Process models in design and development

Abstract

Many models of the design and development process have been published over the years, representing it for different purposes and from different points of view. This article contributes an organising framework that clarifies the topology of the literature on these models and thereby relates the main perspectives that have been developed. The main categories of model are introduced. Their contexts, advantages, and limitations are considered through discussion of selected examples. It is demonstrated that the framework integrates coverage of earlier reviews and as such provides a new perspective on the literature. Finally, key characteristics of design and development process models are discussed considering their applications in practice, and opportunities for further research are suggested. Overall, the article should aid researchers in positioning new models and new modelling approaches in relation to state-of-the-art. It may also be of interest to practitioners and educators seeking an overview of developments in this area.

Testing in the incremental design and development of complex products

“…This considered both descriptive and normative work as well as treatments of testing in design and development process models. Beginning with the reviews recently published in Tahera et al (2017) and Wynn and Clarkson (2018), the bibliographies of those articles were studied, relevant original sources were revisited and their bibliographies studied in turn. Google Scholar and Scopus were used to find additional relevant sources and key journals including Research in Engineering Design, Journal of Engineering Design, and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management were considered.…”

“…In the following, these models are discussed and key insights are extracted. The discussion is organised according to the overall purpose of the models, following the approach of Wynn and Clarkson (2018). In particular Sect.…”

“…Other models have been developed to offer guidance on how the design and development process should be carried out, i.e., to describe standards and supposed best practices (Wynn and Clarkson 2018). Such models are commonly used in industry and education and hence have significant influence on how processes are perceived and managed.…”

“…While the structured sequential models aim to control projects and treat iteration as undesirable, other models are explicitly based on exploiting iteration (Wynn and Clarkson 2018). These are sometimes known as iterative incremental development (IID) models.…”

“…Numerous models of engineering design and development processes present them as sequences or networks of tasks (Wynn and Clarkson 2018). In industry practice, these tasks include numerous testing activities ranging from material and part testing, to testing of main functional components and subsystems, through to whole-system testing against customer requirements (O'Connor 2001).…”