Investigating Elementary Design Methods: Using and extending the Genome-Approach

Nowadays most of the design methods introduced in literature are not new but rather modifications or further developments of existing methods. Therefore the system of methods and method descriptions has an evolutionary grown character. Hence the aim of investigating elementary methods is to develop a systematic approach for the deduction, description and improvement of design methods. This paper shows a systematic approach for investigating elementary design methods. Thus, in this paper the so called Genome Approach is used to model and analyze a certain number of methods from different areas. The application of this approach is revealed in examples. Both, strengths and limitations of this approach become visible. To benefit from the strengths of this approach, first some extensions are discussed, to deal with the limitations, for the moment. Furthermore, long term possibilities to improve this approach are described.