PROBLEM-CENTERED DESIGN IN CONCURRENT ENGINEERING

This paper introduces the concept of incorporating the human and compu terised elements of a design team into a single co-operating system, m oving away from the model of a computer system supporting a single use r towards being part of a heterarchy of agents. This augments classic CSCW where the computer is a facilitator to that where the computerise d elements are active participants. Within that collection of agents t he humans are not only using the computers to solve their own problems but are deployed to satisfy the computers requirements; the whole sys tem being designed to satisfy the customers' requirements., In a desig n and production environment the primary user is the problem which int erfaces to the agents who combine to deliver a solution.