Identifying relevant stimuli that help generate solutions of desired novelty and quality is challenging in analogical design. To quell this challenge, the multifaceted effects of using stimuli which are located at various analogical distances to the design problem on the novelty and quality of concepts generated using the stimuli are studied in this research. Data from a design project involving 105 student designers, individually generating 226 concepts of spherical rolling robots, are collected. From these data, 138 concepts generated with patents as stimuli and the patents used are analyzed. Analogical distance of a patent is measured in terms of knowledge similarity between technology classes constituting the patent and design problem domain of spherical rolling robots. The key observations are (a) technology classes in closer than farther distances from the design problem are used more frequently to generate concepts, (b) as analogical distance increases the novelty of concepts increases, and (c) as analogical distance decreases the quality of concepts increases.
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July 2018
Research-Article
Does Analogical Distance Affect Performance of Ideation?
V. Srinivasan,
V. Srinivasan
Department of Design,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D),
Hauz Khas,
New Delhi 110 016, India
e-mail: srinivasanv@iddc.iitd.ac.in
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D),
Hauz Khas,
New Delhi 110 016, India
e-mail: srinivasanv@iddc.iitd.ac.in
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Binyang Song,
Binyang Song
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road,
Singapore 487372
e-mail: binyang_song@mymail.sutd.edu.sg
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road,
Singapore 487372
e-mail: binyang_song@mymail.sutd.edu.sg
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Jianxi Luo,
Jianxi Luo
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: jianxi_luo@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: jianxi_luo@sutd.edu.sg
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Karupppasamy Subburaj,
Karupppasamy Subburaj
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: subburaj@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: subburaj@sutd.edu.sg
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Mohan Rajesh Elara,
Mohan Rajesh Elara
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: rajeshelara@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: rajeshelara@sutd.edu.sg
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Lucienne Blessing,
Lucienne Blessing
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: lucienne_blessing@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: lucienne_blessing@sutd.edu.sg
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Kristin Wood
Kristin Wood
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: kristinwood@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: kristinwood@sutd.edu.sg
Search for other works by this author on:
V. Srinivasan
Department of Design,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D),
Hauz Khas,
New Delhi 110 016, India
e-mail: srinivasanv@iddc.iitd.ac.in
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D),
Hauz Khas,
New Delhi 110 016, India
e-mail: srinivasanv@iddc.iitd.ac.in
Binyang Song
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road,
Singapore 487372
e-mail: binyang_song@mymail.sutd.edu.sg
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road,
Singapore 487372
e-mail: binyang_song@mymail.sutd.edu.sg
Jianxi Luo
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: jianxi_luo@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: jianxi_luo@sutd.edu.sg
Karupppasamy Subburaj
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: subburaj@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: subburaj@sutd.edu.sg
Mohan Rajesh Elara
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: rajeshelara@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar,
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: rajeshelara@sutd.edu.sg
Lucienne Blessing
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: lucienne_blessing@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: lucienne_blessing@sutd.edu.sg
Kristin Wood
SUTD-MIT International Design Centre and
Engineering Product Development Pillar
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
Singapore 487372
e-mail: kristinwood@sutd.edu.sg
Engineering Product Development Pillar
Singapore University of Technology
and Design (SUTD),
8 Somapah Road
,Singapore 487372
e-mail: kristinwood@sutd.edu.sg
1Corresponding author.
Contributed by the Design Theory and Methodology Committee of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL DESIGN. Manuscript received June 22, 2017; final manuscript received April 23, 2018; published online May 23, 2018. Assoc. Editor: Christopher Mattson.
J. Mech. Des. Jul 2018, 140(7): 071101 (12 pages)
Published Online: May 23, 2018
Article history
Received:
June 22, 2017
Revised:
April 23, 2018
Citation
Srinivasan, V., Song, B., Luo, J., Subburaj, K., Elara, M. R., Blessing, L., and Wood, K. (May 23, 2018). "Does Analogical Distance Affect Performance of Ideation?." ASME. J. Mech. Des. July 2018; 140(7): 071101. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4040165
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