Supporting design understanding in evolutionary prototyping. An application of change theory and semiotics.

This thesis researches the problem of building design understanding in rapidly changing environments. Although evolutionary prototyping has been proposed before as a solution, little serious investigation has been undertaken into its practical and theoretical adequacy. This thesis assesses the evolutionary development approach and on the basis of the findings of an exploratory case study conducted in a large car manufacturer company, proposes a new perspective in this approach. It combines the planned organisational change theory and semiotics which respectively underpin implementation management and design understanding. The cornerstone of the proposed perspective is a semantic analysis technique which complements evolutionary prototyping. The perspective builds on three cycles of planned change model: a vision cycle providing easy access to design knowledge, an action cycle supporting modular development of prototypes based on the semantics of design knowledge, and a fusion cycle institutionalising design understanding. An explanatory empirical study conducted in a management consultancy, provides a first step towards a subjective validation of the proposed approach. A conceptual training process is suggested as a means of partnership between designer and user. This process provides a way for both user and designer to find a common designation for the terms they share in their communication, and to build a shared meaning and interpretation of actions in the workplace