Human Behaviour in Design

The HBiD research group conducts evidence-based, application-oriented, and context-sensitive research into the behavior of developers within the product development ecosystem to provide methodological support for knowledge building and to facilitate cooperation, communication, and collaboration.

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Key Research Areas

Method acceptance and method development

• Explanatory frameworks for how the use of methods produces effects; affordance
• Investigation of the dynamics involved in context-specific method adaptation
• Development of methods for assessing method acceptance
• Derivation of measures for method implementation; affordance in the context of method use
• Development of a simulation environment for analyzing human behavior in the development process
• Publications:
  • Gerschütz, B., Sauer, C., Wallisch, A., Mehlstäubl, J., Kormann, A., Schleich, B., ... & Wartzack, S. (2021). Toward Customized Digital Engineering: Challenges and Potential in Adapting Digital Engineering Methods for the Product Development Process. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18419/opus-11478
  • Wallisch, A., Nicklas, S. J., & Paetzold, K. (2021). Method-accepted fields of action for increasing method application in product development. Proceedings of the Design Society, 1, 2037–2046. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2021.465
  • Wallisch, A., & Paetzold, K. (2018). A qualitative inventory of user integration methods and their usage in product development research and practice. In DS 92: Proceedings of the DESIGN 2018 15th International Design Conference (pp. 115–126). DOI: https://doi.org/10.21278/idc.2018.0235
  • Wallisch, A., & Paetzold, K. (2022). Lessons Learned: A Plea for Integrating Design Thinking into Engineering Curricula. In Different Perspectives in Design Thinking (pp. 220–244). CRC Press.

Knowledge Construction, Representation, and Utilization

• Efficient design of assistance and expert systems, as well as their integration and differentiation from method development
• Development of methods and tools for knowledge building in interdisciplinary development organizations

• Strategic use of knowledge for sustainable competency development

• Investigation of the impacts of AI on processes of knowledge building, knowledge utilization, and decision-making

• Publications:
  • Gomez, A. P., Kretzschmar, M., Paetzold-Byhain, K., & Isaksson, O. (2025). A team of three: the role of generative AI in the development of design automation systems for complex products. Proceedings of the Design Society, 5, 309–318. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2025.10045

Communication, Coordination, Collaboration

• Investigation of the mechanisms underlying agile work and lean processes
• Development of concepts for integrating people as developers into data and information flows within the company
• Identification of factors influencing prototype design to enable their use in a targeted manner as communication tools
• Publications
  • Paetzold-Byhain, K., Michalides, M., & Weiss, S. (2025). A Conceptualization of Agility: Utilization and Future Research for the Development of Mechatronic Systems. Systems, 14(1), 28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/systems14010028
  • Pendzik, M., Sembdner, P., & Paetzold, K. (2023). Identification and classification of uncertainties as the foundation of agile methods. Proceedings of the Design Society, 3, 2165–2174. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2023.217
  • Michalides, M., Bursac, N., Nicklas, S. J., Weiss, S., & Paetzold, K. (2023). Analyzing current challenges in scaled agile development of physical products. Procedia CIRP, 119, 1188–1197. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procir.2023.02.188
  • Paetzold, K., & Stoiber, L. (2025). Development of a communication model for the efficient exchange of information between user and designer. Proceedings of the Design Society, 5, 1365–1374. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2025.10150

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