Abstract
The development of computer-based diagramming tools to support the early stages of engineering design and to improve the capacity to innovate is described. We believe that the human brain is currently the best available device to perform early designing. Thus, good tools will facilitate designers' abilities to 'see' information patterns, reflect on them, and achieve insights they may not have achieved otherwise. Our work suggests that diagram layout and style are at least as important as the textual content for their rapid comprehension. These features can be easier to manage in software than in textual descriptions, leading to tools that are more robust and usable. We are working along several lines of enquiry intended to explore particular aspects of the matter, including using existent tools such as concept maps, and developing alternative tools to test ideas about supporting early design by diagramming. While we have not formally evaluated much of our work, anecdotal evidence is encouraging.
Highlights
Much of the information developed and used during the early stages of engineering design is written in natural language text
We have already found that there are some patterns of diagrammatic layout that are very learned – as described below, we have found that diagrams can be quite intuitively grasped by users without any “training.” Four such rules we have found are as follows
We can report that the innovation and resulting performance benefits of DRed are demonstrated by the Trent 1000 design being singled out as follows, in the brief sales description of the engine, on the Rolls Royce website: http://www.rollsroyce.com/civil_aerospace/products/airlines/trent1000/engine.jsp “Unique Intermediate Pressure power offtake design innovation delivers:
Summary
Much of the information developed and used during the early stages of engineering design is written in natural language text. Diagrams are able to present information in ways that: (a) are comprehended by the human mind, (b) make explicit information that might otherwise be difficult to “see,” and (c) can provide a holistic view of the matter that the diagram describes. This is supported by the increasing popularity of diagramming tools like concept maps, as well as research in learning (Novak and Gowin, 1984). The authors refer to the early stages of engineering designing (hereunder, early design) as those that precede the development of geometric models of products.
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