Embedding critics in design environments

Human understanding in design evolves through a process of critiquing existing knowledge and consequently expanding the store of design knowledge. Critiquing is a dialogue in which the interjection of a reasoned opinion about a product or action triggers further reflection on or changes to the artifact being designed. Our work has focused on applying this successful human critiquing paradigm to human-computer interaction. We argue that computer-based critiquing systems are most effective when they are embedded in domain-oriented design environments, which are knowledge-based computer systems that support designers in specifying a problem and constructing a solution. Embedded critics playa number of important roles in such design environments: (1) they increase the designer's understanding of design situations by pointing out problematic situations early in the design process; (2) they support the integration of problem framing and problem solving by providing a linkage between the design specification and the design construction; and (3) they help designers access relevant information in the large information spaces provided by the design environment. Three embedded critiquing mechanisms-generic, specific, and interpretive critics-are presented, and their complementary roles within the design environment architecture are described.