Different notions of function: results from an experiment on the analysis of an existing product

Eckert, Claudia; Alink, Thomas; Ruckpaul, Anne; Albers, Albert

doi:10.1080/09544828.2011.603297

Cited by 50 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Finally, the method for recording function hierarchies can vary, but due to the similarities between sketching cognition and abstraction cognition, some sort of sketching activity should be included. This happened spontaneously in the study by Eckert et al [3], emphasizing the utility of sketching as a bridge between the symbolic meanings and the organized depiction of a hierarchy. Thus, this natural inclination should be capitalized into a naturalistic form of recording functionality.…”

Section: A Proposed Function Identification Methods For Product Dissecmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…This disparity in problem type means that the results of this study cannot be extrapolated to design problems [4]. While these two forms of functional decomposition are fundamentally different, product dissection is still valuable to study as a design tool since it is a common and well-established process in industry [3]. As observed in the pilot study, it would be more appropriate to call functional decomposition in reverse engineering scenarios "functional analysis" and in design scenarios "functional synthesis".…”

Section: Ill-structured Synthesis Vs Well-defined Analysismentioning

confidence: 98%

“…The output of functional decomposition is understood to be "the solution-neutral [or embodiment-neutral] detailed description of what are the intentions for the products" [3]. It is one of several activities in design, including mathematical modeling [4][5][6], value analysis [1,7], communication [8], ideation [9][10], visualization, etc., that represent how designers use abstraction to creatively solve problems.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Understanding Abstraction in Design: A Comparison of Three Functional Analysis Methods for Product Dissection

Booth

Reid

Ramani

2013

Volume 5: 25th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology; ASME 2013 Power Transmission and Gearing Conference

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In design classes, functional analysis is a process that is typically used to assist students with identifying essential functions to aid in the development of their concepts. However, it has been observed that students sometimes struggle with this part of the design process. In this study, a group of 26 students were studied in a 3-level within-subject study (n=78) to determine which of three common functional analysis approaches (i.e. top-down, energy-flow, and unstructured) was most effective. Participants were asked to dissect a hair dryer, power drill, and NERF pistol and generate function trees describing how these work. Measures of effectiveness include the number of functions generated, the number of errors, the number of levels of abstraction represented in the tree, and the number of unique subsystems and functions identified. No statistical difference between the approaches was found, and there was also no practical difference between the approaches. These results suggest that for novice engineers, there is no difference between methods used. This possibly indicates that for novice engineers, formal methods may not be any more effective than an unstructured approach.

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Section: A Proposed Function Identification Methods For Product Dissecmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Ill-structured Synthesis Vs Well-defined Analysismentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Understanding Abstraction in Design: A Comparison of Three Functional Analysis Methods for Product Dissection

Booth

Reid

Ramani

2013

Volume 5: 25th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology; ASME 2013 Power Transmission and Gearing Conference

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It was presumed that shape information would allow the user to better perceive the external boundaries of an object, especially if the object is hidden, and provide information on its color, texture, and location. Names of components are also often unclear to users, which results in confusion when multiple engineers work on the same product [34]. In a study by Eckert et al [34], during a verbal analysis of a hydraulic pump, participants often pointed at components rather than naming them or had to use a description of the part's geometry (ex: "cone" for a piston), function (ex: "sealing ring" for a control disk) or create an analogy in order to come up with a name for the component.…”

Section: Determining Functions Of the Ar Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Names of components are also often unclear to users, which results in confusion when multiple engineers work on the same product [34]. In a study by Eckert et al [34], during a verbal analysis of a hydraulic pump, participants often pointed at components rather than naming them or had to use a description of the part's geometry (ex: "cone" for a piston), function (ex: "sealing ring" for a control disk) or create an analogy in order to come up with a name for the component. Errors during product dissection tasks are often due to a user's previously held beliefs about a product, instead of their observations.…”

Section: Determining Functions Of the Ar Applicationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tangible augmented reality intervention for a product dissection task

Mcpherson

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A study on the Requirements to Support the Accurate Prediction of Engineering Change Propagation

Koh

2017

Systems Engineering

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This paper builds on previous work in the area of design representation to identify the types of modeling information required to support the accurate prediction of engineering change propagation during the design of complex engineering systems. It uses the Function-Behavior-Structure (FBS) framework as a basis to examine how engineering changes can occur and how they may subsequently propagate. It was revealed that the relationship between change requirements and product components, the functional dependencies between product components, the behavioral dependencies between product components, and the structural dependencies between product components are all essential modeling information that need to be considered to fully describe the propagation of engineering changes. The essential modeling information identified can serve as modeling requirements to support the development of change prediction methods. In this work, three example design methods were discussed to examine the feasibility of using the modeling requirements for method evaluation. It was concluded that the level of accuracy achievable depends on the design context and hence a direct comparison between methods developed for different design contexts may not be meaningful. This suggests that accuracy should not be used as the sole criterion to evaluate change prediction methods. C⃝ 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Syst Eng

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Different notions of function: results from an experiment on the analysis of an existing product

Cited by 50 publications

References 15 publications

Understanding Abstraction in Design: A Comparison of Three Functional Analysis Methods for Product Dissection

Understanding Abstraction in Design: A Comparison of Three Functional Analysis Methods for Product Dissection

Tangible augmented reality intervention for a product dissection task

A study on the Requirements to Support the Accurate Prediction of Engineering Change Propagation

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