Decisions are rarely made lightly, especially when criteria are in conflict. Visualizing the alternatives helps to put thoughts in order. A tool from Fraunhofer IGD makes it easier for engineers to select the optimum design for a commissioned product and creates transparent and easy-to-understand price-performance comparisons that lead to shorter coordination paths.

For example, an engineer develops an electric motor that meets the nominal values ordered by the customer. Her assumption that a different material or a change in geometry could have an additional positive effect on the motor performance is confirmed in the simulations. But how does she report this to the customer, who is critical of the associated higher costs?

The solution is a clear visualization of the alternatives, in which the preferred design candidates can be quickly narrowed down using combinable filters. For example, if you use a slider to increase the costs you are prepared to pay, the visualization seamlessly displays the effects on the other properties of the engine. This allows the advantages and disadvantages of certain models to be recognized at a glance - without in-depth specialist knowledge.

The customer and engineer decide depending on the area of application. For example, if efficiency is less critical, a more cost-effective motor variant may be chosen. The interactive levers of this visualization application make decision-making visually easy to understand and significantly shorten coordination paths in multi-criteria cost-benefit considerations.

Interactive visualization focuses on the decision-maker

For a visualization to effectively support a human analysis process such as decision-making, the real operating conditions must be taken into account. To this end, the specific problem, workflows and needs of the domain experts are analysed and visualization requirements are derived from this. Only then can suitable visualization approaches be selected and adapted to the domain.

The visualization described above was developed in close cooperation with engineers from the Linz Center of Mechatronics over a period of 1½ years. This collaboration made it possible to develop a tailor-made problem solution that fits seamlessly into existing work and analysis processes. In their design study "PAVED: Pareto Front Visualization for Engineering Design", the researchers show how this user-centric process was successfully implemented and what needs to be taken into account.

The research work was funded by the EU project CloudiFacturing. The aim of the programme is to optimize production processes with the help of cloud/HPC-based modelling and simulation. The computationally intensive production technology and simulation as well as data analysis tools are to be made available as cloud services in order to facilitate accessibility and make their use more affordable.