A Cognitive Approach to Knowledge Discovery in Conceptual Design

There is often a fundamental mismatch between the way human process knowledge and the way it is processed by technology support system. It is needed to develop tools, methods and technology which integrate smoothly with the design process. However, little research has addressed the cognitive and social psychological factors within knowledge activities. This study describes a cognitive approach to knowledge discovery in conceptual design. It introduces the design of experiments and data analysis technique. A knowledge discovery framework for cognitive study is presented. A cognitive approach to knowledge discovery results in a better understanding of the knowledge handling behaviour of designers. It also results in a natural integration of knowledge management tools into the design process