C-K theory

[4] Recent publications explain C-K theory and its practical application in different industries.

The knowledge space (i.e. K-Space) describes all objects and truths that are established from the point of view of the designer.

A central finding of C-K theory is that concepts are the necessary departure point of a design process.

Concepts assert the existence of an unknown object that presents some properties desired by the designer.

[8] Building on these premises, C-K theory shows the design process as the result of four operators: C→K, K→C, C→C, K→K.

[8] Domain dependent design theories are built on some specific structure of the K-space, either by assuming that some objects have invariant definitions and properties (like in all engineering fields), or by assuming that the K-space presents some stable structure (e.g. that the functions of an object can be defined independently from its technical realization, as in systematic design theory).

Mathematical approaches to design have been developed since the 1960s by scholars such as Christopher Alexander, Hiroyuki Yoshikawa, Dan Braha and Yoram Reich.

[14] C-K theory has been applied in several industrial contexts since 1998, mainly in France, Sweden and Germany.