Usage data of reference systems can be analyzed in the development process for the validation of system elements. The process model for data-driven validation of elements in the system of objectives aids developers in performing such data analyses. The conducted studies show that the basis for an efficient analysis process is a common understanding of the system and the goal of the analysis. Therefore, a template was derived over the course of case studies describing the elements in the system of objectives. The template covers the three descriptive dimensions general information, technical system and data. It allows a comprehensive description of analysis use cases. On average it takes 11 minutes for developers to aggregate all necessary information and consequently fill out the template. An A/B-Test confirmed the comprehensibility and applicability of the template even for developers of different domain knowledge. Through its contribution to a sustainable knowledge management the template provides an added value for the developers for conducting analysis.

Endotracheal intubation is performed to provide ventilatory support to a patient of any age. Every medical procedure that requires general anesthesia requires intubation, and for this reason, it is a life-saving procedure. This maneuver is a challenge in pediatric patients between 0 months and 12 years of age, since their anatomy and oxygen consumption differ compared to an adult.

In patients with difficult airways, where there is no good visibility of the structures, a videolaryngoscope is used. It has higher success rates compared to a conventional laryngoscope. Its use has become widespread since the COVID-19 pandemic, as it reduces exposure to respiratory secretions.

This article presents the design, manufacture and testing of a low-cost pediatric videolaryngoscope, for patients between 6 and 12 months, and which are intended to respond to the low availability of this type of equipment in Colombian health care centers. The BioDesign Innovation Process methodology was adapted for its creation. The prototypes were manufactured using 3D printing. Validation was performed by 28 experts using simulators and the results were promising, obtaining a success rate of 98.8% for the designed device.

Applications of machine learning technologies are becoming ubiquitous in many sectors and their impacts, both positive and negative, are widely reported. As a result, there is substantial interest from the engineering community to integrate machine learning technologies into design workflows with a view to improving the performance of the product development process. In essence, machine learning technologies are thought to have the potential to underpin future generations of data-enabled engineering design system that will deliver radical improvements to product development and so organisational performance. In this paper we report learning from experiments where we applied machine learning to two shape-based design challenges: in a given collection of designed shapes, clustering (i) visually similar shapes and (ii) shapes that are likely to be manufactured using the same primary process. Both challenges were identified with our industry partners and are embodied in a design case study. We report early results and conclude with issues for design descriptions that need to be addressed if the full potential of machine learning is to be realised in engineering design.

Today research has come far in explaining distinct aspects of design expertise at different skill levels. However, with the increasing number of studies, we argue there is a need to assimilate present knowledge. In this paper we advance the field of design expertise by conducting a structured literature review. Through a systematic search of papers, from 1970 to today, we identify 110 papers concerning design expertise. We then analyze the accumulated research, and map how design expertise research has evolved, in terms of what we know and what remains unexplored. Through the review, we contribute with a distinction of skills acquisition at increasing levels of design expertise.

The problem of plastic waste in research laboratories is a significant one, with an estimated 5.5 million tonnes generated annually worldwide. Reusable labware has the potential to reduce this waste significantly, but the design of such products must take into account quality assurance to guarantee the accuracy of experiments. Insights were gathered through the generation of an overview of the available techniques for verifying labware after use and decontamination. As during different design cycles verification of prototypes is needed, these techniques were evaluated and translated to be applicable in the specific context of a design lab. Therefore, this study presents a protocol which can be used as a verification tool while designing safe, reusable labware for chemical laboratories. This protocol consists of four different steps: (i) visual inspection, (ii) mass & size comparison, (iii) leak test, and (iv) chemical stability test.

With a growing number of objects in space, the pressure to be sustainable and more efficient with resources is increasing. Driven by technological advancements, the reuse of space hardware becomes feasible and viable as alternative to spacecraft end-of-life disposal. Reuse of space hardware promises benefits in areas like mitigating space debris risks, cost reductions, and environmental sustainability on Earth and in space. However, challenges related to the space environment, like micro gravity, unknown changes due to radiation, and the energy requirements to perform maneuvers in space must be addressed in order to enable spacecraft reusability. Nonetheless, reuse of space hardware is an important objective related to long-term space exploration with implications on the human expansion into space. This paper investigates the requirements for reusability of spacecraft and if circular economy strategies can support implementing reusability for spacecraft. Based on the finding of expert interviews, it argues for design as a key enabler. It introduces design for X, design for circularity, and design for reusability, and explores how reusability of space hardware implies the need to include the space environment in design decisions.

In the IT landscape, DevOps is the preferred approach for developing and maintaining rapidly evolving systems that require continuous improvements. Yet, DevOps frameworks do not entirely prevent the accumulation of Technical Debt (TD), and under certain circumstances DevOps can even contribute to generating TD. This paper focuses on a specific type of TD, Entangled Technical Debt (ETD), that corresponds to the implicit complexification of a system's design and the appearance of unintentional couplings in its architecture over time. Our work seeks to inform methods for Diagnosing and Locating ETD in DevOps frameworks. Through a research partnership with Ubisoft's IT branch, an experimental case-study was conducted. It takes the form of an assessment of 6 innovative IT projects and a subsequent in-depth architecture analysis of an individual IT system, which enabled the characterization of the mechanisms linking DevOps to ETD. This allowed us to develop and test practical methods for diagnosing and locating ETD in IT systems.

This paper presents a focused examination of critical performance and design issues for the introduction of highly automated tractors and their user interfaces in agriculture. An industry that as of today mainly uses direct-controlled machines that at least to some extent have partly automated functionalities. Issues include out-of-the-loop unfamiliarity, interface complexity, automation transparency, and changing information modalities in teleoperation scenarios for former cabin-based operated machines. Selected evidence and accompanying concepts and findings from literature are put in context to each issue, informing a systematic design process that utilizes the frameworks of knowledge engineering and ecological interface design. The resulting user interface prototype is built upon the identified requirements in analysis and collected design guidelines, stemming from various research areas. The documentation of the consideration of these in context with additional requirements, such as complexity reduction, information interactivity, and users' existing experiences is meant to provide insights into the often opaque and art-like design space.

Humans are able to perform skilful movements by coordinating muscles throughout the body. It has been revealed that not only neural mechanisms but also direct and dynamic interactions between body parts contribute to muscular coordination. Tensegrity, accurately biotensegrity, can be considered to the basic mechanism for the interactions. Tensegrity structures are composed of tensile and compressive components, and are lighter and more flexible than existing rigid structures. The authors investigated designing wearable tensegrity structures for extending human motor ability, especially assisting in carrying heavy objects. Based on Flemons' spine model, we devised a columnar tensegrity structure that can be expanded to the size of the whole body, and connected each of four columns to the front and back of the body on right and left side. The wearable tensegrity structures can deform flexibly due to tension distribution when external force is applied, and follow the human motions in twisting trunk and walking. Experimental results in carrying heavy objects showed that some muscle activities around hip and knee tended to decrease by using the structures when those joints extended.

Environmental sustainability represents an unavoidable design driver. The consciousness of the importance of tackle the topic of environmental sustainability since the first stages of the product lifecycle is slowly spreading through enterprises. However, although they reach this grade of awareness, it is hard to introduce additional considerations to the traditional drivers of functionality, manufacturability, assembly, cost, etc. Therefore, it is crucial to identify methods and tools to support companies in efficiently integrating environmental sustainability issues in their design process. This paper proposes an approach to identify the inputs, functionality and outputs suitable to each industrial reality. Its core is the eco-design tool matrix, that estimates the tool implementation time and suggests proper outputs; from this the necessary inputs and functional blocks are derived. The approach is applied to the cases of two Italian industries, very different one another. This proves the wide applicability of the approach. The definition of a validation procedure represents the next steps to identify the benefits of the approach.

A multi-domain Matrix (MDM) is used to identify and analyse rework loops within the Building Design (BD) process caused by building regulations. To model this process, we used information from official documents, plans of work, email archives, and anecdotal evidence as a case study. Findings reveal that MDM can identify the rework loops caused by building regulations, this information forms the basis to improve current BD processes. The complexity of the rework loop including the processes, people and, deliverables involved in the rework loop is also identified. Further analysis can also use the MDM to estimate the costs incurred with each rework cycle. This MDM can also identify rework loops in other engineering design processes due to design changes.

This study is part of a PhD project exploring engineering productivity in the construction industry using DRM. The results present an MDM that provides situation-specific insight, offering areas of process improvement, and support through engineering productivity measurement. This is one of the few studies that models rework loops in the BD process caused by regulations.

This paper analyses the use of design methods and information and communication technology (ICTs) tools in design sprint (DS) activities. Team members, team leaders, and coaches of five international student teams were interviewed (40 interviews in total) regarding their use of design methods and ICT tools during three DS activities: problem definition, conceptual design, and embodiment design. The results show that teams utilise various methods through three approaches: one method for the task, several methods for the task, or adjusting methods. Teams considered several aspects when deciding which method to utilise: the possibility of work distribution, the time needed to execute the method and their prior experience in using the method. The results on using ICT tools suggest that teams mainly use the collaborative whiteboard and Computer-aided design (CAD). In this context, tools that enable continuous sharing of the work in progress (e.g., cloud-based tools) show great potential for DS activities. Finally, the results show a potential to integrate various tools in order to enable easy transition between tasks (e.g., a transition from collaborative whiteboard to CAD modelling).

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are now integrated in industry. Therefore, new methods to design AM parts taken into consideration capabilities and limitations are necessary. It is very difficult for teachers to effectively guide students with ideas emerging from generative design tools. AM requires significant preparation and compromises. Topological optimization is also used depending on requirements. A significant impact on the final part quality is related to the part orientation and geometric dimensions. Therefore, this white paper focuses on detailed design steps to prepare future technicians and engineers to design for additive manufacturing. Active teaching pedagogy guideline is proposed. Students have to think in 3D and use analysis tools to create and validate the optimised design. They use immersive tools to review constraints and model diagnostic algorithm to generate data. Present approaches with design guidelines and tools enable to create AM rules based on it. Questionnaire shows that students need explicit knowledge information. Features recognition and geometry diagnostic are mandatory for complex model. Immersive tool helps to evaluate post-processing. They can now relate AM product-process relationship.

Healthcare generates vast quantities of ‘routinely collected’ data that is recognised as a valuable substrate to drive improvement. Realising this benefit however, requires the sequential distillation of new knowledge before analytical findings are used to inform real-world change. This dichotomy requires the combination of techniques from data science (to derive meaningful knowledge) and improvement (to deliver change). Recognising this transdisciplinary need and the complexity of modern healthcare, we developed an improvement project to incorporate a ‘systems approach’ into the analysis of pseudonymised perioperative data for the purpose of redesigning the systems that deliver surgical care to older patients. This required the development of novel mixed-methods workflows combining tools used to realise a systems approach in practice and to support meaningful analysis, and to translate these findings towards ‘better’ care systems. This paper recounts the incorporation of these tools into ‘dataintensive improvement’ and reflects on the relevance of design thinking to improve the conduct of the necessary data science to achieve our ultimate aim, using data to improve services for older surgical patients.

The megatrend sustainability will significantly change the future value creation of manufacturing companies. Their current linear value creation models need to change to conform to the requirements of sustainability. To face the challenges the circular economy has emerged as a promising economic model. With the shift from a linear to a circular economy, companies have to adjust their current business models. However, they still lack knowledge and adequate methods to develop circular business models. Hence, the aim of the paper is a circular business model canvas (CBMC) for designing circular businesses. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify significant criteria for circular business models. The criteria were analyzed utilizing a qualitative content analysis to derive the business model elements required for the circular economy. Existing elements from the Business Model Canvas were enriched and five new elements, e.g., reverse logistics, were found. Then, the business model elements were logically arranged resulting in the CBMC. It guides companies to systematically develop business models for the circular economy. The CBMC was evaluated by applying it within a mediumsized company in the electronics sector.

Systems complexity is increasing, in particular, when systems become systems of systems (SoS). SoS are composed of constituent systems (CS), have unique goals for the CS and the SoS as a whole, and present new SoS-level properties called emergent properties. Emergent properties are unique because they only appear at the system level. Current research has only revealed some tools focusing on simple emergence for engineers aiming to design emergence at the SoS level. However, forming design tools for the creation or modification of strong emergence will enable engineers to create systematic changes in the SoS. This article proposes a connection between emergence and information streams with the latter being a model of the transfer of information between the different CS in the SoS. A methodology for designing SoS information streams is demonstrated, with encouraging results, using a multi-agent simulation of the propagation of the COVID-19 virus through citizens. By testing several information stream configurations, an SoS with a decrease of 47% in sick agents was found. These results show that by changing the information stream better SoS performance is attained, supporting designing in a complex world.

Dual ontological products are a physical construction and an emotional construction. Multitude of human factors must be considering when designing dual ontological products. To increase the product's impact and reach, designers should also understand the requirements of potential users. A design stage conflict exists between the emotional construction and the physical construction of a product when considering human factors. Designers find it difficult to achieve the right compromise between these constructions and hence, the balancing of the two is crucial. This research therefore contributes a novel harmonistic knowledge-based framework which makes designers aware of design stage conflicts and consequences of commitments made on human factors in the use-phase of the artefact. This approach was implemented in a machine learning based computational tool which exploits harmonistic knowledge and information collected from potential users to proactively assist, guide, and motivate product designers. This paper also presents a descriptive study for the evaluation of the framework and its implementation as a computer-based prototype tool. Results show the necessity and beneficial use of the tool for design engineering practice.

Recently, the design and digitalisation approaches have become increasingly utilised in the legal context, typically under the names of legal design and legal tech. One of their goals is to help legal practitioners be more efficient and to provide better quality and more comprehensive legal services. Also, given that both movements rely heavily on participatory and co-design, they will require increased support not only from design practitioners but also from design researchers and educators. Therefore, this paper investigates, from a design research viewpoint, the opportunities and challenges of developing and implementing legal tech, with a particular focus on legal practitioners. It reports on four cases of designing legal tech solutions and their implementation in a law firm. The main insights are related to the importance of value perception through participatory and co-design, the need for efficient and effective testing methodologies, and the opportunity to test a wide range of design methods and tools in the legal context. The paper also complements the legal design and legal tech literature with additional arguments on why designing in the legal context is challenging compared to designing in other domains.

Virtual reality (VR)-based rehabilitation has been widely implemented to maintain and increase patient motivation during therapy sessions. Researchers nowadays design VR-based rehabilitation by leveraging off-the-shelf VR devices for easy access and application. However, researchers need to implement additional custom hardware or incorporate a specific algorithm to perform a real-time evaluation of each therapeutic movement. This study aims to design and develop a system with features for recognizing and measuring the upper limb rehabilitation movement in VR using off-the-shelf VR devices such as VR headsets, controllers, and trackers. This system is bundled and distributed as a single toolkit to accommodate other researchers in providing the evaluation feature for their VR-based rehabilitation system. The user experiment was conducted to verify the usability of this proposed design system. The experiment results show that the system can recognize 16 upper limb movements and provide several measurement data that researchers can use in providing the evaluation feature based on their design requirements.

The challenges of the Anthropocene require a deep transformation of the world's economic organization. In order to manage such a change, it is necessary to have a systemic vision of the resources, processes at stake and their interdependencies. One possible approach to modeling part of this complexity is biophysical flow accounting. One of the challenges is to involve populations in participatory processes. It is therefore important to understand the systemic effects. However, biophysical accounting tools remain too complicated.

This is why we have designed serious games to present the issues in a simple way, to articulate them with concrete experiences already lived by citizens and to take a step back, by mobilizing their participation, their emotions and the discussions.

The first game was designed to show the geographical transfer of pressure through the description of the steps leading to the purchase of a chicken, starting with the vegetable culture allowing to feed it.

The second game was designed to show the competition of use between resources. Designed as a board game, it also involves reflection on the cooperative and competitive aspects of many societal situations.