Automatic Evaluation of Design Alternatives with Quantitative Argumentation Pietro Baroni∗ , Marco Romanoa, Francesca Tonib , Marco Aurisicchioc and Giorgio Bertanzad
Argument and Computation, 2015 Vol. 6, No. 1, 24–49, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19462166.2014.1001791 Automatic evaluation of design alternatives with quantitative argumentation Pietro Baroni∗ , Marco Romanoa, Francesca Tonib , Marco Aurisicchioc and Giorgio Bertanzad aDip. Ingegneria dell’Informazione, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy; bDepartment of Computing, Imperial College London, UK; cDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK; d Dip. Ingegneria Civile, Architettura, Territorio, Ambiente e Matematica, University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy (Received 15 May 2014; accepted 21 October 2014) This paper presents a novel argumentation framework to support Issue-Based Information Sys- tem style debates on design alternatives, by providing an automatic quantitative evaluation of the positions put forward. It also identifies several formal properties of the proposed quantita- tive argumentation framework and compares it with existing non-numerical abstract argumen- tation formalisms. Finally, the paper describes the integration of the proposed approach within the design Visual Understanding Environment software tool along with three case studies in engineering design. The case studies show the potential for a competitive advantage of the proposed approach with respect to state-of-the-art engineering design methods. Keywords: argumentation; debate; design rationale; Issue-Based Information System (IBIS); decision support Engineering design is often described as an information-processing activity based on problem-solving within the constraints of bounded rationality (Simon, 1996; Simon & Newell, 1971). It consists of decomposing an initial problem into a range of sub-problems, proposing and assessing partial solutions, and integrating them as to satisfy the overall problem. This pro- cess is collaborative and often involves communication between non-co-located engineers.
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