Shared mental models have been shown to enhance team performance. However, research has not observed the different types of sharedness of mental models that may uniquely impact the design process. Therefore, this study examines the types of sharedness of mental models that occur in design teams using Conversation Analysis on data collected from two expert design teams that performed activities in the early design process in a controlled lab environment. Designers were asked to develop an agreed upon list of ranked design principles, and then generate one or two solutions using the list. These design activities allow for the examination of the varying ways that designers share knowledge, negotiate, and reach understanding. Through our analysis, we identify characteristics of conversation that designers commonly use to build shared understanding. Our results also show how team mental models are built from patterns of conversation that are evident during open-ended and unstructured design discussions. This work sets a foundation for future research to gain a deeper understanding of how designer mental models are shared in unstructured conversations that take place during design practice.


Back and Forth: Using Conversation Analysis to Explore Dialogues of Sharedness of Mental Models

Division / Sponsors: 
Design Engineering Division and Computers & Information In Engineering Division


Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/IDETC-CIE/IDETC-CIE2020/volume/83907

IDETC2020 - Virtual Conference

Supporting the need among researchers worldwide for additional online and multimedia content, ASME now offers the ASME Conference Video Collection. This platform will collect and provide long-term access to conference presentation videos, encompassing all technology areas within ASME's technical conference and events program. About 30,000-40,000 engineers across all mechanical engineering and related disciplines participate in ASME conferences each year. This includes authors of approximately 6,000 to 8,000 technical papers published by ASME, the majority of whom also submit video presentations for our virtual conferences. The video collection will be available as an add-on to existing product packages or as a separate subscription.