TY - GEN
T1 - Improving communication in design
T2 - 18th International Conference on Engineering Design, ICED 11
AU - Maier, Anja M.
AU - Dönmez, Denniz
AU - Hepperle, Clemens
AU - Kreimeyer, Matthias
AU - Lindemann, Udo
AU - Clarkson, P. John
PY - 2011
Y1 - 2011
N2 - Communication permeates every aspect of an engineer's work-from clarifying product specifications to shaping social ties. This paper offers an overview of recommendations from literature to improve communication within and among engineering teams. We assume communication problems are often the outcome of underlying factors and that it is fruitful to study and improve these influences. Having been empirically elicited in prior research, 24 factors considered in this paper include, e.g., availability of information about product specifications, roles and responsibilities, and overview of sequence of tasks. To improve these factors in order to enable effective communication, this paper collates more than hundred recommendations from journal articles and textbooks published in the fields of engineering design, management science, sociology, and psychology. Recommendations include, for example, identify priorities through risk and bottleneck analysis, give clear descriptions and role expectations, and employ effective process modeling tools. Contributions of this paper are a list of recommendations for industry practitioners and an effort-benefit evaluation of individual recommendations.
AB - Communication permeates every aspect of an engineer's work-from clarifying product specifications to shaping social ties. This paper offers an overview of recommendations from literature to improve communication within and among engineering teams. We assume communication problems are often the outcome of underlying factors and that it is fruitful to study and improve these influences. Having been empirically elicited in prior research, 24 factors considered in this paper include, e.g., availability of information about product specifications, roles and responsibilities, and overview of sequence of tasks. To improve these factors in order to enable effective communication, this paper collates more than hundred recommendations from journal articles and textbooks published in the fields of engineering design, management science, sociology, and psychology. Recommendations include, for example, identify priorities through risk and bottleneck analysis, give clear descriptions and role expectations, and employ effective process modeling tools. Contributions of this paper are a list of recommendations for industry practitioners and an effort-benefit evaluation of individual recommendations.
KW - Collaborative design
KW - Design communication
KW - Design management
KW - Human behaviour in design
KW - Success factors
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84858850201&partnerID=8YFLogxK
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:84858850201
SN - 9781904670278
T3 - ICED 11 - 18th International Conference on Engineering Design - Impacting Society Through Engineering Design
SP - 1
EP - 11
BT - Human Behaviour in Design
PB - The Design Society
Y2 - 15 August 2011 through 18 August 2011
ER -