Federation modeler: A tool for engaging change and complexity in design

Increasing change and complexity in the task environment impedes the ability of designers to explore and develop designs. We hypothesize that by focusing on the management of interactions that realize a design, rather than on the specification of the design itself, the capacity of designers to deal with change and complexity can be increased. Our exploratory research aims at a parametric modeling application that aids designers in managing the interactions of parts that realize a design. We describe the system design, report on its current state of implementation, and present an initial evaluation.