Whereas purely material goods were once the subject of product development in a strongly product-dominated society, cyber-physical mechatronic systems and hybrid service bundles are state of the art as of today. Due to a multitude of new technologies, a strong service orientation and additional factors, this leads to a paradigm shift in value creation and thus in the development of technical products and systems. In order to exploit these potential benefits in a demand and situation-oriented manner, it is necessary to be capable of reacting quickly and adequately to changes. To remain competitive in these so-called volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) environments, agile or lightweight approaches emerged in software development at the end of the 1990s. Driven by their success in the context of software development, agility has now also found its way into the development of technical systems. Due to the fact that these agile approaches were developed in and for the context of software, the pure context transfer to physical product development leads to a number of challenges that are reflected in the understanding, interpretation, and implementation of these process models in the development of mechatronic products. To exploit the potentials of agility in the utmost way, this thesis examines how the mechanism of action of agility can be harnessed in the context of mechatronics. The result is a model of normative elements that are essential for the agile development of mechatronic products. The model is based on two theoretical constructs: the Design for Values approach and the Taxonomy for agile development. Through this symbiosis, the model is stringently structured in itself and also provides tried-and-tested solution approaches for context-specific adaptation. Based on several preliminary studies, the problem was first validated within the scope of a quantitative investigation. The procedure for answering the research question was carried out within the framework of an embedded design approach. Its focus is qualitative in nature through two series of interviews and was supported by a final quantitative investigation. The result is the AiM model, which identifies ten essential elements on a normative level and is based on four pillars. These normative elements are generic in nature and therefore describe which values are to be considered for the agile development of a mechatronic product or system. In addition, these are reflected against the modes of action of agile software development and classical mechatronic development to outline differences as well as similarities. Moreover, the modes of action are presented using means-end relationships to illustrate how the individual aspects interrelate in an understandable and comprehensible way. The DfV approach enables the AiM model to be adapted context-specifically and thus to operationalize the model. The AiM model aims to sharpen the understanding of what characterizes agile development in the context of mechatronics. Due to its comprehensibility and simplicity, it is an aid to foster a clearer understanding of the individuals which, in turn, has a sustained impact on their mindset.    «

Whereas purely material goods were once the subject of product development in a strongly product-dominated society, cyber-physical mechatronic systems and hybrid service bundles are state of the art as of today. Due to a multitude of new technologies, a strong service orientation and additional factors, this leads to a paradigm shift in value creation and thus in the development of technical products and systems. In order to exploit these potential benefits in a demand and situation-oriented man...    »