Process Models in Design and Development

Read this article. It provides an overview of planning models. Pay particular attention to Figure 1 as it visually provides a global view of planning models. Then review Figures 2 -17 for more in-depth visual planning processes.

Organising framework

Summary

The dimensions and categories of the organising framework are summarised in Table 1. Most models are possible to align against a single category within each dimension, but the categories are not mutually exclusive. Some models and publications contribute to several categories in a dimension. Some could arguably be categorised in different ways depending on how they are interpreted and applied.

Although the need for interpretation when categorising models cannot be eliminated entirely, the premise of this article is that any design or development process model can be assigned to at least one category within each of the framework dimensions. We contend that doing this can help to express a model's characteristics. Considering the two dimensions together allows the DDP models and the perspectives they represent to be clustered, and clarifies the context in which each model should be considered. To illustrate, selected key models are positioned against the framework in Fig. 1.

The next sections elaborate the framework by discussing selected models in each category and some of the main ideas embedded in them. Discussion is organised primarily around the scope dimension and secondarily around the type dimension, thereby spiralling outwards through layers of the framework as depicted in Fig. 2. This was found suitable to establish a linear presentation of the issues. Sections 3, 4, 5 discuss models on the micro-, meso-, and macro-levels, respectively. Section 6 draws on the framework to consider the implications of key DDP characteristics on models and modelling. Section 6 also discusses how DDP models are used in engineering practice and suggests areas for future research.