Managing shared understanding in collaborative design projects

This paper describes an empirical study in the field of product design. It focuses on far-reaching integration of different knowledge domains. Knowledge integration between actors requires the creation of shared understanding about the project content. This research project provides insight in the barriers and enablers for creating shared understanding between actors from different disciplines. It gave insight the key problems concerning the integration of different disciplines. We collected data by observing meetings and interviewing actors. The learning history method was used to analyze the data. The paper ends with a discussion about the results and managerial implications.