Research on Design Conflict Based on Complex Network

Artifacts in modern society including industrial products and living goods are designed by collective groups which are usually comprised of technicians and experts with their own expertise. The interaction of designers inevitably leads to design conflict. Though scholars have studied on this field for years, traditional methods are restricted to qualitative analysis. This paper considers the design conflict as incompatible design view, which will diffuse along the conduit in complex network. Then a view dissemination model is constructed to simulate the propagation of design view of different designers in real small world network, from which we could induce a way to optimize the exchange mechanism of designers or department structure. This research helps quantifying the communication among designers and provides a basis for solving the various design conflicts effectively.