9 Scopus citations

Abstract

Complexity is defined as a quality of an object with many interwoven elements, aspects, details, or attributes that makes the whole object difficult to understand in a collective sense. Many measures of design complexity have been proposed in the literature. Of these the most popular are Information-theoretic metrics, such as Information Content based on Suh's Axiomatic Theory and Entropy based on Shannon's Information Theory. In this paper we will show that not only these metrics do not provide common sense measures of complexity, but they also do not possess proper mathematical properties. At best, they are geared towards measuring a designs goodness of fit rather than its complexity. It is hoped that this paper will generate some debate on strongly held beliefs in the design theory community.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationASME 2011 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/CIE 2011
Pages395-404
Number of pages10
DOIs
StatePublished - 2011
EventASME 2011 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/CIE 2011 - Washington, DC, United States
Duration: Aug 28 2011Aug 31 2011

Publication series

NameProceedings of the ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference
Volume9

Other

OtherASME 2011 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, IDETC/CIE 2011
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWashington, DC
Period8/28/118/31/11

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Modeling and Simulation
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

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