Bio-inspired design: the impact of collaboration between engineers and biologists on analogical transfer and ideation

Abstract

To develop innovative technical solutions, designers seek inspiration from nature and its almost infinite pool of biological solutions. However, understanding biological solutions and transferring appropriate analogies to develop technical solutions pose a considerable challenge. A strategy to facilitate interdisciplinary understanding is collaboration between engineers and biologists. So far, the impact of this type of collaboration on analogical transfer and ideation has not been studied in an experimental setting. To close this research gap, this work examines design experiments with engineer–biologist pairs, half of whom were provided with a support for analogical transfer (BioId Support). Engineer–biologist pairs were compared to single disciplinary pairs with regards to the transfer of selected analogy categories. The impact of the transferred analogy categories on the quality of solution ideas was analysed—quality was regarded as an indicator for the solution ideas’ innovative potential. The results show a positive influence of the supported collaboration between engineers and biologists on the transferred analogy categories. These analogy categories positively influence the quality of solution ideas. This work indicates benefits of collaboration between engineers and biologists for bio-inspired design. In addition, it provides a starting point for improving bio-inspired design methods.