A research method to capture design state based on multi-fuzzy cognitive mapping

Designer thinking has received much attention as an innovative problem-solving approach. However, it is also a vague and unclear activity which can only be studied through the input and output results in a design process. This paper proposes that the visual design state is the external performance of design thinking, which is used to clarify vague design thinking. In this paper, a method for expressing and capturing design states based on multi-fuzzy cognitive mapping is presented. First, an agent model is built to capture the design states, and the weight values of the multi-fuzzy cognitive map matrix are calculated. The tightness of the design state route is then deduced. An example is presented to demonstrate the use of this method, which is able to support the designer with the necessary design resources and an intelligent design environment.