Design by functional synonyms and antonyms: a structured creative technique based on functional analysis

The present paper describes a technique based on functional analysis aimed at the development of creative ideas and breakthroughs in product design. Such an approach can also be used as a new structured brainstorming methodology for product development. New technical solutions can be generated and evaluated in the early design/redesign phases, influencing the whole product architecture and helping to identify critical ideas as well as weak points. The hypothesis is that functional description of products can be the foundation of a completely new design method based on lexical analysis and more precisely on the analysis of functional synonyms and antonyms. Functional analysis becomes the driving tool for specific design suggestions and improvements. Being highly structured, the method provides good grounds for problem solving: it guides creativity through codified steps and suggests directions of investigation.