Application of Icon System for multiple viewpoints collaboration in design project

Abstract : Iconic tagging system could be useful for centralizing and providing the fine-grain annotations in classifying, sharing and seeking documents within a designers’ group in a civil engineering activity. Such icon system based on a visual distinctive language (VDL) is useful for iconic tagging ideas, plans and design. It will facilitate design discussions by symbolic interpretation and graphical organization of tag structure. We propose an experiment for cooperatively creating and using such icon system within designers to share iconically-tagged design documents of CAD/CAM system. Semiotic components of icons are organized in relative “points of view” according to various dimensions of design activity (rhetoric status of the proposals, operational status, multi-disciplinary design thematic and project management focus…) This kind of icon system is assumed to improve communication and solve design conflicts (named “clashes”).