Recording the design thought process as time variation in parameter network

Understanding of the design thought process of experts with different disciplines is indispensable for the success of multi-disciplinary design projects. Although protocol analysis is a widely used method for understanding the nature of the design thought process, its application on multi-disciplinary design projects is not easy due to its limited capability for interrelating every action recorded in the entire process referring to various types of information. To solve this problem, the paper proposed a method that records and analyses the design thought process as time variation in parameter network. A case study is provided to discuss the feasibility of the method.