Innovation and Design: Computational Simulations

This paper explores the role that social evaluation has in the definition of design as a source of innovation. The question of interest is how differences between the evaluative processes of group members can potentially determine the success or the failure of novel ideas in design. Computational simulations are presented of a simple design task in a social system where the effects of different types of group evaluation are analysed in relation to the diffusion of ideas, their differentiation, and the quality ascribed to them by evaluator groups. These results serve to formulate a series of qualitative hypotheses about group evaluation in design as well as practical guidelines for group brainstorming. The current contribution of these in silico studies is to assist in reasoning about innovation and design in a way that conventional research does not support.