Designing is one of the most significant of human acts. Surprisingly, given that designing has been occurring for many millenia, our understanding of the processes of designing is remarkably limited. Recently, design methods have been formalised not as humano-centred processes but as processes capable of computer implementation with the goal of augmenting human designers. This volume contains contributions which cover design methods based on evolutionary systems, generative processes, evaluation methods and analysis methods. It presents the state of the art in formal design methods for...

FAY SUDWEEKS AND CELIA ROMM At the tum of the twenty-fIrst century, global communication is changing the fabric of society at a rate never experienced before. The Internet, in particular, has redrawn the map of global economy. To be competitive in today's marketplace, companies need to expand commercial activities beyond national borders. The global network of electronic infrastructure has played a signifIcant role in this expansion but the technology itself is not the factor driving the business revolution. The changes are driven by the interaction of information technology and customer...

Dave Oliver, Celia Romm and Fay Sudweeks This book follows previous texts: Celia Romm and Fay Sudweeks (eds) (1998), Doing Business Electronically: A Global Perspective of Electronic Commerce, and Fay Sudweeks and Celia Romm (eds) (1999) Doing Business on the Internet: Opportunities and Pitfalls. Not only is this current book about doing something, but it also aims to present insights into how electronic commerce impacts upon the lives of everyday people; in other words, how electronic commerce is received, as well as how it is 'done'. Accessing the Internet on a regular basis has become an...

Design is an important research topic in engineering and architecture, since it is not only a means of change but also one of the keystones of economic competitiveness and the fundamental precursor to manufacturing. However, our understanding of design as a process and our ability to model it are still very limited. The development of computational models founded on the artificial intelligence paradigm has provided an impetus for much of current design research - both computational and cognitive. Notwithstanding their immaturity, noticeable advances have been made both in extending our...

The papers in this volume represent research and development in the field of artificial intelligence. This volume demonstrates both the breadth and depth of artificial intelligence in design and points the way forward for our understanding of design as a process and for the development of advanced computer-based tools to aid designers. The paper describes advances in both theory and applications.

Change is one of the most significant parameters in our society. Designers are amongst the primary change agents for any society. As a consequence design is an important research topic in engineering and architecture and related disciplines, since design is not only a means of change but is also one of the keystones to economic competitiveness and the fundamental precursor to manufacturing. The development of computational models founded on the artificial intelligence paradigm has provided an impetus for much of current design research -both computational and cognitive. These forms of design...

Design is an important research topic in engineering and architecture, since design is not only a means of change but also one of the keystones of economic competitiveness and the fundamental precursor to manufacturing. However, our understanding of design as a process and our ability to model it are still very limited. The development of computational models founded on the artificial intelligence paradigm has provided an impetus for much of current design research -- both computational and cognitive. Notwithstanding their immaturity noticeable advances have been made both in extending our...