Impacts of Function-Related Research on Education and Industry

Designers have long understood that a device must function well in order to satisfy its users, but only relatively recently has function been studied formally and extensively. The corresponding function-based paradigm focuses on abstracting what a system does separately from what it is. Within this paradigm, it is important to communicate abstract functions in a consistent manner, without binding them to their embodiments. This chapter discusses two recent outcomes in function-based design research, their impacts on education and industry, and the authors’ observations regarding their adoption into practice. The first of these outcomes is an information schema for capturing design artifact knowledge, which includes a standardized function taxonomy. The information schema provides guidance for teaching functional thinking, and also supports basic computational design techniques during conceptual design. The second research outcome is a conceptual linking between functions and failure modes, enabling new types of failure analysis techniques in early design. Both research outcomes are likely still in the early stages of impacting practice, but evidence points toward the most immediate impacts occurring during education. While the industry is typically more reserved regarding the details of their design practices, the chapter also presents several instances of practical interest in function-based design approaches.

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