Towards integrated design evaluation: Validation of models

This paper professes the importance of the evaluation activity, particularly during the conceptual phase of the engineering design process. It provides a review of a range of complementary models and reports on research aimed at modelling the evaluation of conceptualdesigns,leading to the proposal of a general framework enabling the combination of separate models into a possible future integrated design evaluation tool. The philosophy underpinning the development of such a tool is that no one model or method should be relied upon during the evaluation activity. Rather, an approach that triangulates the outputs from a number of models should be employed to achieve robust evaluation of competing design concepts and in the retrieval of design cases and data from a supporting knowledge base. To support this approach, three competing theoretical models enabling the concept-specification and pair-wise comparison elements of evaluation activity are compared and validated against a common data set. The results indicate that a consistent output may be expected from such models. This is clearly essential if a valid and reliable generic tool is to emerge. An approach to design case retrieval using design representation comparison is also introduced and contrasted with retrieval via design criteria comparison.