Track: Knowledge Management

Abstract

Developers of product configuration systems (PCS) act as designers, albeit often not recognizing they are performing in a design process. These developers face challenges in developing and implementing PCS as the main enabler of mass customization. Main difficulties occur in knowledge management (KM) stage for domain experts and the configuration team as the internal stakeholders or users. Design Thinking (DT) is a human-centered approach that includes a wide perspective of stakeholders and aims at enhancing human experience and solving complicated problems. Therefore, it can be used to solve this challenge of KM in configuration projects which is mainly related to communication within the organization by following a systematic, iterative design approach. The aim of this paper is twofold. Firstly, to review the literature of DT to gain deeper understanding of its characteristics, processes and components. Secondly, to apply the findings from literature regarding DT to the KM stage in PCS. The authors’ ultimate goal is to outline what the contribution of DT to PCS can be and discuss its importance in promoting the collaboration and communication of knowledge within the organization.