Decision-making and design concept selection

摘要

The authors carry out a project that aims at evolving decision support for the conceptual design phase. This paper reports on the outcomes of an initial survey on previous research activities in the area. We first investigate a variety of decision-making support aspects and then concentrate upon one of them: supporting selection problems. Methods addressing this aspect have emerged from at least three research disciplines: Operational Research, Artificial Intelligence and engineering design research. Contributions from these disciplines are discussed. Our conclusion is, more empirical research on method requirements is needed.