The structural approach to shared knowledge: an application to engineering design teams

We propose a methodology for analyzing shared knowledge in engineering design teams.

Whereas prior work has focused on shared knowledge in small teams at a specific point in time, the model presented here is both scalable and dynamic.

By quantifying team members' common views of design drivers, we build a network of shared mental models to reveal the structure of shared knowledge at a snapshot in time. Based on a structural comparison of networks at different points in time, a metric of change in shared knowledge is computed.

Analysis of survey data from 12 conceptual space mission design sessions reveals a correlation between change in shared knowledge and each of several system attributes, including system development time, system mass, and technological maturity.

From these results, we conclude that an early period of learning and consensus building could be beneficial to the design of engineered systems.

Although we do not examine team performance directly, we demonstrate that shared knowledge is related to the technical design and thus provide a foundation for improving design products by incorporating the knowledge and thoughts of the engineering design team into the process.