A reconstruction method of the design rationale model based on design context

Design rationale (DR) explains the product design decision-making process and the reason behind the decision. Capturing and reusing of the DR plays an important role in design thinking guidance and decision support. In order to clearly reflect the essential characteristics of design activities such as design iteration and design evolution in design process, a reconstruction method of the DR model is proposed based on design context. The limitations of the existing DR models in the expression of evolution information and knowledge reuse support are illustrated. And the concept of design context is put forward and two new DR element interaction relationships are defined to reconstruct FGDR model to eliminate redundant information. So the method contributes to optimize the DR model in its knowledge expression form and knowledge expression ability. This can further strengthen the DR model's support to design reuse. A prototype system is developed for DR modeling and reconstruction. Partial design process of the POGO mechanical system design is taken as an example to validate the feasibility and validity of the proposed method.