A method is proposed to study the group design process in engineering. Group design embodies the individual design effort with the additional complications caused by input from multiple individuals and the need to coordinate the group effort. These additional dimensions make the group design process difficult to study and little work has been done in this area. The objectives of the proposed study are (a) to build a computerized group design system (GDS) and (b) to demonstrate the effectiveness of the system for studying group design methodology. Completion of this work will provide a valuable tool for studying group design methodology. The GDS will be built using a small cluster of microcomputers and a multiuser data base. The designers will enter transactions via a keyboard or sketch pad. Direction of the group effort will be accomplished, via the computer system, by a group leader. The system will be tested by industrial designers. The results will be presented as a sequence of interdependent, categorized, design activities. By empirically studying these interdependent relationships an explanation of how design is produced can be developed.
