CHAPTER 7

Models of design processes

Ali Bahrami and Cihan H. Dagli

7.1 INTRODUCTION

Design is a process of developing plans or schemes of action; more

particularly, a design may be the developed plan or scheme, whether
kept in mind or set forth as a drawing or model ... Design in the fine
arts is often considered to be the creative process per se, while in
engineering, on the contrary, it may mean a concise record of embodi-
ment of appropriate concepts and experiences. In architecture and
product design the artistic and engineering aspects of design tend to
merge; that is; an architect, craftsman, or graphic or industrial designer
cannot design according to formulas alone, nor as freely as can a
painter, poet, or musician.
(Britannica, 'Architecture, The Art of,' 1986)
How does a design come to be? How does a designer get in touch with his
ideas and translate them from fuzzy mental images and abstract concepts to
the crisp design?
Louis Kahn, the famous architect, viewed design as a process by which
the transcendent forms of thinking and feeling produce the realization of
form. To Kahn, form meant the essence created by a certain relationship of
elements in a whole. The form of a chair, for instance, is a piece of furniture
designed to accommodate one sitting person. It consists of a seat, a backrest
and support system that elevates it from the floor. Despite whether the chair
is made of plastic, wood or metal, it is recognizable as a chair as long as the
seat, backrest, and legs remain in a certain relationship to one another
(Tyng, 1984).
Design or problem solving is a natural human activity. We have been
designing and acting as designers (sometimes unconsciously) throughout our
lives. Design begins with the acknowledgment of needs and dissatisfaction
with the current state of affairs and realization that some action must take
place in order to correct the problem. When a small child moves a stool to
an appropriate location so that she can use it to get to her toy, she has acted

H. R. Parsaei et al. (eds.), Concurrent Engineering

© Chapman & Hall 1993
114 Models of design processes

as a designer, a rudimentary design; by positioning the stool so that she can

satisfy her need of playing with the toy.
Design is a purposeful activity; it involves a conscious effort to arrive at
a state of affairs in which certain characteristics are evident (Coyne et aI.,
1990). Suh defines design as four distinct aspects of engineering and scientific
endeavor (see Fig. 7.1). These are:

1. Problem definition from fuzzy sets of facts and myths into a coherent
statement of the question;
2. Creative process of devising a proposed physical embodiment of sol-
utions;
3. Analytical process of devising a proposed physical embodiment of
solutions; and
4. Ultimate check of the fidelity of the design product to the original
perceived needs.

Fig. 7.1 Design as the four distinct aspects of engineering and scientific endeavor.

Every field of engineering involves and depends on the design or synthesis

process, which allows us to fulfill needs through the creation of physical
and/or informational structures, including machines, software, and organiz-
ations (Suh, 1990).
This chapter is organized into six sections. Section 7.2 describes the scientific
views of design process. Section 7.3 reviews the design categories. Section 7.4
surveys the design models. Section 7.5 explains the theories and axioms of
design process and Section 7.6 presents the summary and conclusion.

7.2 SCIENTIFIC VIEWS OF DESIGN ACTIVITY

Although design is a natural human activity and we all live in a man

made environment and use the product of man's creativity, we can-