Assessing the usability and efficiency of Design Ratioale

摘要

Many positive claims have been made about the benefits of Design Rationale (DR). MacLean et al, (1991) argue that an explicit design rationale can be a useful tool in the design process in a variety of ways: from reasoning and reviewing to managing, documenting, and communicating. Design rationale is the notion that goes beyond merely accurate descriptions of artifiacts, such as specifications, and articlates and represents the reasons and reasoning process behind the design and specification of artifacts (Moran & Carroll, 1996). QOC (Questions, Opions, Criteria) is a straightforward notation ofr representing design rationale (MacLean et al, 1991), In this paper we presetn the results of a study investigating the usability and efficiency of DR/QOC as a design support tool. and provide an analysis of the designers' reflections on the role of DR/QOC in the design process.