In previous meetings, we presented preliminary work on coding student design journals as part of an effort to better understand how design processes affect design outcomes. We have also conducted a number modeling efforts on a dozen student mechanical engineering projects that correlate key process variables to design quality, client satisfaction, and designer productivity measures. One of the main patterns across the different analyses is that system-level design, which falls between concept design and detail design, consistently appears as a strongly significant variable distinguishing strong performing projects from weaker performing projects. In this paper, I briefly summarize the results of three analyses on the coded journal data. I then explore what "system level design" is, illustrated with a case example, and how it serves to bridge the gap between concept and detail design. These results have important implications for engineering problem-solving in general (not just design), which are also discussed.
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