Design reviewing: are experts better and does slowing down improve performance?

Abstract

Design review is an important aspect of engineering design. Designs certified by a professional engineer require some form of external check. This external check can range from a quick intuitive assessment of a proposed solution to a reassessment of the problem using alternative methods. This research explored intuitive review assessments for two typical geotechnical designs. Results suggest that those with requisite experience (even seemingly little experience) can make correct assessments even after spending as few as 4 minutes reviewing a carefully presented solution. Forcing participants to state reasons for a decision (and thereby slowing them down) only served to improve predictions by novices attempting an unfamiliar problem. While such quick intuitive reviews appeared adequate for assessing the problems presented here, some experts still made erroneous decisions even after stating reasons for a decision. Design reviews are an important step in design and should never be taken lightly.