Y. Reich, A CRITICAL-REVIEW OF GENERAL DESIGN THEORY, RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING DESIGN-THEORY APPLICATIONS AND CONCURRENT ENGINEERING, 7(1), 1995, pp. 1-18
This study is a critical review of General Design Theory (GDT), a math
ematical theory of design. It reviews the assumptions (axioms) and pre
dictions (theorems) of GDT with respect to design and illustrates them
with simple examples. The scope of GDT with respect to design, the gu
idelines it provides for building computer-aided design (CAD) systems,
and the possibility of implementing these guidelines are examined. GD
T assumptions are too restrictive to apply directly to design, and sev
eral potential avenues for modifying the theory to attempt to broaden
its scope are discussed. Nevertheless, these modifications may not lea
d to proving strong predictions about design. Treating GDT as a model,
rather than as an accurate reflection of design, allows treating the
guidelines as hypotheses to be tested empirically. The article discuss
es these guidelines and some experimental implementations that embody
some of them.