Defining functions when dissecting a product is an important method to learn how it works. There are three primary methods for identifying functions in a product.

This paper seeks to reconcile and integrate the use of the function- and affordance-based design concepts.

Typical data analytics obtain prediction models and data patterns by focusing on a numerical abstraction of data. In many cases, these results are a lack of physical interpretations and inappropriate to be directly used as design data for a new engineering design development.

This research defines the basis for a new quantitative approach for retrieving useful analogies for innovation based on the relevant performance characteristics of functions.

Designers use specific methods to discern people’s needs and how to best create products or services that meet those needs.

Interacting with example products is an essential and widely practiced method in engineering design, yet little information exists on how the representation (pictorial or physical) or interaction a designer has with an example impacts design creativity.