Vimal Viswanathan

Bio: Vimal Viswanathan is an academic researcher from San Jose State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Engineering design process & Design methods. The author has an hindex of 16, co-authored 59 publications receiving 840 citations. Previous affiliations of Vimal Viswanathan include Texas A&M University & Tuskegee University.

Design prototyping methods: state of the art in strategies, techniques, and guidelines

Abstract: Prototyping is interwoven with nearly all product, service, and systems development efforts. A prototype is a pre-production representation of some aspect of a concept or final design. Prototyping often predetermines a large portion of resource deployment in development and influences design project success. This review surveys literature sources in engineering, management, design science, and architecture. The study is focused around design prototyping for early stage design. Insights are synthesized from critical review of the literature: key objectives of prototyping, critical review of major techniques, relationships between techniques, and a strategy matrix to connect objectives to techniques. The review is supported with exemplar prototypes provided from industrial design efforts. Techniques are roughly categorized into those that improve the outcomes of prototyping directly, and those that enable prototyping through lowering of cost and time. Compact descriptions of each technique provide a foundation to compare the potential benefits and drawbacks of each. The review concludes with a summary of key observations, highlighted opportunities in the research, and a vision of the future of prototyping. This review aims to provide a resource for designers as well as set a trajectory for continuing innovation in the scientific research of design prototyping.

Design Fixation in Physical Modeling: An Investigation on the Role of Sunk Cost

Abstract: Physical models are very commonly used as tools for engineering idea generation, yet the guidelines in literature about their implementation are conflicting. A prior study has shown that physical models have the potential to supplement designers’ erroneous mental models; whereas a few observational studies have shown that physical models can cause a high degree of fixation under certain circumstances. At the same time, a previous controlled study fails to show the presence of fixation in idea generation with physical models. This study hypothesizes that prior observed fixation in physical modeling is due to Sunk Cost Effect, which is the reluctance to choose a different path of action once significant money, time or effort is invested in present one. Consistent with the prior study, this study also hypothesizes that physical models supplement designers’ mental models. These hypotheses are investigated through a controlled between-subject experiment. The results show that cost of building plays a vital role in fixation and fixation is not likely inherent in physical representations. Results also show that physical models supplement designers’ mental models and lead them to higher quality ideas.Copyright © 2011 by ASME

A study on the role of physical models in the mitigation of design fixation

Abstract: Designers implement a variety of models and representations during the design process, yet little is known about the cognitive impacts of various representations. This study focuses on how physical models can assist novices in mitigating design fixation on undesirable features. During idea generation, designers tend to fixate on examples they encounter or on their own initial ideas. The first hypothesis states that designers tend to duplicate features of provided examples. The second hypothesis states that this fixation can be mitigated with appropriate warnings. The last hypothesis is that building and testing physical models can help designers in mitigating fixation. To investigate these theories, a quasi-experiment is conducted as part of a freshman class project. Students design, build and test stunt cars in three different experimental conditions, each receiving a different pictorial example: an effective example, a flawed example and a flawed example with warnings about the flaws. The results show t...

Design Prototypes: A Knowledge Representation Schema for Design

Abstract: A prevalent and pervasive view of designing is that it can be modeled using variables and decisions made about what values should be taken by these variables. The activity of designing is carried out with the expectation that the designed artifact will operate in the natural world and the social world. These worlds impose constraints on the variables and their values; so, design could be described as a goal-oriented, constrained, decision- making activity. However, design distinguish- es itself from other similarly described activities not only by its domain but also by additional necessary features. Designing involves exploration, exploring what variables might be appropriate. The process of explo- ration involves both goal variables and deci- sion variables. In addition, designing involves learning: Part of the exploration activity is learning about emerging features as a design proceeds. Finally, design activity occurs within two contexts: the context within which the designer operates and the context produced by the developing design itself. The designer’s perception of what the context is affects the implication of the context on the design. The context shifts as the designer’s perceptions change. Design activity can be now characterized as a goal-oriented, con- strained, decision-making, exploration, and learning activity that operates within a con- text that depends on the designer’s percep- tion of the context.

Cognition In The Wild

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The Informed Design Teaching and Learning Matrix

Abstract: CONCLUSIONS This paper’s theoretical contribution is an emergent educational theory of informed design that identifies key performance dimensions relevant to K–16 engineering and STEM educational contexts. Practical contributions include the Informed Design Teaching and Learning Matrix, which is fashioned to help teachers do informed teaching with design tasks while developing their own design pedagogical content knowledge.