Investigating relationships between performance and workload in CAD tasks

CAD tasks require engineering designers to manage cognitive, perceptual, and motor demands while solving complex design problems. Understanding the relationship between workload (WL) and CAD performance is essential for improving design outcomes and processes. However, this relationship, particularly under varying task complexities, remains insufficiently explored. This study investigates WL-performance relationships in two CAD modelling tasks of differing complexity. WL was measured with NASA TLX, including its individual components. CAD performance was evaluated and described through outcomes and processes using multiple metrics. The results revealed significant monotonic relationships between WL and performance, with stronger correlations in the high-complexity task.