A heuristic approach for early-stage product development in extreme environments

Abstract

This article considers a heuristic approach for developing products for extreme environments. The authors propose a set of heuristics for exploring environment and product features throughout the design probing process. The proposed strategy is exemplified through several cases, with special emphasis placed on a project that considers developing new products for aluminium electrolysis shop floor environments. These heuristics are presented as an approach for dealing with large amounts of uncertainty in an early-stage product development setting.