The DOI matches its Crossref record; 5 of the 7 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
HARNESSING COMPLEXITY IN DESIGN
Abstract
Large scale design problems involve complex systems. The complexity arises from the nature of the large interconnected systems and is escalated by the background, personal characteristics, and perspectives of the individuals working on the design team. It is important for designers to understand complexity and how complexity affects the understanding and prediction of system behavior. It is even more important to manage the complexity such that it does not overwhelm the design effort and prevent the development of effective solutions. This paper presents an overview of complexity, discusses how complexity can increase almost with out bound, and suggests ways to control the impact of complexity on design processes.
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“At its core, Design problems are inherently complex (Maxwell et al., 2002), characterized by ambiguity, ill-defined boundaries, and nonlinear relationships (Baty, 2010).”
From Facilitator or hindrance? The impact of AI on university students' higher-order thinking skills in complex problem solving (2025) · cites this paper as Maxwell et al., 2002
Citations
Cites
The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information.
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Gell‐Mann, M. (2002) · Contributions to economics · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-50007-7_2 · Cited by 460
A Science of Generic Design : Managing Complexity Through Systems Design
WARFIELD, J. N. (1990) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 285
Creativity, Innovation and Quality
Plsek, P. E. (1997) · Cited by 139
Creative Thinking And Problem Solving
Fabian, J. M. (1990) · Cited by 54
Cited by
Sorted by citations
ENVIRONMENT-BASED FORMULATION OF DESIGN PROBLEM
Zeng, Y. (2004) · Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science · doi:10.3233/jid-2004-8404 · Cited by 97
Analysis of Design Activities Using EEG Signals
Nguyen, T. A., & Zeng, Y. (2010) · IEEE/ASME International Conference on Mechatronic and Embedded Systems and Applications · doi:10.1115/detc2010-28477 · Cited by 49
Du, X., Du, M., Zhou, Z., & Bai, Y. (2025) · International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education · doi:10.1186/s41239-025-00534-0 · Cited by 44
Considering Confirmation Bias in Design and Design Research
Hallihan, G. M., & Shu, L. H. (2013) · Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science · doi:10.3233/jid-2013-0019 · Cited by 32
An argumentation-based method for managing complex issues in design of infrastructural systems
Marashi, E., & Davis, J. P. (2006) · Reliability Engineering & System Safety · doi:10.1016/j.ress.2006.01.013 · Cited by 30
A Pilot Study to Assess Designer’s Mental Stress Using Eye Gaze System and Electroencephalogram
Petkar, H. C., Dande, S. S., Yadav, R., Zeng, Y., & Nguyen, T. A. (2009) · doi:10.1115/detc2009-86542 · Cited by 24
Towards Decentralised Detection of Emergence in Complex Adaptive Systems
O'Toole, E., Nallur, V., & Clarke, S. (2014) · IEEE International Conference on Self-Adaptive and Self-Organizing Systems (SASO) · doi:10.1109/saso.2014.18 · Cited by 20
A Novel Approach to Quantifying Designer’s Mental Stress in the Conceptual Design Process
Zhu, S., Yao, S., & Zeng, Y. (2007) · doi:10.1115/detc2007-35887 · Cited by 16
Decentralised Detection of Emergence in Complex Adaptive Systems
O'Toole, E., Nallur, V., & Clarke, S. (2017) · ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems · doi:10.1145/3019597 · Cited by 15
Usan, M. (2005) · DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) · Cited by 9
A Systems Approach for Resolving Complex Issues in a Design process
Marashi, E., & Davis, J. (2005) · Cited by 5
A First Investigation for Reducing E-Learning Environment Complexity by Multiscale
Drira, R., Laroussi, M., & Derycke, A. (2008) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4020-8739-4_78 · Cited by 4
Dindarian, K. (2024) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-57176-3_4 · Cited by 3
A NEW APPROACH FOR PROTOCOL ANALYSIS ON DESIGN ACTIVITIES USING AXIOMATIC THEORY OF DESIGN MODELING
Yao, S., & Zeng, Y. (2011) · Proceedings of the Canadian Engineering Education Association (CEEA) · doi:10.24908/pceea.v0i0.3857 · Cited by 2
Evaluation of mental stress during cognitive activities through HRV data and kinesics study
Yao, T. (2009) · Spectrum Research Repository (Concordia University) · Cited by 2
Ciencia del Diseño en proyectos de innovación educativa y cambio de cultura organizacional
González-Cruz, M. C., & Gómez-Senent-Martínez, E. (2007)
Dindarian, K. (2023) · Future of business and finance · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-29344-3_4
Metadata
- Authors
- Maxwell, T. T., Ertas, A., & Tanik, M. M.
- Affiliations
- Texas Tech University (US)
- University of Alabama at Birmingham (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science: Transactions of the SDPS, Official Journal of the Society for Design and Process Science
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2002-01-01
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 63-74
- ISSN
- 1092-0617 (ISSN-L)
- 1875-8959
- OpenAlex
- W3081997
- Cited by
- 17
- References
- 7
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.30
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Control and Systems Engineering › Systems Engineering Methodologies and Applications
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Mechanical Engineering › Design Education and Practice
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Complex Systems and Decision Making
- Keywords
- complexity, complex systems, design teams, complexity management, system behavior prediction, design process, interdisciplinary collaboration
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