A representation of context in design thinking process modeling

Abstract

One way to reduce potentially serious problems caused by modifications to the original design is to find out design thinking process of the original designer. The knowledge structure of design thinking process is represented, which is composed of design intent, design decision, design rationale and design operation. Semi-formal structure is adopted by the presentation, which means both the expressiveness and computability of the representation can be improved. Context in the design thinking process is defined, which can reduce complexity of the design thinking process. Independence between contexts that share an intent allows the designer to propose more assumptions about the design without necessarily affecting previous design thinking process. A graphical modeling system is established for capturing and formalizing the design thinking process.