Functional analysis as set forth in the last chapter decomposes a technical system into functional components that do things to advance the system’s purpose and the goals of its designers. Functional analysis in turn can be used to construct value structure maps of technical systems. Such maps...

The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g. communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical patterns of dependency in the work being performed. A thorough understanding of the phenomenon is difficult to...

This Note examines the development of the knowledge embodied in ‘artifacts’ – things we use and value that do not exist in nature. It focuses on ‘multi-player’ development -- advances by and for the many – and highlights its technical scaffolding and venturesome spirit. And it...