Title
Establishing functional concepts vital for design by analogy
Abstract
Student designers and professionals alike have difficulty accessing appropriate analogies for design problems. Recognizing the advantages of Design-by-Analogy (DbA), the Design-Analogy Performance Parameter System (D-APPS) tool was developed to include a library of analogy entries and a matching algorithm. These components are combined into the Design Repository & Analogy Computation via Unit-Language Analysis (DRACULA) software package that maps functions across domains in order to present analogies to designers as initiated through engineering performance metrics and critical functions. Most tools developed for DbA emphasize the searching by function feature. Since analogies are based on more than function, DRACULA incorporates both performance and function for the user to identify relevant analogous solutions. Prior to exposing engineering students to this tool, we investigated their ability to use analogies when crossing domains. During this process, we identified three function concepts to be vital for students to effectively use analogies across domains: reoccurring functions, critical functions, and mapping functions. The results establish a better understanding of the information that students utilize in order to formulate appropriate and creative analogous design solutions.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1109/FIE.2015.7344193
FIE
Keywords
Field
DocType
design-by-analogy,engineering education,functional modelling,mapping functions
Algorithm design,Computer science,Engineering management,Engineering education,Human–computer interaction,Software,Artificial intelligence,Analogy,Dracula,Functional modeling,Blossom algorithm,Computation
Conference
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
0190-5848
1
0.43
References 
Authors
1
4
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Megan Tomko131.49
Briana Lucero210.43
Cameron J. Turner3133.23
Julie Linsey45512.39