An Element-Based Iterative Intent Understanding Method for Complex Product Conceptual Design

Product design constitutes an iterative process centered on user requirements. In this process, user requirements are collected, interpreted by designers and transformed into design objectives, which are then refined through solution generation and evaluation to yield the final product; this is typically an iterative human–computer interaction process. The intent understanding process converts vague user requirements into standardized expressions for designers. For complex products, existing intent understanding methods are hindered by excessive reliance on experience, lack of iterative mechanisms, and insufficient identification of critical performance attributes. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a computational methodology for element-based intent understanding, positioned as a foundational layer for future human–computer collaborative design systems. The concept of “elements” is introduced at three levels: function, performance, and structure—to aid in the standardization of design objectives. Relationships among elements are defined and used to construct design objectives, establishing a transformation model from elements to objectives. An iterative reconstruction method for element-objective transformation under design iteration is further proposed. The feasibility of this method is empirically validated via a reactor fuel-handling case study.