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Towards a Theory for Unintended Consequences in Engineering Design

Part of: Responsible Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 July 2019

Hannah Walsh ,
Andy Dong  and
Irem Tumer
Hannah Walsh*
Affiliation:
Oregon State University;
Andy Dong
Affiliation:
University of Sydney
Irem Tumer
Affiliation:
Oregon State University;
*
Contact: Walsh, Hannah Scharline, Oregon State University, School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering, United States of America, [email protected]

Abstract

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Conventional failure analysis ignores a growing challenge in the responsible implementation of novel technologies into engineered systems - unintended consequences, which impact the engineered system itself and other systems including social and environmental systems. In this paper, a theory for unintended consequences is developed. The paper proposes a new definition of unintended consequences as behaviors that are not intentionally designed-into an engineered system yet occur even when a system is operating nominally, that is, not in a failure state as conventionally understood. It is argued that the primary cause for this difference is the bounded rationality of human designers. The formation of unintended consequences is modeled with system dynamics, using a specific real-world example, and bifurcation analysis. The paper develops propositions to guide research in the development of new design methods that could mitigate or control the occurrence and impact of unintended consequences. The end goal of the research is to create a new class of failure analysis tools to manage unintended consequences responsibly to facilitate engineering design for a more sustainable future.

Keywords

Unintended consequencesDesign theoryDecision makingSustainabilitySocial responsibility
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society: International Conference on Engineering Design , Volume 1 , Issue 1 , July 2019 , pp. 3411 - 3420
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2019

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