Structured approach for analysis of design processes

The purpose of this paper is to present a methodology for analyzing and improving design processes. The methodology presented uses a directed graph and the corresponding incidence matrix to represent a design process or the relationship between constraints and variables in a design problem. A qualitative analysis approach (critical analysis and concurrency analysis) is used to analyze the process structure and improve it without considering the time aspect. The analysis explores a process structure as well as enhances concurrency of the design process. The critical analysis determines potential activities that may delay a design project and provides suggestions for improvement of the design process. A process with higher degree of concurrency is obtained and therefore the product development time should be reduced. Two examples from electronics illustrate the approach proposed.