Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network
Reconciling Function- And Affordance-Based Design, Benjamin T. Ciavola
Reconciling Function- And Affordance-Based Design, Benjamin T. Ciavola
Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open
Traditional engineering design methods are based on Simon's (1969) use of the concept function, and as such collectively suffer from both theoretical and practical shortcomings. Researchers in the field of affordance-based design have borrowed from ecological psychology in an attempt to address the blind spots of function-based design, developing alternative ontologies and design processes. This dissertation presents function and affordance theory as both compatible and complimentary. We first present a hybrid approach to design for technology change, followed by a reconciliation and integration of function and affordance ontologies for use in design. We explore the integration of a standard function-based …