A new approach to ontological harmonisation in design

Neil Alasdair William Harrison*, Robert Ian Whitfield, Antony Powell, Alexander Frederick Holliman

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalConference articlepeer-review

Abstract

How well a team can design something depends on how well their collective understanding comes together. In the design of modern complex systems this involves multiple conceptualisations of the system undergoing design. These perspectives become instantiated in a large volume of design description that is deep, wide and diverse. This must carry shared meaning reliably, which is impossible to assure if the ontology in which every statement is nested is left implicit and unmanaged. This paper outlines a technical approach to assure ontological harmony without necessarily or only employing formal semantically rigorous knowledge representations. It empowers an incremental investment in description coverage and ontological coherence, better supporting the spectrum of thinking styles and description needs that design teams encounter when taking on complex systems development today.
Original languageEnglish
Number of pages10
JournalProceedings of the Design Society
Volume5
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 24 Mar 2025
Event25th International Conference on Engineering Design - UT Dallas, Dallas, United States
Duration: 11 Aug 202514 Aug 2025
https://iced.designsociety.org/

Keywords

  • complex systems
  • ontological harmonisation
  • design teams
  • systems design

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