From the course: Systems Thinking for Product Designers

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Principles of function analysis

Principles of function analysis

From the course: Systems Thinking for Product Designers

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Principles of function analysis

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- Product designers think a lot about functionality, but often not in a systematic way. Function analysis provides a set of techniques to break down products into components, visualize the relationships between the components and identify opportunities for improvement. In this video, I will describe the prerequisite decisions that determine the direction of function analysis. These are system purpose, the system scope and identifying scenarios where there are system problems. And I'll explain how each helps define the subsequent analysis. I think most of us know the function of a hammerhead. It's used to hit nails, but what is its function now? Now we have the hammer hanging from a belt. So the loop holds the hammerhead and the hammerhead holds the handle suspended from the head. How about now? This is a common use for a hammer. The head is being used to pull a nail instead of hit it. And this layering or duplicate…

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