Use of design patterns in analogy-based design

Design patterns specify generic relations among abstract design elements. We hypothesize that design patterns are productive units of analogical transfer in design. We describe a normative theory of analogy-based design called model-based analogy (or MBA) that transfers design patterns from source cases to target problems. In particular, for the domain of physical devices, we identify a class of design patterns, called generic teleological mechanisms (or GTMs), that specify generic functional relations in, and abstract causal structure of, a class of devices. While GTMs provide a partial content account of analogical transfer, MBA provides a process account of acquisition, access, and use of GTMs. In particular, MBA shows how structure–behavior–function (SBF) models of specific designs enable the acquisition of GTMs, which are represented as behavior–function (BF) models, and how goals of adapting familiar designs to meet new design requirements result in the access, transfer, and use of previously learned GTMs. We describe how the IDeAL system instantiates and evaluates the MBA theory. q 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.