Models of Collaboration for Designers in a Computer Supported Environment

The development of models for Computer Mediated Collaborative Design (CMCD) provides guidelines for the continuing development of technology and tools for CMCD. In order to develop models for CMCD, a range of experiments and research objectives needs to be developed. The current literature around models for CMCD is still quite informal and descriptive. In this paper, we define the roles and types of models for CMCD. We propose a framework for understanding the contribution such models can make that considers two phenomomena in CMCD: communicating and designing. We present some descriptive models from design research, CSCW research, and CMCD research and show how these models address communicating and designing