Title
Modality and representation in analogy
Abstract
Design by analogy is a powerful part of the design process across the wide variety of modalities used by designers such as linguistic descriptions, sketches, and diagrams. We need tools to support people's ability to find and use analogies. A deeper understanding of the cognitive mechanisms underlying design and analogy is a crucial step in developing these tools. This paper presents an experiment that explores the effects of representation within the modality of sketching, the effects of functional models, and the retrieval and use of analogies. We find that the level of abstraction for the representation of prior knowledge and the representation of a current design problem both affect people's ability to retrieve and use analogous solutions. A general semantic description in memory facilitates retrieval of that prior knowledge. The ability to find and use an analogy is also facilitated by having an appropriate functional model of the problem. These studies result in a number of important implications for the development of tools to support design by analogy. Foremost among these implications is the ability to provide multiple representations of design problems by which designers may reason across, where the verb construct in the English language is a preferred mode for these representations.
Year
DOI
Venue
2008
10.1017/S0890060408000061
AI EDAM
Keywords
Field
DocType
appropriate functional model,use analogy,functional model,design problem,design process,english language,memory facilitates retrieval,current design problem,prior knowledge,multiple representation,idea generation,innovation,analogy
Modalities,Ideation,Abstraction,English language,Computer science,Human–computer interaction,Engineering design process,Artificial intelligence,Natural language processing,Analogy,Cognition,Management science,Verb
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
22
2
0890-0604
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
15
1.16
23
Authors
3
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
J. s. Linsey1151.16
K. L. Wood2181.88
A. b. Markman3151.16