The Autogenetic Design Theory: an evolutionary view of the design process

The design activity is the substantial activity within the product development process. The purpose of the Autogenetic Design Theory (ADT) is to view the genesis of a product during the design process as an analogy to the ( technical) evolution of living creatures, to describe the design process as a continuous development process of technique and technology, and, by this, to provide a better understanding of the nature of the design process. Evolution means gradual development, permanent adaptation, and optimization towards an aim that may also change itself during the evolution. Both the development of a new product ( new or original design) or the change of an existing product ( adaptation design) can be described from the evolutionary view as a continuous optimization of a basic solution by observing starting conditions, boundary conditions, and constraints ( which may evolve themselves, as well). The description and the modelling of all procedures within the design process are furthermore components of the ADT. A first implementation of the ADT deals with a support system for the multicriterial optimization of products. A broad range of industrial applications has been successfully accomplished.