How different models of value change affect emergent patterns in design practice: Agent based simulations

Abstract

This paper reports on a computer simulation based approach to studying longitudinal patterns in social emergence of design practice. Design practice is an emergent and not a well-understood social phenomenon, especially in terms of understanding how values associated with different design disciplines influence their design practice. A society of agents, called design agents, representing designers with different design backgrounds, interact with each other and with the concepts associated with different disciplines. The design agents within each discipline are modelled to be attracted towards concepts, knowledge mode, as well towards the other design agents, knower mode. The force of attraction towards the knower or concepts varies between disciplines. A bottom up simulation approach is used to study how different models of value change affect emergent patterns of behaviour. The findings from these simulations have implications for how we can use computation models to study complex social behaviour in design societies.