Experimental Observation of Iteration in Engineering Design

摘要

This paper uses a laboratory experimental setting to make observations about the iteration process in engineering design. Iteration is an important and ubiquitous feature of engineering design. Previous research has constructed prescriptive mathematical models of the iteration process in an attempt to aid the design manager. In this paper, experimental observations are made about design iteration in a group setting, and those observations are compared with the existing models of the iteration process. Some correspondence with existing models is noted, although there are also significant differences. These differences could be used to improve the mathematical models of the iteration process.