Abstract:
Over the last 12 years, the design research
group at the Key Centre for Computing at the University
of Sydney has been developing an extensive model
of designing, looking at designing as a process in which
the concepts of function, behaviour and structure of
artefacts play a central role. In this paper, we critically
analyse this model of designing, focussing on its internal
clarity and external empirical validation. We review the
model and present the definitions of the key concepts
function, behaviour and structure. In doing so we show
that one can distinguish at least two different versions of
the model. Finally, we raise fundamental questions
about the precise location of the transition between
structural and intentional descriptions of artefacts in
these versions, and about the empirical status of the
model as a whole.
