Managing Uncertainty in Design Communication
Managing Uncertainty in Design Communication
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, De Montfort University, Milton Keynes, UK.
Engineering Design Centre, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Engineering Design:
Design Management - Process and Information Issues
Professional Engineering Publishing, Glasgow, 2001, pp. 441-448.
Introduction. The design of complex engineering products involves communicating design ideas and specifications - requirements, constraints, functions, parameters, behaviours, structures and components. These ideas are often exchanged when still tentative, imprecise and incomplete; moreover the forms in which they are expressed can be imprecise and ambiguous. In conversations, sketches, gestures and words are used in combination to disambiguate each other, and designers convey their degree of commitment to ideas by modulating phrasing and tone of voice. But in large-scale design processes, the different elements of designs also need to travel through space and time, to places where misunderstandings can have severe consequences. How can engineers separated by space and time avoid misunderstandings and make effective use of the uncertainty and provisionality inherent in design idea development?
Keywords: Ambiguity, uncertainty, design information management, design teams, collaborative design tools, computer supported cooperative work.
Author addresses. | |
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Martin Stacey
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Claudia Eckert
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