User requirements for analogical design support tools: Learning from practitioners of bio-inspired design

When designers develop biologically-inspired design (BID) solutions, they are engaging in a process of analogical design. Software tools have been developed to support analogical design processes, presenting designers with information to help in the construction of useful analogies. However, the requirements for such tools have not been explicitly informed by accounts of practitioners' experiences. To address this, interviews were conducted with 14 expert practitioners in BID to understand how they find and apply cross-domain analogies. Three main themes emerged from the analysis: (1) the skill sets of individual practitioners; (2) the ways they work as part of an interdisciplinary team; and (3) their orientations to biology. These themes present opportunities and challenges for developing analogical design support tools.

[1]  Nathan Crilly,et al.  Information and interaction requirements for software tools supporting analogical design , 2015, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[2]  Nigel Cross,et al.  Creativity in the design process: co-evolution of problem–solution , 2001 .

[3]  Daniel A. McAdams,et al.  Biologically Meaningful Keywords for Functional Terms of the Functional Basis , 2011 .

[4]  Thomas T. Hewett,et al.  Toward a Human Centered Scientific Problem Solving Environment , 2000 .

[5]  Carlos Cardoso,et al.  Inspiration and Fixation: The Influences of Example Designs and System Properties in Idea Generation , 2017 .

[6]  Christopher B. Bingham,et al.  The Process of Schema Emergence: Assimilation, Deconstruction, Unitization and the Plurality of Analogies , 2013 .

[7]  Dov Te'eni,et al.  From generative fit to generative capacity: exploring an emerging dimension of information systems design and task performance , 2009, Inf. Syst. J..

[8]  Matthew B. Miles,et al.  Qualitative Data Analysis: An Expanded Sourcebook , 1994 .

[9]  R. Oppenheimer.  Analogy in science. , 1956 .

[10]  Cornelius Herstatt,et al.  How To Use Analogies For Breakthrough Innovations , 2005 .

[11]  Ashok K. Goel,et al.  Cognitive, collaborative, conceptual and creative - Four characteristics of the next generation of knowledge-based CAD systems: A study in biologically inspired design , 2012, Comput. Aided Des..

[12]  P. Hanna.  Using internet technologies (such as Skype) as a research medium: a research note , 2012 .

[13]  Jacquelyn K. S. Nagel,et al.  An Engineering-to-Biology Thesaurus for Engineering Design , 2010 .

[14]  David R. Thomas,et al.  A General Inductive Approach for Analyzing Qualitative Evaluation Data , 2006 .

[15]  Ben Shneiderman,et al.  Design Principles for Tools to Support Creative Thinking , 2005 .

[16]  Petra Badke-Schaub,et al.  Fixation or Inspiration: Creative Problem Solving in Design , 2011 .

[17]  O. Gassmann,et al.  Creative Imitation: Exploring the Case of Cross-Industry Innovation , 2010 .

[18]  Andrés Gómez de Silva Garza,et al.  Case-Based Reasoning in Design , 1995, IEEE Expert.

[19]  L. H. Shu,et al.  Automatic Extraction of Causally Related Functions From Natural-Language Text for Biomimetic Design , 2012 .

[20]  Bo T. Christensen,et al.  The relationship of analogical distance to analogical function and preinventive structure: the case of engineering design , 2007, Memory & cognition.

[21]  Jon-Michael Deldin,et al.  The AskNature Database: Enabling Solutions in Biomimetic Design , 2014 .

[22]  Gabriela Goldschmidt,et al.  Avoiding Design Fixation: Transformation and Abstraction in Mapping from Source to Target , 2011 .

[23]  Ashok K. Goel,et al.  Biologically inspired design: process and products , 2009 .

[24]  J. J. Dupin,et al.  Analogies and “modeling analogies” in teaching: Some examples in basic electricity , 1989 .

[25]  Paul Verschure,et al.  The state of the art in biomimetics. , 2013, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[26]  L. H. Shu,et al.  Using descriptions of biological phenomena for idea generation , 2008 .

[27]  Thomas T. Hewett,et al.  Informing the design of computer-based environments to support creativity , 2005, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[28]  Dedre Gentner,et al.  Mechanisms of Analogical Learning. , 1987 .

[29]  Joost Duflou,et al.  Enhancing novelty with knowledge-based support for Biologically-Inspired Design , 2016 .

[30]  Stella Vosniadou,et al.  Similarity and analogical reasoning: a synthesis , 1989 .

[31]  Arthur B. Markman,et al.  Modality and representation in analogy , 2008, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[32]  Eleni Stroulia,et al.  Askjef: Integration of Case-Based and Multimedia Technologies for Interface Design Support , 1992 .

[33]  Derek Oler,et al.  What's My Line? A Comparison of Industry Classification Schemes for Capital Market Research , 2003 .

[34]  Améziane Aoussat,et al.  Biomimetics: process, tools and practice , 2017, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[35]  Cornelius Herstatt,et al.  Developing Innovations Based on Analogies: Experience from Design and Engineering Consultants , 2010 .

[36]  Alice M. Agogino,et al.  Analogies and metaphors in creative design , 2008 .

[37]  Irem Y. Tumer,et al.  Applying Designer Feedback to Generate Requirements for an Intuitive Biologically Inspired Design Tool , 2012 .

[38]  Mary Lou Maher,et al.  Modeling design exploration as co-evolution , 1996 .

[39]  John H. Holland,et al.  Induction: Processes of Inference, Learning, and Discovery , 1987, IEEE Expert.

[40]  Kelly Wakefield,et al.  Skype interviewing: reflections of two PhD researchers , 2014 .

[41]  E Clarke.  The neural circulation. The use of analogy in medicine. , 1978, Medical history.

[42]  Nicolas Maranzana,et al.  Biomimetics and its tools , 2017 .

[43]  Amaresh Chakrabarti,et al.  A functional representation for aiding biomimetic and artificial inspiration of new ideas , 2005, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[44]  Henrietta O'Connor,et al.  Internet based interviewing , 2016 .

[45]  Ashok K. Goel,et al.  Analogical Problem Evolution in Biologically Inspired Design , 2014 .

[46]  Ashok K. Goel,et al.  Foraging for Inspiration: Understanding and Supporting the Online Information Seeking Practices of Biologically Inspired Designers , 2011 .

[47]  Ashok K. Goel,et al.  Case-based design support: a case study in architectural design , 1992, IEEE Expert.

[48]  D. Dahl,et al.  The Influence and Value of Analogical Thinking during New Product Ideation , 2002 .

[49]  L. H. Shu,et al.  A natural-language approach to biomimetic design , 2010, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[50]  Kristin L. Wood,et al.  Bio-Inspired Design: An Overview Investigating Open Questions From the Broader Field of Design-by-Analogy , 2014 .

[51]  Jonathan Cagan,et al.  On the benefits and pitfalls of analogies for innovative design : Ideation performance based on analogical distance, commonness, and modality of examples , 2011 .

[52]  K. Holyoak,et al.  Mental Leaps: Analogy in Creative Thought , 1994 .

[53]  Jami J. Shah,et al.  Empirical Studies of Designer Thinking: Past, Present, and Future , 2015 .

[54]  Amaresh Chakrabarti,et al.  A methodology for supporting “transfer” in biomimetic design , 2010, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[55]  Julie S. Linsey,et al.  Concepts in Biomimetic Design: Methods and Tools to Incorporate Into a Biomimetic Design Course , 2011 .