Towards life-oriented evaluation support of ‘interface concepts’

Abstract

The evaluation of design concepts is a critical early design stage with potential ramifications on subsequent lifecycle phases. During this stage the engineering designer is typically required to evaluate multiple concepts with respect to conflicting criteria. Over the years academic research proposed numerous concept evaluation techniques in order to support the user at this critical stage. Yet this has yielded an additional problem in which the inexperienced user needs also to be guided in the selection of the appropriate concept evaluation technique. The research presented in this paper has the long-term objective of providing computer support to the user on 2 levels: the evaluation of design concepts and the selection of the appropriate concept appraisal technique. The research, presented in this paper focuses on the development of an approach for the evaluation of module interface design concepts.