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CoDesign, Vol. 00, No. 0, Month 2005, 1 – 17

An experimental methodology for investigating communication in collaborative design review meetings KAREN J. OSTERGAARDy, WILLIAM R. WETMORE IIIz, AMEYA DIVEKARx, HENRY VITALI} and JOSHUA D. SUMMERS*k yBorgWarner, Asheville, North Carolina, USA zBosch, Rutesheim, Germany xParametric Technologies Corporation, Pune, India }New South Lumber Company, Camden, South Carolina, USA kDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Clemson University, 250 Fluor Daniel, Clemson, SC 29634-0921, USA (Received 16 March 2005; in final form 10 August 2005)

Product design teams, composed of individuals with diverse expertise, communicate continually throughout the realization process, especially during formal collaborative design reviews. Individuals with the required expertise for conducting design reviews may be distributed in different geographic locations requiring either expensive travel or new communication tools to simulate onsite collaborative communication. This paper presents the methods and results of a controlled user study devised to examine the effectiveness of various communication methods for design reviews. Speech-only, text-only, and face-to-face communication methods were chosen to simulate current technologies commonly used in situations of geographic distribution: phone conference, text chat, and onsite meetings, respectively. Primary results from the study include the following: group design reviews in all modes of communication were approximately twice as effective as individual design reviews; face-to-face communication produced a greater perceived effectiveness than speech-only communication; and speech-only communication produced a greater perceived effectiveness than text-only communication. Despite this participant self-reported perceived effectiveness, there was no statistically significant difference between the measured effectiveness of conducting design reviews under different communication-mode scenarios. Review effectiveness was evaluated by a quantitative measure of the number of flaws, nonconformance to the specified requirements that are identified and documented by the design review team. These flaws were intentionally integrated into the product to be reviewed for experimental control.

*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected] CoDesign ISSN 1571-0882 Print/ISSN 1745-3755 online ª 2005 Taylor & Francis http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals DOI: 10.1080/15710880500298520

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Keywords: Design review; Collaborative design; Communication mode; User study methodology

1. INTRODUCTION Design reviews, collaborative efforts, are conducted in order to monitor and verify product quality, robustness, and conformance to customer-specified function. Two types of design reviews have been identified in the literature: selective and evaluative (Wetmore 2004). Selective reviews, such as customer-based metrics, are used to select between alternatives presented, while evaluation tools, such as failure modes effects analysis (FMEA) and active reviews for intermediate designs (ARID), are used to evaluate a single design against its conformance with the specifications and requirements (Parnas and Weiss 1985, Teng 1996, Kirschman and Fadel 1997, Cotnareanu 1999, Clements 2000). In evaluative reviews, the focus of this investigation, the design team seeks to identify areas of concern, those requiring further development or modification, or preventing ultimate acceptance of the overall solution. While identifying these errors, the team also may document generated alternatives, directions, or justifications for why the flaw is of concern. Design reviews are typically conducted at multiple stages in the design process in a wide range of industries: from automotive to aerospace, and from biomedical to software. It has been found that the earlier the review is conducted, the less likely expensive design changes will have to be made (Sater-Black and Iverson 1994). Design review participants may be collocated or distributed across a variety of boundaries: geographic, organizational, and temporal. While distribution may be desired or necessary to achieve an ideal combination of expertise in the team, the dispersion may also make it too difficult or costly to realize the benefits of this expertise. These experts may include the product’s customer, component suppliers, development team, and manufacturing team. One solution to this problem of distribution is to use communication tools (video conferencing, phone conferencing, Internet chat, etc.) to simulate the desired collocation of team members. The goal of this investigation is to study the impact of the communication method on the success in identifying design errors of synchronous design reviews. The communication scenarios compared were speech-only, text-only, and face-to-face communications. Individual reviews were also conducted as a comparison against the group design reviews to highlight the utility of conducting reviews in groups. This research is a first step in studying the design review process with an eventual goal of determining when and how distributed collaborative design should be facilitated by improved communication/ information-sharing tools. This research exercise was conducted via a controlled user study where participants performed design reviews using prescribed communication methods. The problems, errors, or flaws identified during the reviews were used as the quantifiable basis for comparison of design review effectiveness.

2. Background 2.1

Design reviews

Design reviews are conducted throughout the product realization process to identify technical risks in performance, manufacturing, testing, and use (QRAM 2001). The primary objective is typically to ensure that the design is in conformance with its

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requirements with a secondary objective of highlighting potential deficiencies in the design as viewed by the various stakeholders or participants in the design review. The design review process is considered critical to reducing risk in many design projects, and it can provide the discipline necessary for timely identification of design problems and their solutions. While the time at which reviews are conducted may vary depending on the product, company, or team members, reviews are typically an iterative process in which earlier stages of the design process are revisited. The first step in conducting a design review is to identify the participating members by listing the characteristics of the design and identifying the resources needed for the characteristics to be discussed (Pugh 1991). For example, if an existing product is being reviewed for manufacturability, areas such as ergonomics and legislation need not be considered. However, if these subjects are related to characteristics of interest, the associated parties should be included. By utilizing this method, parties with the appropriate expertise can be correctly identified for the review. The required expertise represented by the identified participants may be distributed across different geographic locations of an organization. This distribution of expertise can exist in the form of suppliers, manufacturing facilities, and customers that are located in varying locations around the globe. Consequently, design review teams are facing new challenges in effective communication such as with task efficiency and effectiveness of high-level decision-making (Hilts et al. 1986, Bordia 1997, Olson and Olson 2000, Wierba et al. 2001). To address these challenges, new collaboration technologies are necessary to overcome the inherent resistance to the flow of information encountered by distributed design teams (Case and Lu 1996). Specific tools exist to aid the participants of a design review in meeting their objective. The tools are created for two distinct functions: evaluating new concepts and auditing a current design. Evaluation and design selection tools are used to identify and rate the most appropriate design solution created during the novel design or idea generation processes. A matrix that enables the systematic rating of designs based on conformances to prescribed requirements is an example of an evaluation tool (Ullman 2003). Audit tools are used to quantify, verify, initiate, and justify changes in a design. An audit tool, such as a design review checklist, allows the participants of the review to systematically check for conformance between the selected design and the customerderived product-design specification (PDS) (Pahl and Beitz 1996). The PDS is a document that defines the primary function, design constraints, and design criteria. A strong conformance suggests that the design is sufficient to proceed in the design process. Other types of audit tools, typically classified as ‘design for X’ tools, seek to identify and verify conformance to certain objectives such as design for automated assembly, customer, manufacture, injection molding, robot assembly, manual assembly, and robustness (Dixon and Poli 1995). These types of audit design review tools serve to highlight particular design data in design review meetings in order to identify and justify changes before a design advances to the manufacturing phase. Group cohesion, or participant familiarity with each other, can be seen as both a benefit and a potential drawback. When a group has members that are highly cohesive (lack of conflict, strong personal relationships), eight symptoms can result, describing the conditions of groupthink, notably an illusion of invulnerability where groups are led to believe they are incapable of error, and they avoid obvious danger signs and rationalization of poor decisions (Griffin 1997, Wetmore and Summers 2003). Each of these can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of a design review. Conversely, group cohesion is also identified as a constructive aspect in small-group activities where

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research shows a positive relationship between group performance and cohesion (Chansler et al. 2003). The dynamic and often ephemeral nature of design review teams is a challenge to developing group cohesiveness. This issue of group cohesion in design reviews is investigated in other studies (Wetmore and Summers 2004). 2.2

Communication in design

Communication is essential both between participants during the review and between the participants and those tasked with resolving the identified design errors after the review. Effective communication tools, such as face-to-face collocated meetings, video conferences, telephone conferencing, e-mail, and Internet chat, allow distributed or collocated designers to collaboratively discuss issues of design. The level of interaction is limited by the bandwidth of the communication method utilized (Hammond 2001). For example, face-to-face discussions can provide signals to other participants of the group via the five senses. However, in the other communication forums where only one or two senses are engaged, such as web-based chat, video, and teleconferencing, the potential bandwidth and resulting efficiency in information transfer are reduced. As this information exchange decreases, group members alter the nature of their communication processes. They seek to maintain a comfortable level of communication by utilizing compensating mechanisms, such as increasing mental effort or limiting the amount of data considered. Bordia proposed that groups using text-based computer-mediated communication for idea generation take longer than face-to-face teams to complete a given task and produce fewer remarks in a given time period (Bordia 1997). These limitations are considered technical, since they are a result of using typing as a communication tool. Consequences of these limitations include frustration and use of an altered language (more task-oriented and less social-emotional). Some evidence suggests that these are not permanent limitations, though, since performance of the computer-mediated groups nears that of groups using face-to-face communication given enough time to adapt to the technology. Case studies of distributed collaboration in architectural design firms and graduatelevel design studies have been used to compare communication (Chiu 2000). In the graduate studios, 50% of communication conducted was related to solving design problems, and 50% was related to defining the design problem. The case study also identified that 50% of the project’s total time was spent in communication with other project-associated parties, and the frequency of communication between the parties was three to five times per day. The primary mode of communication was the Internet, which provided a platform for representing and storing all design information and supported asynchronous activity through access to various design information. The synchronous collaboration was supported through video conferencing, shared whiteboard, and shared CAD systems. In the architectural design firms, 78% of communication was related to solving the problems, while 21% of communication was related to defining the problem. The study also noted that 64% of those surveyed from the architectural firm thought that ineffective feedback during design communication was caused by unclear design information that required further explanation. The amount of time spent in communication during the design consumed 40% of total design time, with individuals communicating every 1 – 3 days. During asynchronous communication, design representation included verbal description, sketches, tables, and photographs. In synchronous communication, participants preferred the use of visual presentation plus oral communication. This included the use of fax and telephone for geographically distributed

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parties. However, interviews with the designers emphasized the importance of face-toface contact. This type of exchange is lacking in the synchronous communication methods noted above. Dispersion of team members may have a significant impact on the team’s choice of communication techniques, frequency of communication, and language (Lurey and Raisinghani 2001). The results of research conducted to compare the graphic communication of distributed teams with those of collocated design teams show that remote designers spent 51% more time making graphic acts (drawings, sketches, etc.) than their collocated counterparts (Garner 2001). However, despite spending more time in the act of sketching, the actual production of drawings and sketches decreased significantly when teams were distributed. One possible explanation may be that the designers in the computer-mediated situation used the stylus to both sketch and focus the attention of their partners. The availability of communication resources may also be inhibited primarily by geographic and organizational boundaries. Cohesion and efficient operation in distributed design teams require more computational design support versus the needs of non-distributed teams as evidenced in distributed agent design work (Lees et al. 2001). This is further supported by research in communication impedance, or the difficulty in communicating when teams are not collocated (Case and Lu 1996). Social presence is the ability to make users feel as if they are collocated with their communicative partners (Carletta 2000). The effectiveness of technologies, such as video conferencing, which attempt to simulate a collocated environment, is hindered because visual cues for turn taking are less perceptible via a television. Participants tend to feel more distant if the communication technology is not in real time. This lack of social presence reduces social interaction and thereby weakens group solidarity and commitment. However, other research has found that group inhibitions are reduced when parties are separated, and they are more likely to participate (Lim and Benbasat 1997). This is in contrast to collocated parties in which lower-status parties are less likely to contribute. An additional factor of interest in design communication is the effect of familiarity of group members on the frequency, quality, and formality of exchanges (Smolensky et al. 1990, Orengo Castella et al. 2000). In a study to investigate the influence that familiarity, group atmosphere, and assertiveness have upon uninhibited group behaviour based upon mode of communication, researchers found that group familiarity influences the informal dialog exchanges in face-to-face and computer-mediated communication (video conferencing or text exchange) (Orengo Castella et al. 2000). However, this work focused on the frequency of a type of communication, not on the effectiveness that communication and familiarity variables have upon group decision-making. Research has focused on developing communication tools and software to facilitate collaborative design reviews and other design activities. This software is typically designed to mimic the communication achieved with face-to-face synchronous communication, since it is presumed to be more effective than typical methods used by distributed parties. One example is the development of a system for Distributed Design Review in Virtual Environments (DDRIVE) by HRL Laboratories and General Motors Research and Development Center (Daily et al. 2000). DDRIVE allows users to communicate in 2-D and immersive 3-D environments. A more readily available, but less powerful, tool is Microsoft’s NetMeeting, which enables 2-D desktop collaboration with text, video, and audio features. Research suggests that of the different forms of communication, audio is the most pivotal for engineering design, suggesting that the

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work done in developing new collaborative design tools should include and strengthen auditory modes of communication (Kirschman and Greenstein 2002). While there is much study of communication modes in engineering design, much of this work has focused on either individual modes (sketching face-to-face vs. sketching through computer mediation) or on the resulting frequency of communication in different modes. While important in providing guidance in developing new computer-supported collaborative work systems, these studies tend to deemphasize the comparison of the results of the communication in design tasks. Just as important to understanding the frequency of information exchange and the uninhibited nature of that exchange is the understanding of whether different modes of communication actually change the effectiveness or productivity in a design task. Rather than looking at the entire product realization process, this paper proposed an experimental methodology to investigate effects of communication modes on the ability of groups of designers to capture design inadequacies in structured collaborative design reviews. 3. User study methodology The research presented here is conducted via a controlled user study which allows researchers to identify particular variables of interest and observe the impact on the result of varying that factor (McKoy et al. 2001, Shah et al. 2001, Kirschman and Greenstein 2002). These variables are used in designing experiments to assess specific influences in a controlled environment that simulates portions (or scales) of real situations. This is in contrast to protocol studies, which are used to observe processes or procedures (Adelson 1989, Simoff and Maher 2000, Costa and Sobek 2004). While limited quantitative information may be gained, this type of study does provide descriptive qualitative results. Popular user study methods include surveys, focus groups, interviews, observation, and diary methods (Brewerton and Millward 2001). In order to study the effects of distribution on the effectiveness of design reviews, a user study was designed to simulate available communication methods for distributed collaboration in three scenarios with communication mode as the design variable: (1) face-to-face communication, (2) audio communication, and (3) real-time text communication. A fourth scenario consisting of students working independently was studied to allow for a comparison with individual design reviews. In the first scenario, characterized by face-to-face communication, design teams were sequestered in a conference room and allowed to use speech, textual, graphical, and gesture forms of communication, thus simulating a collocated team. No additional tools such as textbooks or computers, or communication methods such as computerized white boards were permitted. In the second scenario, teams were allowed to communicate via speech only. Team members were physically located in the same room but were separated by partitions to prevent use of visual communication methods. This scenario simulated designers communicating via telephone or other methods limited to voice communication. Note that this method was ‘full-duplex’ because team members could send and receive data at the same time (i.e. more than one team members could speak simultaneously). Conversely, some communication methods, such as traditional speakerphones for phone conferencing and some Internet voice communication programs, are half-duplex. With these systems, only one user can transmit voice data at a time. Teams in the third scenario were restricted to textual communication via a computer text-chat program. Text chat occurs in an environment in which users can type messages

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to be viewed by all other current users. Messages do not appear in the shared environment in real time. Instead, the user writing a message must submit their message to make it viewable by all users. While users in this scenario were located in the same computer lab, they were not permitted to communicate with speech or gestures. In addition to these scenarios of primary interest, individuals completed the same design review problem to provide a comparison between group reviews with various communication methods and reviews completed by a single reviewer. Table 1 provides a summary of the variables of study, the replications for each scenario, and the number of participants per replication and scenario. The design review teams included either five or six participants. Each scenario was replicated twice. Nine individuals were used to study the effectiveness of using groups for design reviews. 3.1

Participants

Participants in this user study were drawn from a sophomore mechanical engineering course introducing students to tools and methods of engineering design. All participants had previous experience with the selected communication methods. For most of the participants, the only previous experience with design reviews was an instructional lecture conducted in a class session prior to the user study. During the design review lecture, students were provided with an overview of design reviews, were introduced to the basic design documents and checklists used in reviews, and participated in an in-class practice design review using these documents. Three of the participants had previous, but minimal (*1 h), exposure to design reviews, specifically FMEA, in industrial settings through school sponsored co-op programmes or internships. All teams were randomly selected, and a recorder was randomly assigned to each team to facilitate data collection. Issues such as gender, race, and expertise were not considered in selecting or organizing the participants. Note, however, that as these variables are not fully controlled, they may have an effect on the results of the study. Further, the diversity of students in this course is typical of most mechanical engineering courses at Clemson University where the majority of the students are white and male. 3.2

Procedure

A design problem, focused on the design of automotive pliers, was devised for analysis via a design review. Associated documentation created for the design problem and supplied to the participants for the review included design drawings, a PDS, and a bill of material. The PDS provided information such as functions and design constraints.

Table 1.

Summary of user study scenarios.

Scenario

Level

1

Face-to-face

2

Speech communication

3

Text communication

4

Individuals

Replication

Participants per replication

1 2 1 2 1 2

5 5 6 6 5 5 9 individuals

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Design inadequacies were intentionally included in these documents in order to provide a base set of errors or flaws that the teams should attempt to identify. For example, design errors associated with the assembly drawing are highlighted in figure 1. All design inadequacies were categorized via problem decomposition, shown in table 2. Note that each problem was assigned a relative weighting according to ease of identification, with higher weightings assigned to problems that required use of multiple documents, were not explicitly stated in the documents, or required in-depth understanding of a technical subject. A scale of 1 – 4 – 9 was used to provide granularity between low, medium, and high weights. A panel of four graduate engineering design students judged the ease of identification of the problems and assigned weights accordingly. In addition to the design documents noted above, a design review checklist was devised to facilitate identification and recording of design problems. The checklist was based on examples and recommendations by Phal and Beitz (1996). A completed design review checklist is shown in figure 2. Specific design problems identified by this team are highlighted and detailed in table 3. A calibration study was conducted to verify that the design problem was clear, the time allotted (35 min) was sufficient, and design inadequacies were appropriate. Participants in the calibration study, four graduate mechanical engineering design students, conducted design reviews individually. While the expertise of these participants differed from participants in the user study, it was felt that the calibration study did validate the suitability of the design inadequacies and allotted time. Feedback from the calibration study also resulted in edits to the product-design specification, checklist, and design drawings to clarify instructions and usability of the documents. As noted above, the participants were randomly divided into groups without regard to gender, race, expertise, or personality. A graduate student observer was assigned to each group and given the responsibilities of administering the scenario, ensuring basic rules of

ion

AT

vers d e t in ne r pr or onli o f f no Mo Colour

Figure 1. Assembly drawing for pliers design with design errors noted.

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Communication in collaborative design review meetings Table 2. Type

Problem decomposition for pliers design.

Wt.

Function

4 4 4 9 9

Dimension

9 4 9 9 9

BOM Material Ergonomic

1 1 4 4 1

ID Jaw surfaces are of unsuitable design for gripping Lever arm to jaws is longer than lever arm to the end of the handle—loss of mechanical advantage No locking mechanism to secure the pin Jaws do not contact each other when handles are closed Jaw surfaces will not be parallel when handles are closed Too small for application Insufficient jaw opening Tolerance issue with pin and lever through hole System of units mentioned on drawing is inconsistent with measurements Insufficient dimensions for manufacturing to build parts Quantity error in bill of material Cost exceeds constraint Inappropriate material specified for handle Inappropriate material specified for pin Handles are not of ergonomic design

F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 D1 D2 D3 B1 B2 M1 M2 E1

communication were followed, and recording general observations about the behaviour and progress of the design review team. The observer distributed identical design documents to each member of the team and instructed them to submit a single list of problems at the conclusion of the review. A team recorder, randomly selected before the study, was instructed to compile the submitted list. No additional training was provided the recorder. Each team was given 35 min to complete the design review. In addition to the design variable of communication method, other variables may influence the given scenarios and must be controlled or considered in the data analysis. Presenting an identical design to each team controlled the design problem variable. The observers regulated the time duration of the review. Organizing the teams into groups of uniform size controlled team size (either five or six students per team). Communication resources were controlled and regulated by graduate observers according to the scenario definitions provided earlier. A checklist was provided to each team member to promote a consistent design review methodology and documentation strategy. The experience variable was addressed by engaging all participants in a practice session following an introduction to design reviews yet before the experimental exercise. A team administration was partially imposed by randomly assigning a participant in each group to the role of recorder. 3.3

Data collection

The data from the study consist of a record, compiled by the team recorder, of the design inadequacies found during the review period. A panel of judges, graduate design students conducting the exercise, evaluated each team’s checklist to determine whether a problem had been identified by the review team. As terminology used varied from team to team, the panel collectively developed a consensus view of the intent of each team’s recorder.

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AK

n rsio e v d inte nline r p o or no f lour for o M Co

Figure 2.

Team completed design-review checklist.

A sum of the identified problems and a weighted total of the identified problems were used as the basis for comparison of the impact of communication method on the design review effectiveness. An important justification for the choice of user-generated data as the basis for analysis is that it is objective and quantitative, whereas other data, such as

Communication in collaborative design review meetings Table 3.

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Sample identified errors in figure 2.

ID

Category

Problem

A B

Functional Functional

C D E F G H I J

Functional Dimension Dimension BOM BOM Material Material Ergonomics

Jaw surfaces are of unsuitable design for gripping Lever arm to jaws is longer than lever arm to the end of the handle—loss of mechanical advantage Jaws do not contact each other when handles are closed Tolerance issue with pin and lever through hole Inconsistent use of units Quantity error in bill of materials Cost exceeds constraint Inappropriate material specified for handle Inappropriate material specified for pin Handles are not of ergonomic design

self-reported user efficacy, team measured group cohesiveness, or observer recorded cognitive processes are both subjective to the interpretation of the observer and qualitative in nature. Further, the goal of this study is to improve the outcome of the collaborative design review activity by identifying the variables that are most significant and influential with respect to the outcomes. Thus, analysing the documents representing the outcome, lists of design inadequacies, an understanding is derived that directly relates to the stated objective of improving performance. All documents marked up by any participant were collected for use in the data analysis to augment the checklist and to ensure that cross-contamination between the two replications would be minimized. The two replications were conducted in two sections of the same course on the same day, but at different times. Each graduate observer recorded basic information concerning the behaviour and progress of each team on an evaluation form. To supplement the data collected via the design review user study, each participant completed a survey regarding such items as perceived effectiveness of the design review, perceived limitations to progress, level of participation allowed, and previous design review experience. While subjective and qualitative, these surveys provided some understanding of users’ perception of performance, with the intent to guide the development of future experiments. 3.4

Study results

The design flaws recorded by each team recorder were compared with the problem decomposition of table 2. Corresponding problem counts and weighted problem totals were calculated for each team. These results are summarized in table 4. The problem types include: Functional (F), Dimensional (D), Bill of Materials (B), Material (M), and Ergonomic (E). While no mode of communication is found to be significantly different from the other modes, based upon a small sample size of only two replications per mode, some design flaws were identified by only one or two teams, while other flaws were identified by all teams. The inadequacies which were recognized by two or fewer groups are (F5, F6, F7, and D3) highlighted in table 4. No single mode of communication or team identified all four of these flaws. This suggests that the type of flaw also does not immediately correlate to the type of flaw identified. These design inadequacies reported do not show a clearly advantageous communication method to achieve design review effectiveness. The mean for each of the modes of

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Table 4.

Evaluation of design review teams’ problem lists against problem decomposition. Speech only

ID F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 F6 F7 D1 D2 D3 B1 B2 M1 M2 E1 Unweighted totals Weighted totals Weighted total m Weighted total  Unweighted total m Unweighted total 

Text only

Free

Wt.

Frequency identified

1

2

1

2

1

2

4 4 4 9 9 9 4 9 9 9 1 1 4 4 1

6 5 3 5 1 2 2 5 5 2 4 5 6 6 6

 

    

 

   

  





   



 

  

     10 46

    12 62

54.0 11.314 11 1.414



        11 55

     10 41 48.0 9.899 10.5 0.707



  

     12 54

   8 49 51.5 3.536 10 2.828

communication falls within the standard deviation range of each of the other modes of communication for both the weighted and unweighted data sets. Further, there was no clear correlation between the ability to identify problems in particular categories or problems of a particular difficulty and the communication method. Additional runs, or replications using different design teams, of each scenario would need to be conducted in order to identify distinct trends in these areas. The ability to recognize the design problems may correlate more with the team composition and ability to adapt to available resources than the communication restrictions. Records (observer notes, video, audio, and text logs, and marked non-list documents) show that the speech-only and text-only teams in both replications discussed design inadequacies that did not appear on the recorders’ final lists. For these teams, this miscommunication could be attributed to the ineffectiveness of the communication method, the recorders’ training, the method of documentation, or the motivation of the team. Note, however, that one face-to-face communication team did not record one problem that was discussed during the review. If these problems had been recorded, the new totals would be as shown in table 5. These results are provided for completeness and indicate the need for further investigation on the recording mode to determine if checklists are appropriate for this type of design review session. 3.5

Analysis

As the focus of this paper is to present a systematic methodology for studying communication modes in collaborative design review sessions, an example of the type of

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required statistical analysis is provided. The results from this statistical analysis do not provide significant insights into this specific study with only two replications of data points. For completeness, the analysis is provided here. A single-factor ANOVA (table 6) was also conducted as the same individuals were not used for each of the communication types, though all participants were drawn from a homogeneous sample pool. The single-factor ANOVA is an extension of the two-sample t-test in which data are compared for which only one factor has changed (therefore, only one analysis needs to be conducted). In this case, the single factor altered is the communication method. In addition, since these are human subjects the level of significance was increased to p_critical ¼ 0.2 for a confidence level of 80%. Analysis was done to examine the effects of communication mode on seven different views of the data collected. None of these resulted in any calculated p value less than the identified p_critical. Thus, none of the tests indicate any significant influence between the communication modes. Unfortunately, the replication size of two limits the statistical relevance of this analysis. Thus, additional experimentation is required.

4. Observations 4.1

Personality

Research studying engineering student design project teams indicates that the composite personality type of the group does not have a significant influence on the performance of the team (Varvel et al. 2004). Thus, to supplement the data collected via the design review user study, each participant completed a personality survey which provided information such as level of extroversion or introversion, sensing or intuition preferences, preferences

Table 5.

Run 1

Run 2

Free Speech Text Free Speech Text

Results considering unrecorded problems.

Quantity (only documented)

Quantity (including undocumented)

Unrecorded

Weighted Complete Total

12 10 11 8 12 10

13 12 12 8 13 11

1 2 1 0 1 1

63 54 64 49 63 45

Table 6. Test Total errors (weighted) Total errors (not weighted) Function errors (weighted) Function errors (not weighted) Dimension errors (weighted) Dimension errors (not weighted) Bill of materials (not weighted)

ANOVA tests on collected data. Calculated p

Results

0.815248 0.872443 0.786806 0.877642 0.760726 0.760726 0.603682

Fail Fail Fail Fail Fail Fail Fail

2

5

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for thinking versus feeling, and inclinations toward judgement versus perception (Bayne 1995). Relative to the personality survey, the compositions of most of the teams were fairly uniform. It should be noted that the most productive team, the speech-only team in Run 2, was heavily extroverted and tended to perceive information intuitively according to the survey. The extroversion factor may have aided in their ability to process the information collectively rather than individually. The intuitive nature of the team suggests that they may have converted direct sensory input into more complex concepts, allowing them to identify a high number of the heavily weighted, more difficult problems. While personality effects on group decision-making effectiveness was not the focus of this research, the data collected, as with the face-to-face communication team in Run 2 being heavily introverted and having the fewest number of design flaws identified, do indicate that future investigation is warranted. 4.2

Initiation time

The time of preparation or delay before communication commenced varied among the scenarios. For the two face-to-face communication teams, the delay times were negligible in Run 1 and 1 min in Run 2. The speech-only teams waited 4 and 3 min, respectively, in Runs 1 and 2 before initiating communication. The text-only team in Run 1 waited 10 min before initiating the chat session, but the text-only team in Run 2 had a negligible delay. This range in time before initial communication may relate to a variance in level of comfort or security with the three communication methods. 4.3

Perceived effectiveness

The perceived effectiveness of the design reviews varied across the runs. All of the participants in the face-to-face communication runs felt that they identified every problem with the design. This false sense of achievement may be attributed to the level of comfort the team members had in the design review. In general, the participants in this scenario felt that communication methods did not inhibit the progress of the review. Eighty per cent of the speech-only participants felt that they had identified all of the design problems. Participants in this scenario, though, did feel limited by not being able to communicate with gestures or share drawings. In the text-only scenario, just 20% of the participants felt that they identified all of the design problems. Feedback from most participants in this scenario declared that using text chat limited their ability to communicate and identify problems with the design. Specifically, the need to type an explicit explanation of problems delayed communication. Participants also remarked on the delay caused by having to edit their own messages before broadcasting after reading others’ messages. One participant noted that rules of communication would facilitate a more effective review. Records of the text session show that the teams experienced problem fixation. That is, they discussed a single issue repeatedly and at length. Even when team members suggested that a particular topic had been sufficiently discussed and proposed moving on to a new topic, focus was not easily moved from some problems. 4.4

Group vs. individual

While the focus of this experiment is to study the effects of communication mode on collaborative design reviews, a secondary study was conducted using individuals as a

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control population to determine effects of group vs. individuals in identifying design flaws. This secondary analysis was done to verify that the design problem and documents provided to the groups in the experiment were in fact sufficiently complicated so that identifying the flaws required more than a single person. If the design problem was such that an individual performed at the same effective level as a group, then the results of the group would not be indicative of group performance under the different modes of communication, but rather the results would be derived from a single team member’s performance. Thus, nine individual design reviews were conducted, using the same participant pool, shown in table 7. Only one individual’s weighted total of 44 exceeded that of the poorest performing group, the text-only team in Run 2 (41). Also, three individuals matched the quantity of problems (not the weighted total) identified by the free team in Run 2. Aside from these anomalies, the individuals did not identify as many problems or achieve weighted totals as high as the design review teams. On average, the teams identified 42.9% more problems and achieved a 52.5% higher weighted total. Based upon this verification study, it is felt that the design problem was of sufficient magnitude to require group participation. The limitation of having a sole reviewer with a smaller body of expertise than that of an entire team clearly impacted the effectiveness of the design review. In follow-up surveys, several of the individuals expressed that it was difficult to conduct a review without the input and feedback of others. This supports the proposition that teamwork exceeds the potential of individual work (Hammond 2001). For instance, group work allows (1) errors and flawed suggestions to be checked, (2) the ablest member to have greater influence, (3) the most confident member to have social influence, (4) greater focus on the task due to group membership, and (5) a greater amount of information or mental resources available. The use of organized methods, such as following the design review checklist or PDS, seemed to aid in identifying more problems in all scenarios. The advantages to be gained from organization may extend to the area of communication. As suggested by one participant, rules of communication may be needed to enable full participation and efficient discourse. These optimal organization methods and rules may be applied to design review communication tools intended for use by distributed designers.

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Table 7.

Ind. 1 Ind. 2 Ind. 3 Ind. 4 Ind. 5 Ind. 6 Ind. 7 Ind. 8 Ind. 9 Average ¤ Max Min

Individuals’ review results. Quantity

Weighted total

4 2 8 6 7 6 8 8 5 6.0 2.1 8.0 2.0

10 8 36 18 30 23 44 31 19 24.3 11.9 44.0 8.0

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K. J. Ostergaard et al.

5. Conclusions It is necessary for designers with the appropriate expertise to communicate during the product development process, notably during design reviews. Since this expertise may be distributed across different geographic locations of an organization, these teams are facing new challenges in effective communication. The communication methods prescribed in this study were chosen to simulate current technologies commonly used in situations of geographic or organizational distribution. The investigation tested the hypothesis that available communication methods impact the effectiveness of design reviews. While this hypothesis could not be proven, other findings were made. Notable results from the study include the following: group design reviews were approximately twice as effective as individual design reviews; face-to-face communication produced a greater perceived effectiveness than speech-only communication, and speech-only communication produced a greater perceived effectiveness than text-only communication. Certain personality factors, such as extroversion and intuition, may have contributed to a higher productivity in design review teams, though this impact was determined outside the scope of this investigation. The use of organized methods aided in identifying more problems irrespective of the communication method. Rules of communication and organization may be needed to enable full participation and efficient discourse in distributed design reviews. Optimal organization methods and rules may be applied to design review-communication tools to facilitate more effective distributed design reviews. Most significantly, this paper has presented a methodology for how to investigate the effects of communication methods on design review effectiveness. This method is demonstrated by conducting a limited exercise with undergraduate mechanical engineering students. Important aspects of the methodology include the calibration study using graduate students, design of data collection that is objective and quantifiable, and development of a design problem that requires group reviews capturing more flaws than individuals. Future experiments may be developed based upon this systematic approach to research on design-review effectiveness, which in turn will lead to a better understanding of design as a social activity. References

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