Developing a Design Tool for Solution Mapping: Translating Practitioners’ Strategies to Support Student Engineers
Jin Woo Lee, Shanna R. Daly, Aileen Y. Huang-Saad, Colleen M. Seifert · 2020
Abstract Design processes often start with defining a problem and diverging to identify possible solutions; however, some design processes start with technologies and diverge to consider potential problems that these technologies can solve. In this latter process, engineers ‘match’ their technologies to problems, a term we define as “solution mapping.” However, limited design strategies are available to support solution mapping. To fill this gap, we collected data from engineering practitioners on their processes for solution mapping and translated those findings to a shareable design tool for student engineers. In this paper, we describe this process, including our summary of our findings from interviews with practicing engineers who successfully identified applications for technologies they developed, and how patterns from data analysis were translated into a design tool. We also include data from pilot testing with the tool and how the pilot tests were used to refine the tool. Through this process, we were able to develop and refine an empirically-based design tool to aid solution mapping.