On designers’ use of biomimicry tools during the new product development process: an empirical investigation

ABSTRACT As technological problems and societal challenges become increasingly complex, designers are urged to recombine knowledge from different sources in order to innovate. In this article we question how nature may be the key source of inspiration and whether it can impact the new product development (NPD) process. We shed new light on whether designers and researchers are: first, familiar with biomimicry tools; second, aware of their characteristics; third, in favour of using biomimicry tools in the NPD process; and fourth, able to assess the impact of biomimicry tools on the NPD performance. By analysing survey data, counterintuitive results emerged concerning both the awareness of the biomimetic tools and their impact on the NPD innovation outcomes.

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

[2]  Arnim von Gleich,et al.  Potentials and Trends in Biomimetics , 2010 .

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

[4]  H. Berg,et al.  Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People , 1998 .

[5]  Janine M. Benyus,et al.  Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature , 1997 .

[6]  Elvin Karana,et al.  Comparing Biomimicry and Cradle to Cradle with Ecodesign: a case study of student design projects , 2014 .

[7]  A L Hammond,et al.  Physics in perspective: a new report. , 1972, Science.

[8]  Paul D. Umbach.  Web surveys: Best practices , 2004 .

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

[10]  Jacquelyn K. S. Nagel.  A Thesaurus for Bioinspired Engineering Design , 2014 .

[11]  Ben Jonson,et al.  Design ideation: the conceptual sketch in the digital age , 2005 .

[12]  M. Sawhney,et al.  Collaborating to create: The Internet as a platform for customer engagement in product innovation , 2005 .

[13]  Amaresh Chakrabarti,et al.  Sapphire – an Approach to Analysis and Synthesis , 2009 .

[14]  Ashok K. Goel,et al.  DANE: Fostering Creativity in and through Biologically Inspired Design , 2011 .

[15]  Mick P. Couper,et al.  The Future of Modes of Data Collection , 2011 .

[16]  Yoseph Bar-Cohen,et al.  Biomimetics—using nature to inspire human innovation , 2006, Bioinspiration & biomimetics.

[17]  Constance E. Helfat,et al.  INNOVATION OBJECTIVES, KNOWLEDGE SOURCES, AND THE BENEFITS OF BREADTH , 2010 .

[18]  G. S. Alʹtshuller,et al.  The Innovation Algorithm:TRIZ, systematic innovation and technical creativity , 1999 .

[19]  Maria G. Trotta,et al.  Bio-inspired Design Methodology , 2012 .

[20]  Jon M. Harkness,et al.  In Appreciation¶A Lifetime of Connections: Otto Herbert Schmitt, 1913 - 1998 , 2002 .

[21]  Tim C. McAloone,et al.  UNDERSTANDING MANAGERS DECISION MAKING PROCESS FOR TOOLS SELECTION IN THE CORE FRONT END OF INNOVATION , 2011 .

[22]  Alain Bernard,et al.  The evolution, challenges, and future of knowledge representation in product design systems , 2013, Comput. Aided Des..

[23]  John P. Ulhøi,et al.  Framing biomimetics in a strategic orientation perspective (biopreneuring) , 2015, Technol. Anal. Strateg. Manag..

[24]  Seaton Baxter,et al.  The Designer's Role in Facilitating Sustainable Solutions , 2008, Design Issues.

[25]  Rodney X. Sturdivant,et al.  Applied Logistic Regression: Hosmer/Applied Logistic Regression , 2005 .

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

[27]  F. Jackson.  Design for the Real World: Human Ecology and Social Change , 1993 .

[28]  Ashok K. Goel,et al.  Structure, behavior, and function of complex systems: The structure, behavior, and function modeling language , 2008, Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing.

[29]  J. Vincent,et al.  Biomimetics: its practice and theory , 2006, Journal of The Royal Society Interface.

[30]  Robert Stone,et al.  A Function Based Approach to TRIZ , 2011 .

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

[32]  Karin Hoisl,et al.  Knowledge Recombination Across Technological Boundaries: Scientists vs. Engineers , 2013, Manag. Sci..

[33]  Tim C. McAloone,et al.  Fuzzy decision support for tools selection in the core front end activities of new product development , 2013 .

[34]  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.

[35]  Nadia Bhuiyan,et al.  A framework for successful new product development , 2011 .

[36]  I.C. de Pauw,et al.  Assessing sustainability in nature-inspired design , 2015 .

[37]  Ruud T. Frambach,et al.  Determinants of the adoption of new product development tools by industrial firms , 2000 .