Development Of Design Patterns Research Articles

Situation, Patterns, Exploration, and Exploitation in Engineering Design

In this article, I argue for an inclusive view of engineering design, and posit designing along with making, operating, maintaining, and disposing as key descriptors of humankind’s relationship with artifacts. Engineering design contributes to the definition of artifact characteristics to achieve desired artifact behavior, and includes outcomes ranging from the routine to the highly innovative. I argue for a worldview of engineering design that places greater emphasis on the routine, and suggest three directions that may guide us towards developing a better understanding of this based on a study of literature from design, management, and the history and philosophy of technology. First, we should explore the elements and practices used in different design situations, and the impact of differences in contextual factors. Second, design exploits the reuse and development of design patterns; understanding and exploiting such patterns is an important skill. I make the case that we might focus on distinctions—such as the one between exploiting old certainties and exploring new possibilities—to articulate our understanding of the differences between design activities with different degrees of novelty. Based on these arguments, I make suggestions regarding the relationship between design, science, and management, and for possible application of the arguments in wider design fields.

An empirical basis for the use of design patterns by architects in parametric design

This article presents the results from exploring the impact of using a parametric design tool on designers’ behavior in terms of using design patterns in the early conceptual development stage of designing. It is based on an empirical cognitive study in which eight architectural designers were asked to complete two architectural design tasks with similar complexity, respectively, in a parametric design environment and a geometric modeling environment. The protocol analysis method was employed to study the designers’ behavior. In order to explore the development of design patterns in the empirical data, Markov model analysis is utilized. Through Markov models analysis of the parametric design environment and geometric modeling environment results, it was found that there are some significantly different design patterns being used when designing in a parametric design environment compared to designing in a geometric modeling environment. The article articulates these differences and draws conclusions from these results.

Grounded design: Design patterns as the link between theory and practice

The process of designing a networked learning environment can be characterized by a high degree of uncertainty. This is especially true when the design includes innovative technologies. It is difficult to design a networked learning environment that closely fits the requirements of the educational practice. Often the technology seems leading in the design process because it is the most tangible aspect of the e-learning environment. This brings along the risk that the technology becomes detached from its context of use. Design patterns are a means to overcome this problem of detachment between design and practice. Design patterns make the tight relationship between the two more explicit. In this paper we further elaborate on the relationship between design and practice. We will stress the importance of theory in the development of design patterns. Theory development is an essential aspect of our approach to the development of design patterns. The approach is oriented towards a systematic analysis of problems and the development of conceptual models that guide the definition and evaluation of design patterns. In this paper we present a case study of how the approach was used to develop design patterns for networked learning in the classroom.