed design, and refinement associated negatively with design quality. These results imply that student designers should emphasize problem definition, information gathering, and system-level design work more so than high-level idea generation activities.