Papers by Quentin Lohmeyer
Engineering drawings representing machine systems are usually sectional drawings showing the inne... more Engineering drawings representing machine systems are usually sectional drawings showing the inner mechanical mechanisms. A precondition for understanding such a drawing is to be familiar with the notation of its basic elements. However, in order to really understand how a represented machine system works, additional cognitive processes have to be initiated. This paper presents an eye tracking study investigating how engineers behave while trying to understand such a sectional engineering drawing. The eye tracking data collected during the experiment was analyzed by an approach that for the first time combines the evaluation methods of skimming and scrutinizing sequencing and transition matrix analysis. Based on this procedure, three behavioral patterns have been identified that, if found in a person's eye tracking data, allow drawing substantial conclusions about the cognitive processes run through.
In engineering design education several studies had been made to understand the differences betwe... more In engineering design education several studies had been made to understand the differences between how novice and experienced designers approach design tasks. As a central finding it is described that novice designers tend to use a particular pattern of trial and error whereas experienced designers use particular design strategies. One essential part of these design strategies are visual analyzing strategies. The identification of such strategies is a challenging research task and conventional research methods like interviews, document analysis and protocol studies are currently reaching their limits regarding the accurateness and validity of measuring data. At this point eye tracking analysis provides the opportunity to decisively improve the research of experts' strategies and thus allows a more sophisticated support of novice designer in engineering design education. This paper presents first results of eye tracking experiments that are presently conducted with novice and experienced mechanical engineers to gain additional insights in their visual strategies when analyzing design representations (e.g. technical drawings). Based on the results it finally is discussed how identified visual strategies can be trained in design education in order to support the students' understanding of design representations.
research impressively showed that eye tracking is a powerful research method to gain deeper insig... more research impressively showed that eye tracking is a powerful research method to gain deeper insights in human behaviour. However, until now in engineering design research only a small number of eye tracking experiments have been conducted. But even these experiments indicate that eye tracking technology can lead to highly important research results. This paper introduces four different fields, where eye tracking experiments can support engineering design research in order to better understand human behaviour in the context of (1) product representations, (2) engineering design expertise, (3) design creativity and (4) product application. The paper especially focuses on the first aspect by presenting eye tracking experiments, in which the scan path of several test persons analysing a technical drawing is recorded and evaluated in order to identify patterns in their visual behaviour. Based on the results, it finally is discussed how visual behaviour can be purposefully described in design research and how the engineering designer can be effectively supported in design practice.
Understanding the interaction between a user and a product in different areas of application prov... more Understanding the interaction between a user and a product in different areas of application provides an excellent basis for the development of innovative user-oriented products. User-product-interactions usually are characterized by a combination of well-observable user actions and cognitive processes, which are considerably more difficult to detect. One method to support the investigation of user experiences is mobile eye tracking. In contrast to conventional observation, mobile eye tracking provides benefits that allow revealing previously hidden aspects of user experiences, such as the visual attention paid by the user to the product, which might lead to improved designs. This paper presents an educational approach using mobile eye tracking recordings to raise design students' awareness of user experience in an early stage. Applying the example of three different scene videos showing the interaction of a user and a power tool, an electrical bicycle and a medical device, it is described how design students can learn to analyze eye tracking data in order to evaluate aspects of usability and to identify explicit as well as implicit user needs. The paper finally discusses the appropriateness of mobile eye tracking recordings as a teaching medium to enhance the awareness of user experiences and gives recommendation for implementing this approach in design education.
Internet: http://www.pdz.ethz.ch Inhalt: Dieser Beitrag stellt Eye Tracking als Forschungsmethode... more Internet: http://www.pdz.ethz.ch Inhalt: Dieser Beitrag stellt Eye Tracking als Forschungsmethode für die Untersuchung des visuellen Verhaltes von Konstrukteuren vor. Im Rahmen einer Pilotstudie wurden die Blickpfade mehrerer Testpersonen bei der Analyse der Schnittdarstellung eines technischen Systems aufgenommen und untersucht. Die Ergebnisse der Studie erlauben vertiefte Einblicke in das Denken und Handeln von Konstrukteuren und bilden so einen Beitrag für die Grundlage einer menschzentrierte Entwicklungsmethodik. Abstract: This paper presents eye tracking as a research method supporting investigations in the visual behavior of engineering designers. Within a pilot study the scan paths of several test persons analyzing a sectional drawing of a technical system are recorded and evaluated. The study's results allow deeper insights in the thinking and acting processes of engineering designers and thus make a contribution to the basis of a human-centered design methodology.
This paper presents a design approach, based on the idea to develop a product that allows a consi... more This paper presents a design approach, based on the idea to develop a product that allows a considerably faster diagnose of bacterial infections in the physicians office and thus, supports avoiding the unnecessary use of antibiotics. Nowadays, physicians send probes to central labs for diagnoses. These Labs usually use either manual work or microfluidic platforms. Most microfluidic platforms require expensive machinery for realizing complex motion sequences. However, there also is a costefficient alternative: centrifugal microfluidic platforms, which are also known as 'lab-on-a-disk'. In order to control flows, these disks take advantage of centrifugal forces, which can be easily regulated via rotation speed. In a first step, the technical feasibility was investigated with focus on basic designs of centrifugal microfluidic platforms for reliable controlling flows, only by regulation of rotation speed. The channel and reservoir designs were evaluated based on the results gained by physical testing of a lab-on-a-disk prototype in operation. The results and implications support the further development of a fully automated diagnostic device to be used as point-of-care.
In engineering design the early consideration of 'Design for Production' aspects is of particular... more In engineering design the early consideration of 'Design for Production' aspects is of particular importance to avoid high costs and time efforts caused by late redesign iterations. In design education this knowledge needs to be imparted theoretically as well as practically. Students have to experience the consequences of incorrect estimations or incomplete design definition when producing. This paper presents an educational project work that was recently carried out as a part of the 'Innovation Process' course at ETH Zurich with 550 participating undergraduate students of mechanical engineering. The project work especially includes the production of physical prototypes, which provides the advantage of making design knowledge more tangible. The paper presents the differences of simple funky prototypes and more complex functional prototypes and reflects their application in the context of educational objectives with a special focus on imparting 'Design for Production' knowledge.
Systems engineering methods and tools are designed to support engineers in the interdisciplinary ... more Systems engineering methods and tools are designed to support engineers in the interdisciplinary development of complex systems. However, recent research results indicate that a large number of methods supposed to be applied in engineering practice are characterized by a lack of performance, a lack of presentation or a lack of process compatibility. This paper presents the results of a survey that investigates the acceptance of systems engineering methods and tools in the context of systems engineering practice. As a basic principle the systems engineering methods are evaluated according to both individual and organizational acceptance criteria. Individual acceptance especially considers aspects of the personal perception of a method's effort and benefit as well as aspects of its intuitive and flexible application. Organizational acceptance rather includes the measurability of the methods' performance and its implementability in existing organizational structures. Amongst others the survey reveals that already the term "systems engineering" is understood in different ways and thus the spectrum of supporting methods ranges from rather general to very specific approaches. The survey results are finally discussed in the context of present situations and needs in practice. Based on this some recommendations for the development of future systems engineering methods are given.
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach that was originally established to support t... more Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary approach that was originally established to support the development of large scale systems (e.g. transport systems). Due to the fact that today neither complexity, nor interdisciplinarity is simply caused by a system's scale, systems engineering methodology becomes valuable for even smaller, but also complex and interdisciplinary engineering design projects. As to be expected the new conditions causes difficulties in the application of systems engineering. Present systems engineering methods and tools lack in adaptability and acceptance. This situation entails the demand for an advanced methodology. The intension of this paper is to illustrate the idea of Advanced Systems Engineering, a model-based and human-centred methodology that bases on systems engineering.
Interdisciplinary product development is a complex and uncertainty-affected system and objectives... more Interdisciplinary product development is a complex and uncertainty-affected system and objectives are central elements of it. In consequence the handling of these objectives, characterized by a high connectivity and dynamic, demands for a multi-dimensional view on objectives. This paper examines the nature of objectives and generates a conceptualization of four generalized dimensions of objectives: degree of maturity, degree of rigidity, leverage and impact. Based on these dimensions the approach of objective dimension matrices (ODM) is deduced. ODM considers product development as a socio-technical system and therefore enables a systematic handling of objectives in order to understand their role in interdisciplinary product development projects. The capability of ODM is demonstrated by its application within the development of a new humanoid robot.
Complex product development is naturally characterized by uncertainty. Considering that every eng... more Complex product development is naturally characterized by uncertainty. Considering that every engineering process is unique and individual the diversity and the dynamic of a complex product development systems causes an especially high level of uncertainty that has to be continuously mitigated during the development process. Nevertheless, the impact of uncertainty in handling objectives is almost disregarded in conventional approaches. The research presented in this paper bases on the system triple of product engineering. It describes product development as a continuous interaction of three systems: the operation system, the system of objectives and the system of objects. Based on different views on systems engineering the system triple approach is extensively analysed regarding its human aspects, its knowledge aspects and it process aspects. As a result the system triple approach is extended by the integration of two subsystems of the operation system: the state of knowledge and the solution space. The advanced system triple approach describes product development as a co-evolutionary and iterative process of synthesis and analysis and thus, supports the understanding of handling systems of objectives in complex and uncertainty-affected product development.
Books by Quentin Lohmeyer
Product development, management and innovation processes are highly related to human behavior. In... more Product development, management and innovation processes are highly related to human behavior. Inventions are created, new solutions are synthesized and decisions are taken by human stakeholders of these processes. On this basis, human behavior is in the interest of researchers of different design related fields. These researchers accepted high efforts to gain a closer look on human behavior to understand how stakeholders (e.g. engineers, managers, customers) act, think and make decisions in the context of product development. The objective was and still is to understand how they perceive, analyze and interpret information and how they behave in decision processes in order to:
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Papers by Quentin Lohmeyer
Books by Quentin Lohmeyer