Information is transferred through a process consisting of an information source, a transmitter, a channel, a receiver, and its destination. Unfortunately, during the engineering design process, there is a risk of a design idea or solution being incorrectly transferred and interpreted due to the nonlinearity of the process, and many ways to communicate and disseminate ideas or solutions. The objective of this work is to explore the amount of relevant design information transmitted by different idea dissemination methods and how the receiver's familiarity with the idea impacts the effectiveness of the methods. First, this work explores the advantages and disadvantages of different dissemination methods in engineering design. Next, an experiment is conducted with engineering and nonengineering participants in order to quantify the information transmitted by different idea dissemination methods. This work also quantifies the effect that receivers' familiarity with a design artifact has on the amount of information transmitted by different dissemination methods. Finally, the results obtained from the experiments are compared with a previous theoretical model for validation. The results indicate that while certain methods are perceived as more informative and are able to convey more information than others (e.g., linguistic textual description versus virtual three-dimensional (3D) models), the effectiveness of the methods depends on a receiver's familiarity with the ideas being transmitted. Knowledge gained from this work can aid designers in selecting a suitable dissemination method needed to effectively communicate ideas and achieve a design solution.
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September 2019
Research-Article
Evaluating the Impact of Idea Dissemination Methods on Information Loss
Zixuan Victoria Zhao,
Zixuan Victoria Zhao
Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
610 Purdue Mall,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: zhao831@purdue.edu
Purdue University,
610 Purdue Mall,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: zhao831@purdue.edu
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Christian E. Lopez,
Christian E. Lopez
Mem. ASME
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University,
State College, PA 16802
e-mail: cql5441@psu.edu
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University,
State College, PA 16802
e-mail: cql5441@psu.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Conrad S. Tucker
Conrad S. Tucker
Mem. ASME
Engineering Design, Industrial and
Manufacturing Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University,
State College, PA 16802
e-mail: ctucker4@psu.edu
Engineering Design, Industrial and
Manufacturing Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University,
State College, PA 16802
e-mail: ctucker4@psu.edu
Search for other works by this author on:
Zixuan Victoria Zhao
Mechanical Engineering,
Purdue University,
610 Purdue Mall,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: zhao831@purdue.edu
Purdue University,
610 Purdue Mall,
West Lafayette, IN 47907
e-mail: zhao831@purdue.edu
Christian E. Lopez
Mem. ASME
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University,
State College, PA 16802
e-mail: cql5441@psu.edu
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University,
State College, PA 16802
e-mail: cql5441@psu.edu
Conrad S. Tucker
Mem. ASME
Engineering Design, Industrial and
Manufacturing Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University,
State College, PA 16802
e-mail: ctucker4@psu.edu
Engineering Design, Industrial and
Manufacturing Engineering,
The Pennsylvania State University,
State College, PA 16802
e-mail: ctucker4@psu.edu
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Computers and Information Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCE IN ENGINEERING. Manuscript received September 15, 2018; final manuscript received December 18, 2018; published online March 18, 2019. Assoc. Editor: Jitesh H. Panchal.
J. Comput. Inf. Sci. Eng. Sep 2019, 19(3): 031006 (12 pages)
Published Online: March 18, 2019
Article history
Received:
September 15, 2018
Revised:
December 18, 2018
Citation
Victoria Zhao, Z., Lopez, C. E., and Tucker, C. S. (March 18, 2019). "Evaluating the Impact of Idea Dissemination Methods on Information Loss." ASME. J. Comput. Inf. Sci. Eng. September 2019; 19(3): 031006. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4042553
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