Teaching Design Optioneering: A Method for Multidisciplinary Design Optimization

This paper describes a Design Optioneering methodology that is intended to offer multidisciplinary design teams the potential to systematically explore a large number of design options much more rapidly than currently possible using conventional methods. Design Optioneering involves first defining a range of design options using associative parametric design tools; then coupling this model with integrated simulation-based analysis; and, finally, using computational design optimization methods to systematically search though the defined range of alternatives in search of design options that best achieve the problem objectives while satisfying any constraints. The Design Optioneering method was tested by students as part of a parametric design course at Stanford University in the spring of 2010. The performance of the method are discussed in terms of the student’s ability to capture the design intent using parametric modeling, integrate expert analysis domains, and select a preferred option among a large number of alternatives. Finally, the potential of Design Optioneering to reduce latency, further domain integration, and enable the evaluation of more design alternatives in practice is discussed.