Parameter trails

Abstract

Successful communication is vital for the success of any design project. However, communication often fails, adversely affecting design process efficiency and product quality. This is particularly true for complex products. As a result, designers and managers do not understand the connections between different aspects of design and don't know where to find out more information or who to talk to. This paper presents a new model, developed from current project planning techniques, which supports communication using parameter-specific data. It enables designers to question information, inform their colleagues pro-actively and assess the impact of changing parameter values on subsequent design tasks. Such interaction is critical in allowing designers to see how their own tasks fit into the overall product design.