Exploring how situated cognition and social interaction shapes innovation

This paper develops a multi-agent computational model to simulate the effects of designer-user interactions on the design of products, interactions that are both direct and indirect. The architecture of an agent-based computational system is described, with emphasis on how it models situated design computing and cognition, including both designer and consumer agents. Indicative results obtained from running simulations are presented. The primary contribution is to demonstrate that situated design computing and cognition can be modelled using Computational Social Science methods.