Ethical issues in engineering design - 3TU.Centre for Ethics and ...

Ethical issues in engineering design
1999]). Cross presents a model of the design process that consists of three
phases: generation, evaluation and communication. A concept is generated in the
first phase of the design process. A designer needs to understand the design
problem and to find possible solutions for it; this usually happens
simultaneously. Possible solutions help the designer to get a better
understanding of the design problem. The concept is evaluated in the second
phase. During the evaluation, a decision is made as to whether the possible
solution meets the requirements. The concept is adapted in an iterative process.
Often, more than one iterative step is necessary because adaptation of a part of
the design can lead to problems in other parts of the design. The design is
communicated to the people who are responsible for production in the third
phase. Drawings, computer drawings and descriptions of the design are used in
this communication [Cross, 1989].
Another more detailed model is proposed by French [cited in Cross, 1989, 21
–22]. French divides the design process into four activities:
• analysis of the problem
• conceptual design
• embodiment of schemes
• detailing.
An analysis of the design problem should lead to a clear statement of the
problem. The requirements and constraints are formulated in this phase. The
designer searches for different possible solutions and makes schemes of them in
the conceptual design phase. In the next phase, embodiment of schemes, a
choice is made between the schemes. The scheme is further detailed in the
detailing phase.
Although there are different models that can be used to divide the design
process into different phases and use different terms to name the phases, there
are similarities between the models, (see also [Roozenburg and Cross, 1991] and
VDI 2221: Systematic Approach to the Design of Technical Systems and Products cited
in [Cross, 2000, 39]). The design process can grosso modo be described as follows.
The goal, requirements and constraints are defined at the beginning of the design
process. This is sometimes done by the customers or in co-operation between
customer and engineers. After this a creative part follows in which concepts are
generated and evaluated. In the next phase, one concept is chosen and that
concept is further detailed. Finally, drawings and descriptions of the design are
made for the production of the product. The design process is not a linear
process; it is iterative. It may always be necessary to go back one or more steps
and then move forward again.
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