Many decisions within engineering systems design are typically made by humans. These decisions significantly affect the design outcomes and the resources used within design processes. While decision theory is increasingly being used from a normative standpoint to develop computational methods for engineering design, there is still a significant gap in our understanding of how humans make decisions within the design process. Particularly, there is lack of knowledge about how an individual's domain knowledge and framing of the design problem affect information acquisition decisions. To address this gap, the objective of this paper is to quantify the impact of a designer's domain knowledge and problem framing on their information acquisition decisions and the corresponding design outcomes. The objective is achieved by (i) developing a descriptive model of information acquisition decisions, based on an optimal one-step look ahead sequential strategy, utilizing expected improvement maximization, and (ii) using the model in conjunction with a controlled behavioral experiment. The domain knowledge of an individual is measured in the experiment using a concept inventory, whereas the problem framing is controlled as a treatment variable in the experiment. A design optimization problem is framed in two different ways: a domain-specific track design problem and a domain-independent function optimization problem (FOP). The results indicate that when the problem is framed as a domain-specific design task, the design solutions are better and individuals have a better state of knowledge about the problem, as compared to the domain-independent task. The design solutions are found to be better when individuals have a higher knowledge of the domain and they follow the modeled strategy closely.
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October 2018
Research-Article
Quantifying the Impact of Domain Knowledge and Problem Framing on Sequential Decisions in Engineering Design
Murtuza Shergadwala,
Murtuza Shergadwala
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: mshergad@purdue.edu
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: mshergad@purdue.edu
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Ilias Bilionis,
Ilias Bilionis
Assistant Professor
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: ibilion@purdue.edu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: ibilion@purdue.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Karthik N. Kannan,
Karthik N. Kannan
Professor
Krannert School of Management,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: kkarthik@purdue.edu
Krannert School of Management,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: kkarthik@purdue.edu
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Jitesh H. Panchal
Jitesh H. Panchal
Associate Professor
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: panchal@purdue.edu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: panchal@purdue.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Murtuza Shergadwala
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: mshergad@purdue.edu
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: mshergad@purdue.edu
Ilias Bilionis
Assistant Professor
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: ibilion@purdue.edu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: ibilion@purdue.edu
Karthik N. Kannan
Professor
Krannert School of Management,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: kkarthik@purdue.edu
Krannert School of Management,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: kkarthik@purdue.edu
Jitesh H. Panchal
Associate Professor
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: panchal@purdue.edu
School of Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: panchal@purdue.edu
Contributed by the Design Automation Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN. Manuscript received March 4, 2018; final manuscript received June 3, 2018; published online July 24, 2018. Assoc. Editor: Harrison M. Kim.
J. Mech. Des. Oct 2018, 140(10): 101402 (13 pages)
Published Online: July 24, 2018
Article history
Received:
March 4, 2018
Revised:
June 3, 2018
Citation
Shergadwala, M., Bilionis, I., Kannan, K. N., and Panchal, J. H. (July 24, 2018). "Quantifying the Impact of Domain Knowledge and Problem Framing on Sequential Decisions in Engineering Design." ASME. J. Mech. Des. October 2018; 140(10): 101402. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4040548
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