No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
DIMENSIONS OF PRODUCT COMPLEXITY FROM DESIGNERS’ PERSPECTIVES
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 June 2023
Abstract
Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.
The perceived complexity of a product (product complexity) is doubtless an influential phenomenon in a design project. Insight into this factor and how it can be measured, is key to understanding its influence, supporting project planning and resource demand estimation. Opinions on product complexity vary greatly, with many definitions, scales and techniques to measure product complexity available; many of which draw their conclusions from engineering design research. Yet the field of product (or industrial) design companies, whose designers work across a vast range of product types, from domestic to industrial remains under researched. These designers have a tacit understanding of many influences over their projects, of which product complexity is one.
This paper presents an analysis of the dimensions (or measures) of product complexity found in literature and compares its findings to the measures defined by practicing product designers. This paper will demonstrate the process used to identify these dimensions and the scales developed to assess product complexity in a practical way and will make conclusions on the perspectives held on product complexity by product designers.
- Type
- Article
- Information
- Creative Commons
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.- Copyright
- The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press
References
Ahmadinejad, A. and Afshar, A. (2011), “Complexity management in mechatronic product development based on structural criteria”, 2011 IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics, ICM 2011 - Proceedings, pp. 7–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alkan, B. (2019), “An experimental investigation on the relationship between perceived assembly complexity and product design complexity”, International Journal on Interactive Design and Manufacturing, Vol. 13 No. 3, pp. 1145–1157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ameri, F., Summers, J.D., Mocko, G.M. and Porter, M. (2008), “Engineering design complexity: an investigation of methods and measures”, Research in Engineering Design, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 161–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barbalho, S.C.M., de Carvalho, Monteiro, Tavares, M., Llanos, P.M., Leite, C.H., G.A. (2019), “Exploring the relation among product complexity, team seniority, and project performance as a path for planning new product development projects: A predictive model applying the system dynamics theory”, IEEE Trans. Eng. Manag, pp. 1–14.Google Scholar
Bashir, H.A. and Thomson, V. (1999a), “Metrics for design projects: a review”, Design Studies, Vol. 20 No. 3, pp. 263–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bashir, H.A. and Thomson, V. (1999b), “Estimating Design Complexity”, Journal of Engineering Design, Taylor & Francis, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 247–257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bashir, H.A. and Thomson, V. (2004), “Estimating design effort for GE hydro projects”, Computers & Industrial Engineering, Vol. 46 No. 2, pp. 195–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bischof, A., Adolphy, S. and Blessing, L. (2007), “Use of Estimation as a Method in Early Phases of Product Development”, DS 44: yProceedings of AEDS 2007 Workshop, The Design Society, Pilsen, Czech Republic.Google Scholar
Bolaños, R.D.S. and Barbalho, S.C.M. (2021), “Exploring product complexity and prototype lead-times to predict new product development cycle-times”, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 235, p. 108077.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brauers, J. and Weber, M. (1988), “A new method of scenario analysis for strategic planning”, Journal of Forecasting, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Vol. 7 No. 1, pp. 31–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danilovic, M. and Browning, T.R. (2007), “Managing complex product development projects with design structure matrices and domain mapping matrices”, International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 300–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eckert, C.M. and Clarkson, P.J. (2010), “Planning development processes for complex products”, Research in Engineering Design, Vol. 21 No. 3, pp. 153–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
El-Haik, B. and Yang, K. (1999), “The components of complexity in engineering design”, IIE Transactions, Vol. 31 No. 10, pp. 925–934.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eppinger, S.D., Whitney, D.E., Smith, R.P. and Gebala, D.A. (1994), “A model-based method for organizing tasks in product development”, Research in Engineering Design, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frenken, K. (2006), Innovation, Evolution and Complexity Theory, Edward Elgar Publishing, Incorporated,CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Griffin, A. (1997), “The Effect of Project and Process Characteristics on Product Development Cycle Time”, Journal of Marketing Research, American Marketing Association, Vol. 34 No. 1, pp. 24–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harfield, S. (2007), “On design ‘problematization’: Theorising differences in designed outcomes”, Design Studies, Vol. 28 No. 2, pp. 159–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hay, B., Todd, J. and Dewfield, S. (2022), Design Economy 2022: People, Places and Economic Value.Google Scholar
Hennig, A., Topcu, T.G. and Szajnfarber, Z. (2021), “So You Think Your System Is Complex?: Why and How Existing Complexity Measures Rarely Agree”, Journal of Mechanical Design, Vol. 144 No. 4, available at:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4052701.Google Scholar
Hobday, M. (1998), “Product complexity, innovation and industrial organisation”, Research Policy, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 689–710.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holliman, A.F., Thomson, A., Hird, A. and Wilson, N. (2020), “What's taking so long? A collaborative method of collecting designers’ insight into what factors increase design effort levels in projects”, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, Cambridge University Press, pp. 1–22.Google Scholar
Hölttä, K.M.M. and Otto, K.N. (2005), “Incorporating design effort complexity measures in product architectural design and assessment”, Design Studies, Vol. 26 No. 5, pp. 463–485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hubka, V. and Eder, W.E. (1988), Theory of Technical Systems, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, Berlin, Heidelberg, available at:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-52121-8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hubka, V. and Eder, W.E. (2012), Theory of Technical Systems: A Total Concept Theory for Engineering Design, Springer Science & Business Media.Google Scholar
Kannapan, S.M. (1995), “Function metrics for engineered devices”, Applied Artificial Intelligence, Vol. 9 No. 1, pp. 45–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kota, S. and Ward, A.C. (1990), “Functions, structures, and constraints in conceptual design”, International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Vol. 5251, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, pp. 239–250.Google Scholar
Kusiak, A. and Szczerbicki, E. (1992), “A formal approach to specifications in conceptual design”, Journal of Mechanical Design, Transactions of the ASME, Vol. 114 No. 4, pp. 659–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Lessio, M.P. (2016), “Planning the product design process”, Proceedings of International Design Conference, DESIGN, Vol. DS 84, New York University, 5 MetroTech Center, Brooklyn, NY, United States, pp. 1475–1486.Google Scholar
Lindemann, U., Maurer, M. and Braun, T. (2009), Structural Complexity Management: An Approach for the Field of Product Design, Structural Complexity Management: An Approach for the Field of Product Design, TU München, Lehrstuhl für Produktentwicklung, Boltzmannstr. 15, 85748 Garching, Germany, available at:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87889-6.Google Scholar
Lloyd, S. (2001), “Measures of complexity: a nonexhaustive list”, IEEE Control Systems, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 7–8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maurer, M. (2017), Complexity Management in Engineering Design - a Primer, Complexity Management in Engineering Design - a Primer, Technische Universität München, Garching, Bayern, Germany, available at:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-53448-9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maurer, M. and Lindemann, U. (2007), “Structural awareness in complex product design - The multiple-domain matrix”, Proceedings of the 9th International DSM Conference, Institute of Product Development, Technische Universität München, Boltzmannstr. 15, 85748 Garching, Germany, pp. 87–97.Google Scholar
Meyer, M.H. and Utterback, J.M. (1995), “Product development cycle time and commercial success”, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moran, T.P. and Carroll, J.M. (1996), Design Rationale: Concepts, Techniques, and Use, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Mahwah, New Jersey,Google Scholar
Moulianitis, V.C., Aspragathos, N.A. and Dentsoras, A.J. (2004), “A model for concept evaluation in design - An application to mechatronics design of robot grippers”, Mechatronics, Vol. 14 No. 6, pp. 599–622.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Novak, S. and Eppinger, S.D. (2001), “Sourcing by design: Product complexity and the supply chain”, Management Science, INFORMS, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 189–204.Google Scholar
Phukan, A., Kalava, M. and Prabhu, V. (2005), “Complexity metrics for manufacturing control architectures based on software and information flow”, Computers & Industrial Engineering, Vol. 49 No. 1, pp. 1–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pugh, S. (1991), Total Design: Integrated Methods for Successful Product Engineering, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company.Google Scholar
Salam, A. and Bhuiyan, N. (2016), “Estimating design effort using parametric models: A case study at Pratt & Whitney Canada”, Concurrent Engineering, SAGE Publications Ltd STM, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 129–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shafiee, S., Herbert-Hansen, Z.N.L., Hvam, L., Haug, A., Bonev, M. and Mortensen, N.H. (2019), “Development of a Design-Time Estimation Model for Complex Engineering Processes”, Advances in Transdisciplinary Engineering, Vol. 10, pp. 301–310.Google Scholar
Shah, J.J. and Runger, G. (2013), “What is in a name? On the misuse of information theoretic dispersion measures as design complexity metrics”, Journal of Engineering Design, Taylor & Francis, Vol. 24 No. 9, pp. 662–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simon, H.A. (1996), The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd ed.., Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.Google Scholar
Summers, J.D. and Shah, J.J. (2003), “Developing Measures of Complexity for Engineering Design”, 2 September 2003.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tatikonda, M. V and Rosenthal, S.R. (2000), “Technology novelty, project complexity, and product development project execution success: a deeper look at task uncertainty in product innovation”, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 74–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, K., Tan, R., Peng, Q., Wang, F., Shao, P. and Gao, Z. (2021), “A holistic method of complex product development based on a neural network-aided technological evolution system”, Advanced Engineering Informatics, Vol. 48, p. 101294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, C. (2005), “What is ‘complexity’?”, Proceedings ICED 05, the 15th International Conference on Engineering Design, Vol. DS 35.Google Scholar
Whitney, D.E. (1990), “Designing the design process”, Research in Engineering Design, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 3–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, D. and Yan, H.-S. (2006), “An intelligent estimation method for product design time”, The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, Vol. 30 No. 7, pp. 601–613.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yan, H.S. and Xu, D. (2007), “An Approach to Estimating Product Design Time Based on Fuzzy -nu-Support Vector Machine”, IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 721–731.Google Scholar
Yoon, J., Oh, D., Oh, Y. and Lee, J.-D. (2022), “Reconsideration of new product development planning based on the relationship between product complexity and product lifetime: the case of the Korean mobile phone market”, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Routledge, pp. 1–13.Google Scholar
Zhang, X.Q. (2017), Measures and Mitigation of Complexity during Product Development, McGill University, Canada.Google Scholar
Zhang, Z. and Luo, Q. (2007), “A grey measurement of product complexity”, Conference Proceedings - IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man and Cybernetics, pp. 2176–2180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
You have
Access
Open access