Essays on a novel framework for product development theory

After calls for a common terminology to unify the highly distributed literature on engineering design, this thesis develops and presents an emergent framework for the novel description and reconceptualization of the standard product development (PD) process. We begin with a review of the literature on Set-Based Design (SBD), introducing a paradigm called Set- Based Thinking which unifies the SBD and affiliated literatures around common themes and influences. Motivated by a set-based perspective, we then establish the lexicon for a novel framework for PD. Using this lexicon to drive descriptions of PD, we gain new insights on the process, such as the relationship between function and form in early stage design and designers' reliance on articulating form in order to explore the functional space. These insights and others lead us to establish the Designer's Dilemma, which asserts that fixation is an inevitable consequence of exploring ideas in early stage design that cannot be avoided with current ideation techniques. In sum, this thesis articulates a framework which presents a fundamental reconceptualization of the front end of the PD process. We also identify future areas of work upon which the framework can be expanded to address latent research issues in the PD literature.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Ghosh, Sourobh

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Warren P. Seering.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/101540

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/101540