Design Rationale Representation Research Articles

Design rationale representation approach based on intent-driven ontology and MBD model in design change

Aiming at the problem that the design rationale (DR) in design change has a wide range of sources and various forms, which makes designers difficult to reuse them, this paper proposes a DR representation approach for design change. Firstly, the overall three-layer structure of the approach is introduced; Use OWL to express the concepts related to the designer and product model in design change, and use SWRL and SQWRL to mine and extract useful DR information; A DR representation tool is developed based on CAD software to export the low semantic level information to the ontology as well as import the high semantic level information back to the Model Based Definition (MBD) model. The approach combines the expressing ability of ontology and visuality of 3D annotation to capture, represent and reuse DR information, which promotes the design change under the MBD environment. Finally, a stamping part is taken as an example, and designers can refer to the experience of the predecessors related to the changed parameter through using the tool.

Non Functional Requirements Assessment and Traceability in Multimedia Educational Software

One of the challenges faced by the developers of current Multimedia Educational Software (MES) is the assessment of MES to meet users’ requirements. Non Functional Requirements (NFR) are key users’ requirements, because unlike functional requirements, which set out services expected by system, NFRs set out the constraints of the system and the process standards to be followed. Therefore, they play a key role in assessing the quality of MES. Quality Engineering is a new paradigm playing a crucial role in the European market of Services and Applications. In this field the assessment of Non Functional Requirements (NFRs) is underlined as an important step to have time-to-market products satisfying the quality and user needs. We aim to define a methodology and a representation of NFRs for assessment and traceability management. We have developed a scheme for representing critical NFRs, and applied it to the domains of MES for validation. Our approach extends the model for the representation of design rationale by making the evaluation goals explicit and providing the means to improve the quality of MES. Further research is how to relate NFRs to architectures.

A method for extracting design rationale knowledge based on Text Mining

Capture design rationale (DR) knowledge and presenting it to designers by good form, which have great significance for design reuse and design innovation. Since the 1970s design rationality began to develop, many teams have developed their own design rational system. However, the DR acquisition system is not intelligent enough, and it still requires designers to do a lot of operations. In addition, the existing design documents contain a large number of DR knowledge, but it has not been well excavated. Therefore, a method and system are needed to better extract DR knowledge in design documents. We have proposed a DRKH (design rationale knowledge hierarchy) model for DR representation. The DRKH model has three layers, respectively as design intent layer, design decision layer and design basis layer. In this paper, we use text mining method to extract DR from design documents and construct DR model. Finally, the welding robot design specification is taken as an example to demonstrate the system interface.

An approach for design rationale retrieval using ontology-aided indexing

Design rationale (DR) is an important part of design knowledge. Effective reuse of DR depends on its successful retrieval. In this paper, an approach for structured DR retrieval using ontology-aided indexing is presented. Firstly, an ontology-based semantic model of DR is developed based on the extended IBIS-based DR representation in order to effectively utilise the semantics embedded in DR. Then, an ontology-aided indexing method is proposed to build indexes for DR records to index the semantic concepts and relationships in DR. Furthermore, three kinds of query modes are developed to support flexible querying, among which natural language input query and DR record-based query have much more semantics and thus lead to better retrieval results. Finally, a prototype system is implemented. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

A semantic representation model for design rationale of products

Design rationale (DR) is crucial information in product design decision support, design analysis and design reuse. In this paper, based on the Issue-based Information System (IBIS) model, a new ontology-based semantic representation model for DR information; the integrated issue, solution, artifact and argument (ISAA) model; is proposed. The ISAA model introduces the ontology-based semantic representation mode to the DR representation and expands the concept elements of IBIS. The class of concept elements and the semantic relationships among them are defined by Web Ontology Language (OWL). The axioms and rules which are used to reason and analyze DR are defined and encoded with Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL), which enrich the semantic relations defined by OWL. The ISAA model represents the directed graph of IBIS to the Resource Description Framework (RDF) graph and serializes to an RDF/XML document which lays the foundation for retrieving and reasoning semantic information of DR. A semantic annotator integrating with the visual product design model was developed, by which the discrete information of thinking is captured and abstracted to a conceptual representation of the ISAA model. Finally, an example of DR representation for the spring operating mechanism of a high-voltage circuit breaker product is given.

Learning the “Whys”: Discovering design rationale using text mining — An algorithm perspective

Collecting design rationale (DR) and making it available in a well-organized manner will better support product design, innovation and decision-making. Many DR systems have been developed to capture DR since the 1970s. However, the DR capture process is heavily human involved. In addition, with the increasing amount of DR available in archived design documents, it has become an acute problem to research a new computational approach that is able to capture DR from free textual contents effectively. In our previous study, we have proposed an ISAL (issue, solution and artifact layer) model for DR representation. In this paper, we focus on algorithm design to discover DR from design documents according to the ISAL modeling. For the issue layer of the ISAL model, we define a semantic sentence graph to model sentence relationships through language patterns. Based on this graph, we improve the manifold-ranking algorithm to extract issue-bearing sentences. To discover solution–reason bearing sentences for the solution layer, we propose building up two sentence graphs based on candidate solution-bearing sentences and reason-bearing sentences respectively, and propagating information between them. For artifact information extraction, we propose two term relations, i.e. positional term relation and mutual term relation. Using these relations, we extend our document profile model to score the candidate terms. The performance and scalability of the algorithms proposed are tested using patents as research data joined with an example of prior art search to illustrate its application prospects.

Representing the Evolving Design Rationale to Support Design Reuse

Engineering design is an innovative process that relies heavily upon associations to past experience and similar designs. Design rationale (DR) explains why an artifact is designed the way it is. An explicit representation of DR can bring many benefits to understand, modify, or reuse a design. This paper argues that because the design is a cognitive activity continuously iterative and evolving, the conventional argument-based representation of DR has some inherent limitations. An intent-driven representation model is created to capture and formalize the evolving DR. The DR elements and their interactive relationships are defined. Furthermore, two methods to reconstruct the DR model, namely the structure-based clustering and the context-based extraction, are explored to reduce the complexity of the model and to support effective DR traceability for the reuse purpose. Finally, a graphical DR modeling system is developed. And the future research is discussed.

A New Design Rationale Representation Model for Rationale Mining

The management of design rationale (DR) in engineering design is an important task since DR is often regarded as crucial information in design decision support and design analysis. The existing DR systems largely rely on human efforts in capturing DRs along design activities according to some predefined DR models. However, these systems require heavy human involvement and they do not have the capacity to extract DRs from design archival documents, which contain rich DR information but are usually unstructured or semistructured texts, e.g., design documents, service reports, and test reports. In view of such challenges, it has motivated us to propose a new DR model to intelligently discover DRs from design archival documents. In this paper, we propose an issue, solution and artifact layer (ISAL) model for DR representation and approaches for rationale information discovery from design archival documents. We also introduce a DR repository construction platform based on the ISAL model by integrating rationale information from both design archival documents and design processes. Using patent documents as our research data, we conduct a conceptual comparison and experimental study of DR discovery especially for artifact information extraction. Results demonstrate the merits of our proposal. Lastly, we discuss potential applications by taking advantage of our ISAL model.

2409 製品のライフサイクル特性に基づくライフサイクル・シナリオ記述支援手法の提案(OS12-3 ライフサイクル設計とサービス工学III,OS12 ライフサイクル設計とサービス工学)

Determining life cycle strategies at the early stage of life cycle design is crucial for minimizing environmental loads and costs throughout a product life cycle. This article proposes a method for supporting description of life cycle scenario, which is one way to represent a life cycle strategy, based on product life cycle characteristics. The method consists of four main features: (i) step-wise description of a life cycle scenario, (ii) representation of design rationale, (iii) managing design alternatives by using Truth Maintenance System (TMS), and (iv) integrating the results gained from other life cycle design support tools. These four features enable designers to describe and examine various feasible life cycle scenarios. The case study shows that the method successfully supports designers to describe life cycle scenarios easily and efficiently.

Kuaba approach: Integrating formal semantics and design rationale representation to support design reuse

AbstractThis article presents Kuaba, a new design rationale representation approach that enables employing design rationale to support reuse of model-based designs, particularly, software design. It is shown that this can be achieved through the adoption of an appropriate vocabulary that allows design rationale representations to be computationally processed. The architecture and implementation of an integrated design environment to support recording design rationale using Kuaba is also shown. The Kuaba approach integrates the design rationale representation model with the formal semantics provided by the metamodel of the design method or modeling language used for describing the artifact being designed. This integration makes the design rationale representations more specific according to the design methods and enables a type of software design reuse at the highest abstraction level, where rationales can be integrated and reemployed in designing a new artifact.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD DESIGN QUESTION?

Designers ask questions throughout the design process. The resulting arguments about how best to answer them are critical in justifying solutions, but are rarely recorded. We are developing a representation of design rationale called QOC (Questions, Options and Criteria) which captures just such information (MacLean et al, 1991). It encourages evaluation of a broader range, or design space, of solutions than designers might otherwise consider.