Rationality in Design

Abstract

This chapter aims to present a systematic overview of the different kinds of rationality issues that may come up with regard to engineering-design practice. Engineering design has many faces, ranging from the almost exclusively functionally oriented design of new materials and technical devices in fields like mechanical and electrical engineering, to strongly aesthetically oriented design projects that may be encountered in industrial and architectural design. On the one hand, this state of affairs makes a discussion of rationality in engineering design not an easy matter; on the other hand, it may explain why there are so many diverging opinions on the role of rationality in engineering design. It is a premise of much work done in the field of design methodology and engineering design itself that rationality plays a significant role in design processes, not only at the level of the organization of design processes, but also at the level of the design of products. The underlying idea is that many of the decisions that are made regarding design—regardless of whether they concern the set-up and execution of the design process or the object of design itself—can be justified because of reasons.