In this thesis, the author first reveals his motivation for conducting the research presented here. In order to construct a hypothesis, research questions are developed and the research methodology is outlined. In addition, the research area is defined and the main objectives are given at the beginning of the thesis. A review of literature identified the key concepts and their relationships required for understanding the issues presented in the dissertation. After a brief overview on the research conducted in the field, a selection of relevant theories developed within the design science is presented. Subsequently, descriptions of the empirical research, participants and the applied research method are given, followed by an analysis of the results and limitations of the research. The characterization of the design questions resulted from the empirical research. Focusing on the embodiment design stage, an analysis of design rationale is presented through the characterization of information describing design problems, alternative solutions, arguments, explanations and decisions of designers. Resulting findings were used to describe in detail the elements of design rationale. The design rationale capturing model during the embodiment phase of the product design is described by the main attributes, possible relations between the design rationale elements and the definition rules. The design rationale scheme incorporates the design problem, alternative solutions, arguments, explanations and decisions. Most of these items of information are not documented although they are essential for the decision process in product development within a particular context. The proposed model has been evaluated by experiment. In the experiment, the items of information gathered during the development process of "The Chamber for dielectric spectroscopy of aqueous solutions" were used. Finally, a proposal of the model implementation as an extension to the PLM (product lifecycle management) system is formulated, and the results obtained in this research are discussed. Special emphasis is put on the research contributions and restrictions.
2011
PhD thesis
