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THE CHALLENGING COMBINATION OF AGILITY AND CONVERGENCE IN HYBRID PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESSES: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF STANFORD'S ME310 PROCESS MODEL

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2021

Frank Koppenhagen ,
Tim Blümel ,
Tobias Held ,
Christoph Wecht  and
Paul Davin Kollmer
Frank Koppenhagen*
Affiliation:
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
Tim Blümel
Affiliation:
University of Stuttgart
Tobias Held
Affiliation:
Hamburg University of Applied Sciences
Christoph Wecht
Affiliation:
New Design University St. Pölten
Paul Davin Kollmer
Affiliation:
University of Hamburg
*
Koppenhagen, Frank, Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften Hamburg, Maschinenbau und Produktion, Germany, frank.koppenhagen@haw-hamburg.de

Abstract

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Combining agility and convergence in the development of physical products is a major challenge. Rooted in a design thinking approach, Stanford's ME310 process model attempts to resolve the conflicting priorities of these two design principles. To investigate how successful Stanford's hybrid process model is in doing so, we have used a qualitative case study approach. Our paper begins by outlining this process model's fundamental principles in terms of engineering design methodology. Subsequently, we present the results of our empirical analysis, which tracks the coevolution of problem and solution space by meticulously examining all prototype paths in ten of Stanford's ME310 student projects. We have discovered that convergence during solution finding does not correspond to the process model's theoretical specifications. Even in the phase of the final prototype, both the technical concept and the underlying problem formulation changed frequently. Further research should focus on combining the prototype-based ME310 approach with methods from systems engineering which allow for a more comprehensive theoretical exploration of the solution space. This could lead to improved convergence during solution development.

Keywords

Design engineeringDesign methodologyCase studyDesign thinkingAgile product development
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 1: ICED21 , August 2021 , pp. 2991 - 3000
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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