FUNCTIONAL MODELING EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES

摘要

As more design methodologies are researched and developed, the question arises as to whether these new methodologies are actually advancing the field of engineering design or instead cluttering the field with more theories. There is a critical need to test new methodologies for their contribution to the field of design engineering. This paper presents the results of research attempts to substantiate repeatability claims of the functional model derivation method. Three experiments are constructed and carried out with a participant pool that possesses a range of engineering design skill levels. The experiments test the utility of the functional model derivation method to produce repeatable functional models for a given product among different designers. Results indicate the method is largely successful and identify its key strengths as well as opportunities for improvement.