Chin, K.S., Yang, J.B., Guo, M. & Lam, P.K. (2009). An Evidential-Reasoning-Interval-Based Method for New Product Design Assessment. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 56(1), 142-156.

Format: Peer-reviewed article

Type: Research — Non-experimental

Experience level of reader: Advanced

Annotation: The authors developed and validated a method to assess new product design alternatives early on in the development process. At these early stages there are often many unknowns. As such, this method allows for imprecise inputs such as interval ranges, comparison scales, and qualitative data. The assessment methods are coupled with a framework consisting of 24 evaluation factors, which are segmented into three levels- product cost, project risk, and customer satisfaction. The framework and methods allow managers to determine the relative importance weighting of each factor, and determine overall utility of each design alternative.

Setting(s) to which the reported activities/findings are relevant: Federal lab, Large business, Small business (less than 500 employees), University

Knowledge user(s) to whom the piece of literature may be relevant: Manufacturers, Researchers

Knowledge user level addressed by the literature: Organization

This article uses the Commercial Devices and Services version of the NtK Model

Method: Utilize novel approach for multiple-attribute decision analysis to identify ideal design choices out of a set of alternatives.
Single case study demonstrating applicability of method.
Occurrence of finding within the model: Step 2.2