Assessment of design tools for knowledge capture and reuse

Designers primarily use paper and pencil or software packages for articulating their ideas. As the need for capture and re-use of the knowledge generated during designing becomes stronger, this propels the need to develop more sophisticated mechanisms for supporting these knowledge processes. We argue that interactions occurring during the design process play a vital role in knowledge processing. We define interaction as a mutual or reciprocal action or influence of agents (perceptible objects through which designing occurs). Since interactions especially between designers and tools is likely to have a substantial impact on the knowledge processes, it is necessary to change or modify existing tools, or develop new tools, to increase the effectiveness of capturing and reusing knowledge.