36th CIRP Design 2026で研究発表を行いました。
書誌情報：Yusuke Tsutsui, Yasumasa Kogamoto and Akira Tsumaya, Assessing the risk of functional change propagation in early-stage redesign: A network-based approach integrating qualitative and quantitative design representations, Procedia CIRP, 2026.03.17.
概要：Design involves creating novel artifacts based on hypotheses and is inherently uncertain because user purposes and usage environments change over time. Therefore, improvement through design changes is often required. These changes rarely occur in isolation and may affect other design elements. Because artifact functions are central to meeting user needs, predicting how changes will propagate to functions in early design stages is essential. Most existing studies on design change propagation management focus on predicting propagation using quantitative representations of design parameters. Although these approaches are effective for anticipating the effects of specific parameter changes, they are less suitable for early-stage design, where reasoning often uses natural language. This study proposes a method to evaluate the risk of functional change propagation during early-stage redesign. The method models design objects as a network that combines qualitative information described in natural language with quantitative information represented by variables. This approach enables risk assessment of how changes in one function may affect others in early-stage design, where reasoning occurs in natural language. A case study on ballpoint pen redesign demonstrates the practical value of the method. The study’s contributions are twofold: academically, it offers a new perspective on design change propagation by integrating qualitative and quantitative representations of design objects; practically, it provides a structured method to support early-stage risk assessment in functional design changes.