Skip to main content

Understanding the Complexity of Design

  • Chapter
Complex Engineered Systems

Part of the book series: Understanding Complex Systems ((UCS))

Abstract

The powerful concept of complexity can be applied to help us understand not only modern engineering systems, but also the design of those systems, and artifacts in general. In this chapter we attempt to establish a two-pronged theoretical framework for understanding the complexity of design. By design we mean the activity of designing artifacts in general, not any specific class of artifact.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Arthur, W. B., S. N. Durlauf, and D. A. Lane, (eds.), 1997, The Economy as an Evolving Complex System II, Perseus Press (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Braha, D. and O. Maimon, 1988, The Measurement of Design Structural and Functional Complexity, IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics — Part A: Systems and Humans, 28(4):527–535.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Cowan, G. A., D. Pines, and D. Meltzer, (eds.), 1994, Complexity: Metaphors, Models, and Reality, SFI Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Addison-Wesley (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Debreu, G., 1957, Theory of Value: An Axiomatic Analysis of Economic Equilibrium, Wiley (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Dixon, J., M. Duffey, et al., 1988, “A Proposed Taxonomy of Mechanical Design Problems,” Proceedings of ASME DETC '88, Computers in Engineering Conference, 41–46.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Gell-Mann, M., 1994, Complex Adaptive Systems, in in Complexity: Metaphors, Models, and Reality, edited by G. A. Cowan, D. Pines and D. Meltzer, SFI Studies in the Sciences of Complexity, Addison-Wesley (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Gibson, J. J., 1979, The Theory of Affordances, in The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception, Houghton Mifflin (Hopewell, NJ).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Gödel, K., 1931, Metamathematics, van Norstrand (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Maier, J. R. A. and G. M. Fadel, 2001a, “Affordance: The Fundamental Concept in Engineering Design,” Proceedings of ASME DETC-01, Design Theory and Methodology Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, September 9–12, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Maier, J. R. A. and G. M. Fadel, 2001b, “Strategic Decisions in the Early Stages of Product Family Design,” Proceedings of ASME DETC '01, Design for Manufacturing Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, September 9–12, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Maier, J. R. A. and G. M. Fadel, 2002, “Comparing Function and Affordance as Bases for Design,” Proceedings of ASME DETC '02, Design Theory and Methodology Conference, Montreal, Canada, September 29-October 2, 2002.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Maier, J. R. A. and G. M. Fadel, 2003, “Affordance Based Methods for Design,” Proceedings of ASME DETC '03, Design Theory and Methodology Conference, Chicago, IL, September 2–6, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Pahl, G. and W. Beitz, 1996, Engineering Design: A Systematic Approach, 2nd edition, Springer-Verlag (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Rashevsky, 1960, Mathematical Biophysics: Physico-Mathematical Foundations of Biology, Volume 2, 3rd edition, Dover (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  15. Rosen, R., 1991, Life Itself, Columbia University Press (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  16. Rosen, R., 2000, Essays on Life Itself, Columbia University Press (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  17. Rosenbloom, P. S., J.E. Laird, and A. Newell (eds.), 1993, The SOAR Papers: Research on Integrated Intelligence, MIT Press (Cambridge, MA).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Senge, P. M., 1990, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, Currency Doubleday (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Suh, N. P., 2001, Axiomatic Design: Advances and Applications, Oxford University Press (New York).

    Google Scholar 

  20. Tate, D. and M. Nordlund, 2001, “Research Methods for Design Theory,” Proceedings of ASME DETC '01, Design Theory and Methodology Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, September 9–12, 2001.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Turing, A. M., 1959, Can a Machine Think?, Mind, 59:236.

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  22. Wegner, P., 1997, Why Interaction is More Powerful than Algorithms, Comm. ACM, 40(5):80–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Wegner, P., 1998, Interactive Foundations of Computing, Theoretical Computer Science, 192(2):315–351.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2006 Springer

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Maier, J.R., Fadel, G.M. (2006). Understanding the Complexity of Design. In: Braha, D., Minai, A., Bar-Yam, Y. (eds) Complex Engineered Systems. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-32834-3_6

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics