A method of describing the development of an engineering project

The aim of this paper is to suggest a method of describing and analyzing the progress of an engineering project. The major purpose of such a description is to facilitate a study of how the problem-solving processes involved are influenced by various kinds of impulses. The method is based on a few postulates about the nature of engineering work — engineering activity is assumed to consist mainly of heuristic problem solving. Several aspects or dimensions might be of interest in a description of project status or project progress. For the understanding of the administration of the project three sets of aspects seem to be of particular interest. One is the requirements of the customer. A second consists of various dimensions which influence the problem-solving process. A third is the suggested design of the product. All these aspects of the project change during the progress of the project. Although the reliability of such a descriptive method could not be tested, the experience gained was encouraging, above all because the scheme used for classification seemed to fit in well with the general perceptions of the engineers interviewed as to the progress of the project. The authors conclude that further research along these lines is indicated.