General
Conceptual design in the context of engineering design is the process by which ideas are generated or configurations are created or selected to meet the specifications and constraint so fanident if ied technological need
Within the framework of this model one is led to consider what drives these motions and what barriers may impede or prevent movement
Two questions
The question of methodology with respect to driving for cesarises
These condquestion that of the barrers which block the unfolding of good conceptual design thinkingis the focus of the present investigation and analysis
EXPERIMENT ALCOGNITIVE
PSYCHOLOGY BACKGROUND
To solve the problem it wasnecessary to use the pliers as a pendulum weight, an atypicaluse for pliers
Restricting on esuse of an object to previously encountered functions as with the pliers, is termed 'functional fixednesswhich is an identifiable type off ixationin problem solving
In the presentstudy we have taken an experimental approach to understanding this aspect of creative design and invention
GENERALMETHOD
The general method used in the present study was fairly
consistent through out all four experiments
EXPERIMENT 1:THE BICYCLE RACK
PROBLEM
It was hypothesized that the range of ideas generated for a design problem would be restricted by presenting the problem with a sample design as compared with presenting the problem with out an example
EXPERIMENT 2:DESIGN AND
PROCEDURE
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The subjects responses were scored for
2),number of top mount designs;
3)number of designs with suction cups
4)number of designs with tyrerailings
EXPERIMENT 3:THE MEASURING CUP
FOR THE BLIND PROBLEM
Subjects
The 31 subjects in Experiment 2 were students enrolled in a senior level mechanical engineering design course
There were 15 students randomly assigned to the control groupand 16 to the fixation group
Materials
The experimental test was named an Idea generation
exercise,and the instructions were printed on a single page
Experimen talde sign and procedure
EXPERIMENT 4:THE SPILL PROOF
COFFEE CUP PROBLEM
Experimental sign and procedure
Subjects responses weres cored for
2)number of designs which would leak
3)number of designs with straws
4)number of designswithmouthpieces
EXPERIMENT 5:PROFESSIONAL
ENGINEERS
Subjects
Thirteen professional engineers from the structural
design department of a major corporation in Fort Worth
Texas volunteered to participate in the experiment
Materials
The materials for Experiment 4 consisted of an Idea
generation exercisesimilar to that used in the previous
experiments, and a questionnaire concerned with aspects
of the design engineer’s work which are related to design
fixation
Experimental design and procedure
Cover sheets explaining the needs of the study were
attached to the materials and sent to the head of the
companys design department
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The conclusion is that design fixation was empirically verified in professional
design engineers
CONCLUSIONS
Outre search has clearly and repeatedly demonstrated the
existence of design fixation
The interest in this area stems from a desire to understand more deeply both the nature of conceptual engineering design as well as to make significant improvements to methodologies by which conceptual design can been hanced
