Collective design processes

This text presents a cognitive ergonomics approach to collective design situations. The characteristics of design tasks are presented in a first section. We identify two different types of collective design situations : co-design and distributed design. After a first definition, two studies examplifying these situations are presented (co-design in computer network specification, distributed design in electrical engineering). The observations show that collective design can be fulfilled either through direct (often verbal) interactions between designers or through indirect interactions supported by the constraints designers impose on organization processes, technical devices and intermediary productions. A comprehensive analysis of collective design processes should then take into account both type of interactions.