Derivation of a Method Dna for the Unified Description of Methodical Procedures in Product Development

Abstract

The number of publications on methods in product development is increasing constantly. In addition to scientific models, method guidelines exist in practice to support the selection of suitable methods. When looking more closely, it is noticeable that new methods are not new developments of methodical principles, but rather adaptations and summaries of known methods to specific application areas.Although approaches to standardize methods exist, they are usually formulated too abstractly to be useful to project managers as a support for method decision making.In our contribution, we analyse common methods of technical product development regarding similarities in content and time. In doing so, we were able to derive a method DNA on the basis of which all methods can be described and, above all, distinguished in a verifiable manner. In addition to essential activity blocks, the DNA also includes the description of temporal sequences, which in particular enables a differentiation between agile and classic methods. Ultimately, the method DNA not only offers the chance to make methodical work comprehensible, but also the possibility to select methods specifically for upcoming development steps arises through the classification option.