USABILITY COMPLIANT SUPPORTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN SIMULATION-DRIVEN ENGINEERING

One major characteristic of engineering procedure is the conduction of product development processes by efficient application of computer-aided tools (CAx-tools). But given that the development of those CAx-tools is mostly carried out by non-engineers, the systematic engineering practices are considered in a subordinated way. The current paper deals with a methodological approach to link theoretical simulation basics with practical program use special focusing on design-proximal simulation by finite element analysis (FEA). Examining the support functions (help documents, ... ) of existing programs, their potentials are revealed. With the help of an implementation concept is demonstrated how modifications of the user interface, using tailored workflow schemes as well as modular handbooks can lead to major improvements in user support. By a complete conceptual redesign of the supportive technologies, the user-program-interaction can be customized for engineering needs. The situation specific adaption of respective proceedings is dependent on the simulation type as well as the users' state of knowledge, which is to be shown in the second part of the essay.