Utilization of Concept Selection Methods: A Survey of Finnish Industry

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikko Salonen ◽  
Matti Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Formal Methods ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Formal Method ◽  
Formal Concept ◽  
Concept Design ◽  
Selection Methods ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Industrial Utilization ◽  
Concept Review

Concept selection is an area of design research that has been under considerable interest over the years. There is, however, only little information on how the methods that have been presented in design research for this task have been adopted by industry. Thus, a survey was carried out in the Finnish industry. The results revealed that the degree of industrial utilization of formal concept selection methods was relatively low. Less than one out of four companies responded to use one or several of the formal methods included in the study: Pugh’s evaluation matrix, Rating matrices, or Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Concept review meeting were reported as the most common approach for concept selection. However, a majority of the companies that did not utilize any formal method reported lacking effective and suitable methods for concept selection. The companies using formal methods were more satisfied. The first conclusion from the study is that there is a basis for a higher degree of utilization of formal concept selection methods in industry. Our second conclusion is that the existing formal concept selection methods do not entirely fulfill the needs of concept selection in an industry context. We propose that numerical concept selection methods should be further developed and extended to better support the decision-making practices of concept selection in industry. This type of concept selection is characterized by the participation of multiple decision makers through concept design reviews.

Specifying with Interface and Trait Abstractions in Abstract State Machines: A Controlled Experiment

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-29
Author(s):  
Philipp Paulweber ◽  
Georg Simhandl ◽  
Uwe Zdun
Keyword(s):  
Formal Methods ◽  
Formal Method ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Controlled Experiment ◽  
Specification Languages ◽  
Randomized Design ◽  
Textual Description ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Completely Randomized Design ◽  
Experimental Group

Abstract State Machine (ASM) theory is a well-known state-based formal method. As in other state-based formal methods, the proposed specification languages for ASMs still lack easy-to-comprehend abstractions to express structural and behavioral aspects of specifications. Our goal is to investigate object-oriented abstractions such as interfaces and traits for ASM-based specification languages. We report on a controlled experiment with 98 participants to study the specification efficiency and effectiveness in which participants needed to comprehend an informal specification as problem (stimulus) in form of a textual description and express a corresponding solution in form of a textual ASM specification using either interface or trait syntax extensions. The study was carried out with a completely randomized design and one alternative (interface or trait) per experimental group. The results indicate that specification effectiveness of the traits experiment group shows a better performance compared to the interfaces experiment group, but specification efficiency shows no statistically significant differences. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first empirical study studying the specification effectiveness and efficiency of object-oriented abstractions in the context of formal methods.

Estimating Errors in Concept Selection

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. N. Otto ◽  
Kristin L. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Error Propagation ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Selection Methods ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
Confidence Measure ◽  
Critical Design ◽  
Fundamental Causes ◽  
Design Alternatives ◽  
Degree Of Confidence ◽  
Numerical Concept

Abstract Numerical concept selection methods are used throughout industry to determine which among several design alternatives should be further developed. The results, however, are rarely believed at face value. Uncertainties (or errors) in subjective choices, modeling assumptions, and measurement are fundamental causes of this disbelief. This paper describes a methodology developed to predict overall error ranges, in addition to estimating a confidence measure in the numerical evaluation results. Each numerical assignment is given an associated error tolerance, and then treated as a probability error to create a simple means to propagate the uncertainties. A degree of confidence is also derived, similar to a statistical t-test, to indicate an induced confidence level in the final decision. Two preliminary concept selections are shown, to illustrate the methodology. Results from these concept selections indicate that (1) uncertainties can be suitably captured and quantified; (2) critical design questions are addressed during the process of numerical concept selection with error propagation; and (3) designers can make more informed and confident decisions through error estimation.

Towards the Integration of a Formal Object-Oriented Method and Relational Unified Process

2011 ◽  
pp. 101-133
Author(s):  
Jing Liu ◽  
Zhiming Lui ◽  
Xiaoshan Li ◽  
He Jifend ◽  
Yifeng Chen
Keyword(s):  
Formal Methods ◽  
Formal Method ◽  
System Development ◽  
Scale Up ◽  
Object Oriented ◽  
Use Case ◽  
Object Oriented Method ◽  
Unified Process ◽  
Sound Foundation

In this chapter, we study the use of a formal object-oriented method within Relational Unified Process (RUP). Our purposes are (a) to unify different views of UML models; (b) to enhance RUP and UML with a formal method to improve the quality of software; (c) to scale up the use of the formal method with the use-case driven, iterative and incremental aspects of RUP. Our overall aim is to establish a sound foundation of RUP and UML and scale up the use of formal methods in software-intensive system development.

scholarly journals Revisiting Problem-Solution Co-Evolution in the Context of Team Conceptual Design Activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 6303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomislav Martinec ◽  
Stanko Škec ◽  
Marija Majda Perišić ◽  
Mario Štorga
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Design ◽  
Design Education ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Solution Space ◽  
Design Activity ◽  
Problem Solution ◽  
Conceptual Design Phase ◽  
Design Activities ◽  
Conventional Models ◽  
Concept Review

The conventional prescriptive and descriptive models of design typically decompose the overall design process into elementary processes, such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. This study revisits some of the assumptions established by these models and investigates whether they can also be applied for modelling of problem-solution co-evolution patterns that appear during team conceptual design activities. The first set of assumptions concerns the relationship between performing analysis, synthesis, and evaluation and exploring the problem and solution space. The second set concerns the dominant sequences of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, whereas the third set concerns the nature of transitions between the problem and solution space. The assumptions were empirically tested as part of a protocol analysis study of team ideation and concept review activities. Besides revealing inconsistencies in how analysis, synthesis, and evaluation are defined and interpreted across the literature, the study demonstrates co-evolution patterns, which cannot be described by the conventional models. It highlights the important role of analysis-synthesis cycles during both divergent and convergent activities, which is co-evolution and refinement, respectively. The findings are summarised in the form of a model of the increase in the number of new problem and solution entities as the conceptual design phase progresses, with implications for both design research and design education.

scholarly journals Towards Constraint-Solving over Higher-Order Unbounded Datatypes using Formal Methods Tools

10.29007/3rvf ◽  
2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Leuschel
Keyword(s):  
Formal Methods ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction ◽  
Formal Method ◽  
Formal Proof ◽  
Higher Order ◽  
Constraint Satisfaction Problems ◽  
Constraint Solving ◽  
Future Improvement ◽  
High Assurance

We argue that formal methods such as B can be used to conveniently express a widerange of constraint satisfaction problems. We also show that some problems can be solvedquite eectively by existing formal methods tools such as Alloy or ProB. We illustrate ourclaim on several examples. Our approach is particularly interesting when a high assuranceof correctness is required. Indeed, validation and double checking of solutions is availablefor certain formal methods tools and formal proof can be applied to establish importantproperties or provide unambiguous semantics to problem specications. The experimentsalso provide interesting insights about the eectiveness of existing formal method tools,and highlight interesting avenues for future improvement.1

scholarly journals Coloured Petri Nets - a Pragmatic Formal Method for Designing and Analysing Distributed Systems

1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (522) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjeld Høyer Mortensen
Keyword(s):  
Formal Methods ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Formal Method ◽  
Attractive Alternative ◽  
Coloured Petri Nets ◽  
Domain Specific ◽  
Language Constructs ◽  
Representative Selection ◽  
Phd Thesis ◽  
Selection Of

<p>The thesis consists of six <em>individual</em> papers, where the present paper contains the mandatory overview, while the remaining five papers are found separately from the overview. The five papers can roughly be divided into three areas of research, namely case studies, education, and extensions to the CPN method.</p><p>The primary purpose of the PhD thesis is to study the pragmatics, practical aspects, and intuition of CP-nets viewed as a formal method for describing and reasoning about concurrent systems. The perspective of pragmatics is our leitmotif, but at the same time in the context of CP-nets it is a kind of hypothesis of this thesis. This overview paper summarises the research conducted as an investigation of the hypothesis in the three areas of case studies, education, and extensions.</p><p>The provoking claim of pragmatics should not be underestimated. In the present overview of the thesis, the CPN method is compared with a representative selection of formal methods. The graphics and simplicity of semantics, yet generality and expressiveness of the language constructs, essentially makes CP-nets a viable and attractive alternative to other formal methods. Similar graphical formal methods, such as SDL and Statecharts, typically have significantly more complicated semantics, or are domain-specific languages.</p><p>research conducted in this thesis, opens a new complex of problems. Firstly, to get wider acceptance of CP-nets in industry, it is important to identify fruitful areas for the effective introduction of the CPN method. Secondly, it would be useful to identify a few extensions to the CPN method inspired by specific domains for easier adaption in industry. Thirdly, which analysis methods do future systems make use of?</p>

A study of the use of concept selection methods from inside a company

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda López-Mesa ◽  
Nicklas Bylund
Keyword(s):  
Selection Methods ◽  
Concept Selection ◽  
A Company

Specification and Validation of Real Time Systems

2011 ◽  
pp. 444-475
Author(s):  
Olfa Mosbahi
Keyword(s):  
Real Time ◽  
Formal Methods ◽  
Temporal Logic ◽  
Formal Method ◽  
The Other ◽  
Real Time Systems ◽  
Critical Systems ◽  
Temporal Properties ◽  
Integration Approach ◽  
Time Systems

The chapter presents a specification technique borrowing features from two classes of specification methods, formal and semi-formal ones. Each of the above methods have been proved to be useful in the development of real-time and critical systems and widely reported in different papers (Bruel, 1996; Clarke & Wing, 1996; Cohen, 1994; Fitzgerald & Larsen, 1994; Ghezzi, Mandrioli & Morzenti, 1990). Formal methods are based on mathematical notations and axiomatic which induce verification and validation. Semi-formal methods are, in the other hand, graphic, structural and uer-friendly. Each method is applied on a suitable case study, that we regret some missing features we could find in the other class. This remark has motivated our work. We are interested in the integration of formal and semi-formal methods in order to lay out a specification approach which combines the advantages of theses two classes of methods. The proposed technique is based on the integration of the semi-formal method STATEMATE (Harel, 1997; Harel, 1987) and the temporal logic FNLOG (Sowmya & Ramesh, 1997). This choice is justified by the fact that FNLOG is formal, deals with quantitative temporal properties and that these two approaches have a compatibility which simplifies their integration (Sowmya & Ramesh, 1997). The proposed integration approach uses the notations of STATEMATE and FNLOG, defines various transformation rules of a STATEMATE specification towards FNLOG and extends the axiomatics of the temporal logic FNLOG by new lemmas to deal with duration properties. The chapter presents the various steps of our integration approach, the proposed extentions and illustrates it over a case of critical real-time systems: the gas burner system (Ravn, Rishel & Hansen, 1993).

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