Paper Info
Title
Boundary Objects and Prototypes at the Interfaces of Engineering Design
Abstract
Abstract The primary hypothesis of this paper is that internal and external changes in design and manufacturing organizations affect the viability of boundary objects (representations, drawings, models virtual and physical) and require changes in the underlying - distributed cognitive models Internal and external factors include new advances in technologies, insights into organizational processes, organizational restructuring and change of market focus If the above hypothesis is true, then there are consequences for the methodologies of designing computational support systems for co - operative engineering work We provide evidence by describing three empirical studies of engineering design we have performed in large organizations We investigate how changing technologies disrupt the common grounds among interfaces and how this has opened a debate on the role of boundary objects, especially in the product visualization and analysis arena We then argue that changes in market forces and other factors leading to changes in organizational structures often lead to erosion of common understanding of representations and prototypes, above all at the interfaces We conclude by making the case that every structural and information flow change in engineering organizations is accompanied by the potential deterioration of the common ground This requires the synthesis of new common grounds to accommodate the needs of new interfaces
Year
DOI
Venue
2003
10.1023/A:1023976111188
Computer-Supported Cooperative Work 96
Keywords
DocType
Volume
boundary objects,cognitive models,engineering design,interfaces
Journal
12
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
2
1573-7551
20
PageRank 
References 
Authors
1.27
3
8
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
E. Su119246.63
Ira Monarch214730.52
Suresh Konda3908.15
Helen Granger4322.38
Russ Milliken5201.27
Arthur Westerberg63420.85
Then-dim group7201.27
The <It>N</It>-Dim Group8201.27