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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Please note that all times are shown in the time zone of the conference. The current conference time is: 18th Apr 2026, 04:05:00pm CEST

Agenda Overview

Session

D443: DESIGN METHODS AND PROCESSES IN PRACTICE

Time:

Thursday, 21/May/2026:

3:15pm - 4:15pm

Session Chair: Kilian Gericke, University of Rostock, Germany

Location: Conference Hall Orlando 1

Presentations

Literature-based characterization of SME product development processes

Armin Stein¹, Aaron Dlugosch^1,2, Niklas Waldmann^1,3, Thomas Vietor^1,2

¹Institute for Engineering Design, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany; ²Battery Lab Facory Braunschweig, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany; ³Institute of Thermodynamics, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Germany

This study systematically characterizes product development processes (PDPs) in hardware-oriented SMEs. A PRISMA-based literature review identifies twelve empirical case studies and eight development frameworks. The analysis derives key PDP influence factors, synthesizes stage-wise SME PDP activities, and consolidates characteristic challenges. A gap analysis reveals the absence of SME-specific PDP development frameworks and missing integration with technology management. The results establish a structured empirical basis for future research.

Developing and validating a user-centric information structure for design methods

Mayank Mayookh, V. Srinivasan

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India

This paper presents the development and validation of a new information structure for design methods for an enhanced repository of design methods to support design practice and pedagogy. The structure is based on features derived from challenges faced by design students, practitioners, and educators in understanding, using, and teaching design methods, and it is experimentally validated. Results show 81.2% of participants had no difficulty in understanding and using design methods based on the proposed information structure. Participants reported 8 improvements in the structure.

Rethinking design methods in the age of AI – consequences for practice, education, and research

David Inkermann

Clausthal University of Technology, Germany

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for integrating design methods into Human–AI Co-Creation, redefining methods as mediating structures between task context, procedural logic and results. Two examples illustrate how AI supports both method execution and method selection under varying autonomy levels. The framework highlights implications for transparency, traceability, responsibility and method education, and offers a structured basis for analysing, teaching and developing method-based design practice in AI-rich environments.

Dual-advocate reflection cards: supporting multifaceted and critical reflection on the design process

Akira Ito, Yuki Taoka, Shigeki Saito

Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan

To enhance multifaceted and critical reflection, we developed the Dual-Advocate Reflection Cards tool and carried out an empirical study. The eighteen student participants worked in pairs to reflect on their experiences. Transcripts of their discussions were analyzed, and we counted the frequency with which each card and each level of reflection intensity were discussed. The results indicated a strong link between card usage and utterances of multifaceted and critical reflection, as well as the effect of the cards on the reframing of the evaluation or understanding of the design process.