Process Heuristics: Extraction, Analysis, and Repository Considerations

The motivation for this article is to present a method for extracting heuristics from a team of mission architects, referred to in this article as “designers” at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The method for this study includes both focus group and individual interviews, as well as artifact analysis. The interviews led to insights about the role of heuristics within a design team and how documenting those heuristics can be of value to the team. The heuristics generated allowed for an overview of how designers at JPL perceived their own process heuristics. It was found that most heuristics were comprised a single, positively framed step to be carried out within the team, not just by an individual. Participants were also able to produce mainly informal actions they take, rather than formalized textbook approaches to design. It is hypothesized that the process heuristics generated are universal enough to be transferred out of the mission design domain and into another, if desired.