Review and Classification of Knowledge in Engineering Design

Abstract

Understanding what types of knowledge need to be managed is essential for researchers and practitioners in order to implement knowledge management within the engineering design process. However, obtaining a fast overview from literature of the types of knowledge to consider is not an easy task. In order to identify the types of knowledge in engineering design, we conducted a literature review searching for classifications of design knowledge. We analysed the types of knowledge from the literature and summarized them in a taxonomy to classify design knowledge. The taxonomy can be used as a theoretical base for researchers and practitioners dealing with knowledge management in engineering design, in order to support the understanding of the type of knowledge to consider for their purposes. It can be also used to classify the knowledge of a company in order to match it with the situations during the design process that each of the identified knowledge types can support.