Using parameter dependency network to represent design rationale

Building designers typically develop a set of drawings and specifications that graphically and textually depict the building. These documents contain implicit information about the rationale or reasoning leading to the final form of the design. Access to design rationale information avoids the need to speculate about or request for the implicit information stored in the design drawings and specifications. The main focus of this article is on the use of a parameter dependency network to represent design rationale. This paper details one possible data structure capable of generating a parameter dependency network. The parameter dependency network shows how one particular design decision affects other decisions that further affect other decisions. The structured nature of this network allows a computer program to act as a data verification assistant to the human designer. This article also outlines a classification scheme for design rationale systems. Finally, this paper summarizes the contributions of this research and concludes with descriptions of possible future research work.