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Abstract

This research determined how team design and project management (planning and tracking) affected design performance and the personnel working on the design. A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate three factors: team design (individuals versus groups), project support (no project support versus manual project support versus automated), and the engineering design life-cycle, which includes conceptual design, preliminary design, and detailed design. There were six observations per treatment, involving a total of 72 undergraduate engineering students. The impact of these factors were evaluated for design cycle time, cost effectiveness, mental workload, and job satisfaction. The design cycle time was 17% longer for participants without project support compared to those with automated support (p<0.05). Groups and individuals allocated their time differently during design (p<0.05). Mental workload, measured with the NASA Task Load Index (TLX), increased 16% over time (p<0.001). In addition, the combination of design phase and project tracking support affected the TLX rating (p<0.01). Job satisfaction was 5% lower at the end of the design project compared to the beginning of design (p<0.05).

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Analysis of Tools to Manage Engineering Design Life-Cycles

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